Another Cooper has joined the family-owned brewer as its whisky plans ramp up

Coopers Brewery has welcomed sixth-generation Iain Cooper into the family-owned business, as it looks to the future with its whisky and microbrewery plans.

Coopers Brewery’s Dr Tim Cooper and son, and technical brewer, Iain Cooper. Picture: John Kruger

Coopers Brewery is welcoming another sixth generation family member back into the fold, with Iain Cooper making his way back to Adelaide after a stint at another famous family-founded brewer in Carlsberg.

Iain, the son of managing director and chief brewer Dr Tim Cooper, had an early interest in film and completed a degree in media and economics at the University of NSW before the lure of the family craft proved too much.

“The brewery has been such a big part of my life from as long as I can remember,’’ Mr Cooper said.

“Growing up I watched and listened intently to my dad and grandfather as they worked at the brewery and discussed the business at the family table.

“I worked in the school holidays assembling home-brew kits and helping with Christmas deliveries, but I wasn’t always sure I’d end up joining the family business.”

Designs for the new $50m Coopers visitor centre. Picture: Supplied

Coopers encourages family members with an interest in joining the brewery to cut their teeth outside the South Australian operation in the first instance, which saw Iain head to Edinburgh to study a Master of Science in brewing and distilling.

“I then moved to Copenhagen where I became immersed in the science and technical aspects of brewing, and managed a pilot malting plant,” he said.

“It’s been a steep learning curve and I’m now looking forward to contributing to the family business alongside our world-class brewing team.’’

Mr Cooper said a technical brewer worked with the brewers managing the recipes and the production itself.

The new visitor centre takes inspiration from the beer barrel.

Mr Cooper returns at an exciting time for Coopers, which is working on major expansion plans including a microbrewery, whisky distilling operations and a new visitor centre.

“The building of the microbrewery has the operations team very excited. There’s a lot of very creative people here who are excited to play around on a smaller scale than what we are currently able to do,’’ Mr Cooper said.

He is also now part of the team at Coopers which tests the product each Tuesday morning to ensure what’s going to market is top quality.

“I did my sensory training with Carlsberg in Denmark so I’ve now joined that team, it’s a fun part of the job,’’ Mr Cooper said.

Mr Cooper’s favourite Coopers drop is a Sparkling Ale, while he’s also partial to a Pacific Pale Ale.

Other sixth-generation family members involved in the business include Mr Cooper’s cousin Andrew Cooper (son of company chairman Glenn Cooper) who is the brewery’s export beer manager, while Iain’s sister Louise Cooper is the brewery’s strategic development manager.

Dr Cooper said he was proud to see his son continuing the strong family brewing tradition.

“Iain has developed his own unique style and approach to brewing and demonstrated a real commitment to the craft,” Dr Cooper said.

“It’s great to see Iain now join Louise and Andrew as sixth-generation family members here at Coopers, which all bodes well for the long-term future of our company.”