Cricketers Arms Launches at the MCG

Written by David Hagger on 25 November 2014.

The National Sports Museum was a superb location for the branding launch of Cricketers Arms and the Spearhead Pale Ale. The World Loves Melbourne was invited along for the festivities with a host of beer and beverage afficiados at the the iconic MCG venue.

Cricketers Arms has a broad selection of beers, and its marketing strategy on labelling has been to go "all out" with the cricketing theme. We were given a speech by the head of marketing explaining the cricketing symbolism in the colour chemes, labelling and background images on each of the beer product range.

We started the night in the National Sports Museum where The World Loves Melbourne checked out the historic cricket collections including gear from Vic Trumper and Don Bradman. We chatted with Cricketers Arms Execs who were passionate about the product and the story of the brand.

The World Loves Melbourne enjoyed the new Spearhead Pale Ale with its floral notes and it packs a punch at 5.2% alcohol for a pale ale. Spearhead is a beer I could stay with. Often with craft beers you can drink one or two but they are hard to stay on. The floral notes aren't over the top on the Spearhead. My mate and I loved the taste on first sip, which is always a great indicator.

The heroes of Cricketers Arms were on hand to share their story, as well as show a humourous video on the making of Spearhead. This beer is made in Laverton and can be considered a Melbourne beer that is now rapidly selling beyond Melbourne. Paul Scott (right) pioneered the brand by delivering 7 cases of his own brew to the Prince of Wales Hotel in St Kilda. With no business plan the beer sold quickly. As he was part owner of Cherry Bar he knew the Melbourne beer market well. He then connected with legendary brewer Dermot O'Donnell (left) and together they famously tried 500 beers to create a sessional sustainable beer. By that they wanted to create a beer where you could drink several without feeling heavy. Paul Scott also wanted to recreate the "after the game" social beer drinking sessions from his Dad's cricket days, according to his speech at the launch. Some of Melbourne's iconic establishments took a shine to Cricketers Arms in the early days and the brand expanded.

Here's Master Brewer extraordinnaire Dermot O'Donnell pouring an ale at the MCG Stumps Bar.

In recent times Cricketers arms range has been picked up by Asahi Premium Beverages from Japan, giving the brand even wider distribution channels.

Asahi Premium Beverages has recently re-launched boutique craft beer Cricketers Arms under the helm of its Master Brewer, Dermot O’Donnell. Highly respected international beer judge and Master Brewer Dermot O’Donnell has ensured Cricketers Arms continues its craft reputation through his personal supervision and hands on approach.

Since its move to the Asahi Premium Beverage stable, Cricketers Arms has seen its strongest sales to date. Brand growth has been driven through its draught presence and an increase in production capacity though the Asahi Premium Beverages’ re-developed Victorian plant. The plant now boasts new high speed,high volume keg lines, and extensive brewery upgrades including new fermentation vessels and world class Steinecker brewing equipment.

At the launch we were shown a sales graph that displayed a huge sales spike in the last 2 months for Cricketers Arms, with an excitement for the upcoming summer. The World Loves Melbourne was excited to take a few home from the launch. A fine drop!

Posted in Food