So, CUB has announced its new and improved Crown Lager. I’m not sure whether to compare the multinational brewing company to the boy who cried wolf, or the painter that paints himself into a corner. Either way, CUB’s long-term over-hyping and soft deception around its ‘premium’ flagship seems to have finally caught up with it.
The media release below highlights the dilemma a company such as CUB finds itself in when it spends more than a decade telling Australia that it has been using “only the finest malt and Pride of Ringwood hops”: where is there to go when you decide you want to improve Australia’s Finest?
You can’t use better ingredients. ‘Finest’ is what’s called a superlative adjective, that is a word that describes the extreme quality of something. The finest is the finest, there isn’t a grade above it. So, when Crown Lager General Manager of Marketing, Richard Oppy now says that CUB is now “…making sure that we use the very best Australian ingredients”, we can only assume that means they were being a bit sloppy about ensuring it before, right? “This time we’re really using the finest ingredients. Really and truly, hand on our heart. We promise.”
No, what it means is that to relaunch the beer, the marketers just smear another layer of nonsense on top of the old, in this case its the unoriginal and meaningless gimmick of the single source ingredient.
We’ll look at that, but let’s first strip away the marketer’s hype for a minute and have a look at the beer.
A couple of years ago, back when CUB had staff that would answer questions in a meaningful way, I interviewed then Head Brewer, John Cozens, to get to the bottom of the oft-asked question, “is Crown Lager just Fosters in a different bottle?” John was (still is, I am sure) a great bloke, approachable, open and candid – or at least he gave a very good impersonation of someone who was open and honest. Needless to say with qualities like this, John has since moved on from SABMiller’s ‘new’ CUB. In any event, I put the question to him, “what made Crown Lager a premium beer compared to a beer such as Fosters or VB?”
John answered:
What makes Crown a premium beer is not only the ingredients we use; we pay closer attention to them, to ensure we use the finest ingredients. We also have a second tier, if you like, of quality checking and tasting which goes on for that beer [Crown Lager], over and above what we do for all of our beers, quality is obviously paramount to that. There is additional tastings which are carried out on Crown just to make sure that what is coming through is up to our expectations. There are some additional maturations, there is an additional maturation period which we believe is, you know, part of the smoothness of Crown and that kind of quality feel about it and then there are some additional processing steps in it as well, which we feel, again, contributes to that. Add that to the fact that it’s in an iconic bottle etcetera and the pricing, all of which play a part in that, but – at the end of the day – it’s a beer which is treated differently through the whole production and packaging process and that’s what we sell as our flagship, Australian premium beer.
Now, that’s a brewer talking. He’s able to explain the technical but, arguably, marginal differences between the regular lager and the premium lager in a meaningful and reasonable way. ((It’s amazing isn’t it. Back when I could get an honest, reasonable and unambiguous answer to a reasonable question, even I couldn’t work up a rant on it. I miss those days)) That’s what Crown Lager was: largely the same beer, but with slight technical improvements and better presentation. They already used the finest ingredients and paid closer attention to them.
What is absent from John’s explanation is the sort of chronic overreaching that CUB’s marketers feel the need to add, such as the completely invented version of the beer’s history ((which they seem to have finally put out of its misery)). The differences between VB and Crown were unsexy, they were technical and related to brewing specifications and gradings and some minor process differences. But marketing, especially the over-aroused style employed by CUB, can’t sell technical so they invented a history based on rumour and no research and resorted to overwrought superlatives.
The problem is, when the marketers have already overused every superlative adjective to describe the beer, how can you convince anyone that the relaunched beer is new and improved, short of inventing new adjectives. “It’s Crown Lager, it’s excellefinest“? Hence the new farmer-in-the-field gimmick, designed to make people forget that Crown already apparently uses the ‘finest’ ingredients. Now its uses the finest ingredients from the winner of an X Factor for Barley Growers competition. According to Oppy this is a ‘specification’ and Crown is the only one that uses it. That’s not a hard thing to claim when the specification appears to have been made up.
But does CUB really need to resort to such gimmicks? Based on media reports, Richard Oppy has confirmed there will be no adjuncts, such as cane sugar, used in the new Crown Lager. Forget the provenance nonsense, this is a genuine change to the recipe. This really is a big deal, I would have thought. This should be the headline. But, of course, it can’t be. When their last campaign ran the tagline, “Time. The Fifth Ingredient” and boasted “The finest barley, yeast, water and Pride of Ringwood hops are matured with time under an extended lagering process” CUB’s marketers painted themselves into a corner. They can’t really come out now and say, “we have eliminated an ingredient that we were doing our very best not to tell you you about in the first place”.
