Burleigh Brewing celebrates 18 years as founder confirms they’d been approached to sell out

Despite the value of their brand ballooning, Burleigh Brewing has resisted the pull of consolidation which has drawn countless other craft brewers to sell out to mega-companies. Here’s why

Pioneering Gold Coast craft company Burleigh Brewing has officially grown up, celebrating 18 years in the can since tapping its first keg in 2006.

The lager than life brewery has grown from a pint-sized start-up – which struggled to get people to taste their frothy wares – to a full-strength success story, served and stocked in almost every town and city in Australia.

Despite the value of their brand ballooning, Burleigh Brewing has resisted the pull of consolidation which has drawn countless other craft brewers to sell out to mega-companies.

Fellow Gold Coast-born label Balter Brewing is among the small breweries to have cashed in recent years, along with 4 Pines, Green Beacon, Mountain Goat, Pirate Life, Matilda Bay and Yak Brewing – all sold to Japanese giant Asahi.

Another Japanese giant, Kirin, via its Lion Nathan subsidiary, also owns a swag of craft names including Stone & Wood, Little Creatures and Furphy.

Burleigh Brewing is celebrating its birthday and owners Peta and Brennan Fielding are announcing its 18th birthday bash. Picture Glenn Hampson

Co-founder and CEO Peta Fielding said Burleigh Brewing was proud to have thus far resisted the overtures of cashed-up suitors.

“One of the things that’s allowed us to get to 18 years is that we’ve been that passionate about it,” she said.

“There have certainly been conversations over the years from various places but we’ve had our own really strong reason for being.

“We want to be the Coopers of Queensland.”

South Australian label Coopers lays claim to being the country’s oldest independent brewery, having been operated by the Cooper family for 160 years.

Ms Fielding and co-founder husband Brennan were at the forefront of the craft beer industry’s Australian explosion, and credit the support of the Gold Coast for much of their success.

“We just had the Crafted Beer Festival on the weekend and there were 80 booths of different breweries – when we started it was just us,” Ms Fielding said.

“I think there was a brewery up at Tambourine Mountain and one at Brisbane – if you’d run a beer tour you’d have spent most of the time on the bus.

“Now you can walk between them.

“It did take a little while for the Gold Coast to understand what we were doing and that you could get good beer from someone who wasn’t a massive brewer.”

Brennan and Peta Fielding launching Australia's first no carb beer, Bighead, in 2007.

Ms Fielding said the goal was to “save the Gold Coast” from same-old big label beer selections that had previously been on offer.

“The whole reason we started Burleigh Brewing on the Gold Coast was because there was no choice in beer,” she said.

“You’d go to a restaurant and people were starting to ask about where the food came from and the wine – but the beer was just the beer.”

Fans and friends of Burleigh Brewing are invited to join the party – with beer, live music, party games and more – at its Burleigh Heads taphouse from noon on Saturday.

The celebration will see the limited return of historical BB favourites, including its first ever beer, Duke Premium.

Originally published as Burleigh Brewing celebrates 18 years as founder confirms they’d been approached to sell out