League star Matty Johns on his love of lager and why beer and footy are such a good fit

A company owned by a group of former footy players and surfers is about to make a bold move in the ultra-competitive beer market.

Footy and beer have always been a very tight fit.

No matter what your preferred code – and no matter what the weather – there’s something about having a cold one in your hand while the bodies bash and crash on the field that enhances the match-day experience.

Traditionally, a beer at the football has pretty much always been a lager, partly due to the tastes of punters who grew up on Australia’s most popular beer style, and partly because the pouring rights at the major stadiums have been mostly sewn up by the major, mainstream breweries.

Certainly that was the case for Matthew Johns, who grew in the rugby league heartland of NSW’s Hunter Valley. He says that when he first started drinking beer in the late ’80s, it was all lager and the concept of craft beer barely even existed in Australia.

That’s where the former Newcastle Knights and Kangaroos star’s tastes remain to this day, so when he teamed up with brother Andrew, former Knights teammates Danny Buderus and Kurt Gidley, along with pro-surfers Craig Anderson, Matt Hoy and Ryan Callinan, to launch the Steel City beer company, a traditional lager was always going to be front and centre.

“I like my beer pretty straight,” he says. “Newcastle is very much a beer town. I said to people, in my opinion if it’s a Newcastle beer, they will get behind it as long as they don’t have a taste of it and go ‘Oh, Jesus’.

“My tastes are very much what a coal miner or a steelworker would thirst for at the end of a shift.”

Matthew Johns and steel workers in Newcastle for the Steel City Beer company. Picture: Supplied

After a GQ magazine survey of 30,000 experts voted Steel City Lager the No. 1 beer of 2021, the company launched pale ale, which Johns says was “a small shuffle to the right towards craft beer” and a mid-strength. He says the company is looking to expand into an already crowded market with a taproom and restaurant in Newcastle.

“We’re in that area where we’re looking now looking to take that next step, which of course, involves the second course of funding, but it’s been great, and I have really enjoyed it. There’s a lot of competition out there.”

Former Melbourne Demons star and Australian Football Hall of Famer David Neitz took a slightly more evangelical approach to craft beer when he launched Brewmanity nearly eight years ago, having been converted on a trip to Belgium in 2009. Part of his mission – along with helping to raise money for Motor Neurone Disease research – “was to push the boundaries of traditional beers”.

Again, the company started relatively simple with the Mouth of the South Draught and the Social Beast Pale Ale, but his since extended the range to include The Big Dance West Coast IPA and the just launched the Slider Cold XPA. The new brew takes its name from the Big Freeze event at the MCG on the King’s Birthday weekend, where former players and celebrities slide down a chute into icy water to raise funds for MND, which Dees great and Neitz’s mate Neale Daniher has been battling for nearly a decade.

According to head brewer Tim Miller, combining the lager and XPA styles is “kind of like a reverse mullet, with the party upfront and business at the back”.

Brewmanity founder David Neitz at the Big Freeze fundraiser for MND at the MCG. Photo by Michael Klein

“The idea was to take the best bits out of a few brewing methods to create a beer that excites the front of the palette with the XPA influence, and dries off nice and crisp at the back end, which is the lager influence,” Miller says.

Many brewers are also embracing the connections with the football world by sponsoring clubs and recruiting ex-players as investors as ambassadors. Melbourne’s CBCo Brewing is an official partner of the North Melbourne Football Club (their taproom in Port Melbourne broadcasts matches, with “bottomless pizza and beer” deals for the duration of the game) while Sydney outfit Young Henry’s has teamed up with league club the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Young Henrys has also been part of a push to get more craft beers into footy venues – its most popular product, the Newtowner Pale Ale, is available both at the SCG and the newly revamped Allianz stadium. Similarly Western Australia’s Gage Roads, which already has exclusive pouring rights at Perth’s Optus Stadium, signed on to be an official partner of the Adelaide Crows, meaning that its beers, such as the hugely popular Single Fin Summer Ale, will now be available in premium areas on match days.

The Parramatta Leagues Club in western Sydney – home to the Eels – has gone one further with its own craft brewery, Jacks Brewery, named after founding fathers Jack Argent and Jack Boyle, which now produces a pale ale, summer ale, session ale, IPA, XPA, red ale and Belgian Ale.

GAME ON

As footy season kicks off, Smart Craft Beer Club’s Ben Malouf gives the ref’s verdict on the best beers for the armchair expert.

Young Henry Newtowner for SMARTdaily

Young Henrys Newtowner

Newtowner is a 4.8% beer in the style of a new Aussie Pale Ale made with Australian Pale and Crystal malts. It is finished with a trio of Australian hops, producing a golden, refreshing beer with a well-rounded malt and hop balance and a slightly dry finish.

CBCo Pale Ale Can for SMARTdaily.

CBCo Pale Ale

Meet the pale ale that makes others pale by comparison. Artfully brewed to sit between traditional American and Australian pale ales, our brewers searched the world for the perfect combination of hops, blending USA favourites with Australia’s heroes to create the perfect pale. The result is a tropical-tinged treat that’s a glowing golden in colour, bursting with tropical fruit aroma & piney resin. Smooth and approachable but packed with aromatic hops, CBCo Pale Ale is brewed to linger on the palate, not overpower it.

Jacks Brewery Summer Ale

Jack’s Brewery Summer Ale

Brewed using 100% Australian grown barley and wheat malts, balanced with a generous amount of Australian Galaxy hops. An easy drinking ‘session’ beer, that displays a beautiful citrus and passionfruit aroma followed by a clean, refreshing finish.

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Originally published as League star Matty Johns on his love of lager and why beer and footy are such a good fit