Instead, it is presented in language that would give the casual reader the impression it has always used 100 per cent malt. Even industry rag The Shout, which ‘broke’ the story, managed to report the news about Crown being 100 per cent malt without reporting that this was actually new or that it represented a change to the recipe. After the VB debacle, CUB would be a little gun shy about drawing attention to a recipe change lest they upset their rusted on drinkers. Much better to give the impression it’s always been adjunct free and focus on a barley field instead.
I would love the chance to speak with the brewers to find out more about this aspect of the change and what it means to the beer and the brewing process, and whether they have also eliminated preservatives in the beer as they did with VB. I doubt the opportunity will arise however. Instead we will have to read the marketers in the media explaining the difference. And, as The Shout article shows, it’s pointless speaking to the marketers as they make sounds with little care for what the words they convey actually mean.
Below is the recent marketing copy for two CUB beers, one is the (now) all-malt Crown Lager, ‘Australia’s Finest Lager’, and the other is for Sun Chaser Lager, a new adjunct-rich, clear-bottled, low-flavoured lager. Can you pick which describes the all-malt beer that uses time as the fifth ingredient and which describes the latest exclusive-to-Coles throw-away brand?
“…slow brewed using 100% Australian grown barley to deliver a crisp, clean and refreshing taste…”
“…brew that uses 100 per cent Australian malt, drinkers will notice an even smoother, creamier taste…”
So readers, which one is 100 per cent malt and which is brewed with sugar? And can you tell me the difference between the two very different beers different based on reading the marketing copy? If the same words can mean two very different things, is one designed to be misleading or is it just accidentally so?
Anyway, it will be fascinating to try the new, all-malt version of Crown Lager and see what difference the changes actually make to the beer when it hits the shelves, while at the same time trying to dodge the nationwide torrent of nonsense that will accompany its release.
*needless to say, the author will not be a guest of CUB Chief Executive Officer, Ari Mervis, at the official re-launch of the new look Crown Lager at the Sydney Cricket Ground later this month.
Media Release
Australia’s Finest Beer, Crown Lager Uses Australia’s Finest Ingredients
Crown Lager this month reaffirms its position as ‘Australia’s Finest’ beer with a renewed focus on quality and the very best locally grown ingredients that will be used exclusively for the brewing of its beer.
While Crown Lager has always been brewed using Australian Pride of Ringwood hops, the brewer will now have ‘first choice’ of these hops which will be personally selected each harvest by the Crown brew master from both Bushy Park in Tasmania and Myrtleford in Victoria.
Beginning with this year’s crop, Crown Lager will also hand select the best three barley farmers each year from a group of more than 2,000 so it knows exactly which farms its barley will come from ensuring it complies with Crown Lager’s strict quality specifications, the highest in Australia, making it a superior brew.
Crown Lager General Manager of Marketing, Richard Oppy said, “Crown Lager is the only brand in Australia that uses this barley specification. Crown Lager has always been Australia’s finest brew and we’re making sure that we use the very best Australian ingredients.”
With the focus firmly on the quality of the Crown Lager brew that uses 100 per cent Australian malt, drinkers will notice an even smoother, creamier taste. It will still be the same taste profile Crown Lager fans know and love but they’ll also enjoy Australia’s finest beer knowing they are drinking only the very best local Australian ingredients.
Crown Lager will also unveil new packaging and updated branding as part of the relaunch, with newly branded stock rolling out from the brewery from mid-July.
It has been left ambiguous and to me doesn’t actually state “no sugar”. They have written in a way which could be interpreted as “100% of the malt that gets used, is Australian”.
Needless to say I doubt anyone would be converted to drinking it now if they weren’t before.
Yeah, I agree that the wording in the media release is ambiguous. Deliberate ambiguity seems to be the currency of the CUB marketer, which is why I highlighted the Sun Chaser marketing copy. However the statement in The Shout appears unequivocal: “While cane sugar is commonly used in the production of mainstream beers, Oppy confirmed there will be no such adjuncts used in the new Crown Lager. “It will be brewed with 100 per cent Australian malt.” So, unless The Shout – which was fed the scoop and granted an interview – has it completely wrong, it would seem to be all malt.
No such adjuncts could still mean maize or rice could be added although I doubt it. I’ve got a work colleague that did his apprenticeship at CUB. Tells me stories of 44gal drums of bitter caramel, pipes full of carbonated tap water and tanks of straight alcohol. Makes you wonder how they make their beer. Would be interesting to know.
Hahaha so quick question, while we keep looking for better beers, what is your beer of choice? Both u and ed. ? Ta
Beer of choice is such a hard question, as it really depends on the day, the temperature, the company, the occasion and the food…but that little bit of wankerness out of me, if I wanted a beer to drink instead of Crown, I would go for Burleigh Brewing’s Duke Premium Lager or Stone & Wood’s Lager. Both all-malt lagers that have a genuine provenance and don’t need glitzy gold foil and an expensive ad campaign to tell you that they’re good.
