Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), October 2013 – September 2014 (n=5,968). Base: Australians 18+ who drank beer in last 4 weeks. Thumbnail image: copyright K. Schlemmer
Ever since Captain
Cook set sail from England in 1768 with four tons of beer aboard the HMS Endeavour, the amber fluid was
destined to become part of Australia’s colonial and post-colonial heritage.
With Australia Day almost upon us, Roy Morgan reveals the 10 most popular
home-grown beer brands and takes a light-hearted look at the people who drink
them.
Last year, 37% of Australian adults (some 6,803,000 people)
drank beer in an average four weeks, with nearly nine out of every 10
(6,035,000 people) drinking at least one Aussie beer in that time. Carlton
Draught is the most popular Australian beer, drunk by 17% of the country’s beer
drinkers, followed by Victoria Bitter (12%), XXXX Gold (12%), Coopers Pale Ale
(11%) and Crown Lager (8%).
More than three-quarters (76%) of Australia’s beer drinkers
are men.
10 most popular Australian beers

Source: Roy
Morgan Single Source (Australia), October 2013 – September 2014 (n=5,968).
Flying the flag and drinking the brew
Certainly,
choosing to drink an Australian beer can be seen as a ‘true blue’ gesture in
itself — but are there degrees of patriotism between these popular
brands? Too right, cobber!
According to
the most recent findings from Roy Morgan Research, Australia’s most fervently
patriotic beer drinkers are folks who drink XXXX Gold, Cascade Premium Light,
VB and Crown Lager.
These people
are more likely than other beer drinkers to believe that ‘Australian beer is
the only beer worth drinking’ and that ‘imported beer is a waste of money’.
XXXX Gold and VB drinkers are particularly vehement in this respect.
They also
tend to be more likely than drinkers of other Aussie beer brands to ‘try to buy
Australian-made products as often as possible’ — not just beer.
Whereas 80%
of Aussie beer drinkers agree with the statement ‘I consider myself
Australian’, 94% of Cascade Premium Light drinkers, 90% of Crown Lager drinkers
and 88% of XXXX Gold drinkers feel the same way.
Bearing all
of the above in mind, perhaps it’s not surprising that drinkers of these four
iconic Australian brands are significantly more likely than your average beer
drinker to be aged 50 and older. In time-honoured Aussie tradition, they can
often be found hanging out at the RSL or Leagues Club, where they may well be
playing the pokies.
Angela Smith, Group Account Director, Roy Morgan Research, says:
“Many of us will be cracking open a cold one on
Australia Day, but some will be doing it with particularly ‘true blue’ passion.
It would have been surprising if Cascade drinkers weren’t among them, since
Cascade is Australia’s oldest operating brewery — cause for a bit of patriotic
pride in itself!
“Funnily enough, drinkers of Cascade Premium
Light are more likely to be from Victoria than from Tasmania (where the brewery
is based): of the top-selling Australian beers featured in this release, James
Boag (also from the Apple Isle) is far more popular among Tasmanians.
“Not surprisingly, XXXX Gold drinkers
overwhelmingly tend to be from Queensland, while VB and Crown Lager are most
popular in Victoria.
“Of course, there is infinitely more to beer
drinkers than their patriotic tendencies. For example, our data reveals that people
who drink James Squire are much more likely than the average beer drinker to
have read a novel in the last three months and self-identify as ‘a bit of an
intellectual’, as well as being avid gig-goers and possibly even musicians
themselves…”
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