Written by Andy Young, editor TheShout
Australian beer drinkers will now have an increased choice of organic beers available with the launch of two organic beers from Struman’s Organic Beer Co.
Struman’s has created a Premium Lager and a lower-carb Dry variety which will both be initially available through Dan Murphy’s and BWS. Struman’s co-founder, Ash Truscott, told TheShout that the idea came about after a chat in a pub around 18 months ago.
“Myself and a few mates were out one night and one of the guys asked why couldn’t we get any organic beers either behind the bar or in a bottleshop. That was about a year-and-a-half ago and that kicked everything off. Then we tracked down Bruce Peachy and we had a chat about whether this could be done,” Truscott said.
“He thought it could be. So we focused on making sure we could make the beer to the best quality we could, and not just scrape it together. It’s got to be a good beer and use the best quality ingredients we could find.
“This all started because we just thought ‘why isn’t this already there? There has got to be a reason’. So I looked into it and thought it must be because of cost of goods and supply of ingredients. But then we did the commercials and it wasn’t that. So we figured that a lot of the innovation in beer has all been in craft and they haven’t really focused on organic or lager.”
All Struman’s beers are certified organic by the Australian Certified Organic organisation meaning that what is in the bottle has been grown free from synthetic pesticides and herbicides and is non-GM.
Truscott added: “We saw a natural gap to give everyday beer drinkers a chance to try organic in the lager space. We are looking at this as a starting point, but if the sales are there then we’ll be looking to branch off into other styles, like a Pale Ale to start with. Although there are no definite plans on that just yet.”
In terms stocking through the Endeavour Drinks Group outlets, Truscott told TheShout: “I went to them first, with our costings and commercials around the beer. I told them that this is what we were thinking of doing and ask them what they thought and they said ‘we love your idea’. So we went to BWS first and then Dan Murphy’s and based on their views and forecasts of what they want to do, they pretty much tied up all our allocation and capacity for the short-term.
“So that’s what we are doing short- to medium-term, but long-term we want to expand domestically and internationally across the board. So it’s a starting point and we are a small business, so we are approaching it methodically, getting the thing up and running and then building relationships as we go through the chain.”
The two styles are the Premium Lager, described as a full flavoured international style lager, which is 4.6 per cent ABV, while the Low-Carb Dry beer is 4.3 per cent ABV; both retail at $19.99 for a six-pack and $58.99 for a case.