Carlton & United Breweries has shouted the bar in the Mallee to give Victorian barley farmers a night off and thank them for helping make some of Australia’s most-loved beers.

CUB, which is a proud part of Asahi Beverages, currently purchases more than 30,000 tonnes of barley annually from Victorian farmers with the support of agribusiness Riordan Grains. This is used to brew hundreds of millions of litres of beer at its Abbotsford brewery including VB, Carlton Draught, Great Northern and Melbourne Bitter.

Around 40 farmers attended the night at the Royal Hotel, Sea Lake, where they enjoyed a meal and a range of beers brewed with their barley. CUB CEO Danny Celoni addressed the gathering while third-party experts on mental health, soil health and farm safety also spoke.

CUB Chief Executive Danny Celoni said: “We’re enormously grateful for the barley our farmers grow but we know it is tough work.

“So we wanted to say ‘thank you’ by giving them a night off, shouting them a meal and some beers and ensuring they had a laugh with their fellow farmers, while also equipping them with some mental and physical safety tips.

“Our beers are only as good as the local produce we use to make them. Barley malt is the heart and soul of beer and has a defining influence on the taste, colour, aroma and foam. We are so grateful for the support of passionate and hard-working generations of farmers who provide our crucial grains.

“CUB can trace its brewing history in Victoria back to 1854 and there are families in the Mallee who have been farming barley for generations. We share a proud history with the region.”

Two years ago, Asahi Beverages elevated the partnership with Victorian barley farmers. Under our new model we now have a direct relationship with growers, which gives us clear oversight of the barley growing process and ensures only the best barley is used.

It also allows brewers to work directly with growers to select and perfect barley types while giving growers the confidence and financial security to invest in new technology and make improvements in farming sustainability and efficiency.

Australian malting barley

More than 2 million tonnes of malting barley is produced on average by Australian farmers each year for brewing in Australia and overseas. Barley is one of Australia’s top crops.

Australia is world-renowned for producing high quality malting barley. In Australia, barley is second in crop size only to wheat, covering almost 4 million hectares sweeping from central and southern Queensland, throughout north to south midwestern NSW, northern and western Victoria, north to south central Tasmania, southeast and south-central SA and south-western WA.

Australian and overseas beer lovers have much to be grateful for the contribution of Australian farmers to their beers.