Nothing bitter about craft beer’s rising popularity

Historical • Media Release • 24 Jul 2014

Media Release

Nothing bitter about craft beer’s rising popularity

For the first time on record, the number of Australian adults consuming craft beer in an average four-week period has increased to more than one million, defying the downward trend of local mainstream beers.

The proportion of Aussies aged 18 and over who consume local craft beer in any given four weeks has quietly increased over the last five years, from 3.5% (or 592,000 people) in the year to March 2010 to 5.7% — or 1.04 million people — as of March 2014. This trend is all the more significant for bucking the overall decline in domestic beer consumption, which has seen the number of people drinking local mainstream beer in an average four-week period fall from 6.1 million (36.7% of Australian adults) to 5.8 million (31.9%) over the same period.

The growing popularity of local craft beer is being driven predominantly by those under 50, with 25-34 year olds leading the way. In 2010, 7.9% of 25-34 year olds drank craft beer in an average four weeks, but this has since grown to 10.7%.

People from New South Wales (home of hipster favourite, James Squire) and Queensland have taken to craft beer with particular zeal. Between 2010 and 2014, NSW’s craft beer drinkers grew by 186,000 people, while in Queensland an extra 99,000 developed a taste for it.

Types of beer consumed in an average 4-week period