I’m skeptical it will be an all malt beer – Oppy said, “It will be brewed with 100 per cent AUSTRALIAN malt.”
He didn’t say it will be brewed using 100% malt. Only all the malt they’ll use will be Australian.
I could be wrong of course. And I hope I am. But given their track record…
I agree, which is why I highlighted the dodgy claims they make with Sun Chaser. But he did seem unequivocal about it in The Shout saying it contained no adjuncts. Don’t expect The Shout to grill him about it though. Apparently their audience of publicans and retailers don’t want that sort of analysis.
See my reply to your “editorial”!
All you are doing is hurting the businesses that are selling CUB products.!
I don’t see you criticiseing the Kirin products( James Squire, little creatures, whittle rabbit ) ???. Do you have an agreement with them,?, or do you just hate CUB?
You’ll see my responses above, but given the look of your beer list you’d have to be receiving some fairly hefty rebates from CUB to stock their beers, hardly “not receiving money to support anyone” if that’s the case. If you’re worried that having CUB’s marketing nonsense pointed out is hurting your business, perhaps you should choose better business partners.
I picked that up too Mike. And although I use POR hops for bittering some of my brews its the first time I’ve heard finest and POR in a sentence.
Oppy marketing. Sloppy production. I like it!
No matter how you polish a turd, it remains a turd.
Clearly you know turds?…..
Obviously you have experience in the industry?… Or are you just being silly?
These big breweries are hugely efficient, but mainly when they brew a single wort stream and adjust things like colour and BU’s just prior to packaging. So if crown lager is not produced from the same wort stream as the rest I’d be very surprised. My understanding is VB and Melb Bitter are the same beer, but with Melb Bitter having an extra couple of Bu’s dial in on the tetra hop dosing on the way to package.
I’d love to pose that question to a brewer…needless to say that won’t be happening any time soon.
My understanding is Fosters and Crown are one and the same, Crown possibly sits in the Maturation tank for an extra 3 days, and that is the only difference. Good luck trying to pick the difference in a blind tasting.
No such adjuncts could still mean maize or rice could be added although I doubt it. I’ve got a work colleague that did his apprenticeship at CUB. Tells me stories of 44gal drums of bitter caramel, pipes full of carbonated tap water and tanks of straight alcohol. Makes you wonder how they make their beer. Would be interesting to know.
I have had it indirectly confirmed Crown is an all malt beer now. Of course, as I indicated above, they can’t trumpet that without highlighting this is new. Also, I guess if they make too much of all-malt being special it highlights the fact that their other beers, such as VB, are brewed with sugar and so must not be special. Ahhh, the quandaries that marketers find themeselves in.
Doesn’t really matter how they spin it – sugar has its place in some beer styles and the pale aussie lager is one of them.
Sugar ensures the finish is left dry which is what the aussie male yobbo is really seaking – easy to smash p***.
I doubt the market that drinks Crown would even be able to notice the difference.
Well all said and done , to me it just tastes like a green Crown Lager. I have poured many down the drain in years past because they were not stored in optimum conditions. Will give it go for while and see if it evens out.
Hi
Don’t you realize that my criticizing and rubbishing these beers that you are hurting the people that are selling the cub products?
It is sad that you use this medium to criticize.
Man up and don’t use this communication medium to have cheap attacks.
And FYI, I am not receiving money to support anyone….. Are you?
An interesting comment. I don’t think you can point me to a line that rubbishes the beers, I have only written about the marketing. I note that you don’t suggest that my challenges about CUB’s marketing are wrong, you just seem to suggest I shouldn’t say them.
If you’re worried about it, perhaps you should consider selling beers that actually have provenance and history rather than rely on cynical marketing and spin.
If you’re going to cast aspersions about conflicts of interest I can answer easily. I have never received a dollar from Lion but once did receive some State of Origin tickets. On the other hand I would estimate that I have received more than $20,000 worth of corporate hospitality and cash from CUB over the post 7 years so there’s certainly no anti-CUB conflicts, any bias is a bias against bullshit not CUB.
And when you say that you are not receiving money to support anyone, does that mean you don’t have a contract with CUB or receive any rebates from them in return for selling their beers?
I remember the change. The taste difference was immediately obvious, and I have to say I by far preferred it. More body and smoother. Having one now in 2016 and it tastes like they went back to the old Recipie. Probably a result of market research. That’s the problem with an iconic brand, even if the market is swinging away from your style it’s probably not worth upsetting your loyal base. I think that’s what the black label is all about, trying to have something new and something old on the back of a strong brand.
Someone told me she drinks crown bbecause it doesn’t have any yeast. Is this possible? She said they used just barley yeast but I’ve not bbeen able to find ny reference to such a thing if it exists.
All bear uses yeast to ferment. Crown lager is no different.
Shouldn’t that be bears?