Welcome back to Radio Brews News after our very long hiatus.

Pete Mitcham and I see the podcast as one of the most important things we do through the site, able to discuss the big issues in Australian beer with the people who shape and influence the industry. Time and resources have always been an issue as the show is time consuming to present. However, thanks to a couple generous sponsors we are back and – hopefully – regular.

In our first episode back, we catch up with Peter ‘Pod’ McLoughlin, Marketing Director at Carlton & United Breweries. This interview was actually recorded late last year and came after a lengthy period where Australian Brews News was seemingly blacklisted by CUB following our coverage of the Crown Lager, VB and Byron Bay Pale Lager issues. A change in staffing at CUB has seen much better relations re-established and Peter made himself available to discuss a very wide range of topics, including those three.

Marketing Director at Carlton & United Breweries Peter McLoughlin

The interview was recorded before the recent ACCC ruling, but Peter and Matt discuss that issue in that context. We will follow up to speak with Peter following the ruling.

It is a very interesting and wide-ranging conversation about the many changes that have taken pace at CUB since the acquisition by SABMiller.

In a new initiative, we are making transcripts of the main interviews available, one of the places that our sponsor’s money is going. This will make the podcasts searchable, though as transcripts the intonation is never captured and we recommend you list to the audio. The transcripts are time coded from the start of the interview, add about 20:20 to the audio time to match it up.

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The audio can be downloaded here.

A full transcript of the interview can be found here.

Thanks to editor Ben Hetherington.