Please note: This article is dated 2016 and the compensation offer by Lion extended from January to June 2016. It is no longer available

Tap King has officially been discontinued and Lion will offer compensation to consumers who purchased a dispenser.

The move to axe the format entirely comes after Lion last year deleted classic beers from the range, which in July last year became limited to just a fewJames Squire beers.

Consumers who are inundating the Tap King Facebook page with their complaints have been instructed by Lion to contact the company direct.

While it has not been publicly announced, the company is reportedly offering a $30 Visa Gift Card to aggrieved consumers who do get in touch and return their dispenser by way of a satchel supplied to them by Lion.

Presuming that all 70,000 of Tap King’s Facebook fans did just that, reimbursements and other costs could run well into the millions, adding further expense to the ambitious project.

Filling the Tap King bottles required Lion to install a dedicated hi-tech production line at the Tooheys brewery in Lidcombe, which occupied a space the size of the football field.

“Ultimately sales have not met our expectations and we have chosen to focus our resources on our core portfolio and maintaining the most efficient supply chain possible,” Lion said in a statement.

“We recognise this will disappoint our loyal Tap King fans, and we will be communicating the decision to them proactively today.”