Prancing Pony’s new beer pays homage to ‘indie’ brewers
A beer that celebrates independently-owned craft breweries has been launched by Adelaide Hills brewer Prancing Pony in the wake of several corporate takeovers of popular Australian brands.
Indie Kid is a Bohemian-style Pilsener with a combination of traditional German and new-world American hops, which add subtle citrus notes.
The beer launched at 12 venues across Adelaide last week and will be available in Victoria this week with a tap takeover at Far Side Beers in Melbourne. It will launch in Sydney and Brisbane next week.
Prancing Pony shot to prominence last year when its India Red Ale won the Supreme Champion Trophy at the International Beer Challenge in London.
CEO Corinna Steeb said the new beer, which is among a dozen in the Prancing Pony stable, also celebrated the brewery’s two apprentice brewers, who represented the future of the industry.
“It is a bit of a stance to say, ‘We’re an independent brewery and we’re proud of it’, so for us it’s very much about showcasing what an independent brewery can do,” she said.
“The indie kids to us are the young brewers who will be doing the brewing in the future and we look forward to seeing what they come up with.
“It’s a very traditional beer but we are using a non-traditional hop.”
The 4.8 per cent Pilsener is also the first beer to roll off Prancing Pony’s new bottling line.
Independently owned breweries in Australia are digging in to fight for taps and market share following the recent sales of leading craft breweries to multinationals.
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Earlier this month, Coca-Cola Amatil announced it had bought West Australian brewery Feral Brewing. Last month, Sydney brewery 4 Pines was sold to the world’s largest brewer, AB InBev.
The 2017 Australian Craft Beer Survey found that 99 per cent of respondents were happy to buy beers brewed by an Australian independent brewery while only 23 per cent were happy to buy beers brewed by a large multinational.
This article was first published on The Lead.
