Courage Crest Premium Lager ‘for any occasion’ Poster

Courage Beer attempted to break the stranglehold Carlton & United had on the beer market in Victoria with its launch on 10 October 1968. Despite introducing a range of brands and an eventual take-over by Tooths in 1978, Courage was unsuccessful. This was in large part because of the system of ‘tied pubs’ which meant CUB controlled much of the distribution chain.

Until the 1980s, beer drinkers in Australia were fiercely parochial. If you were in Victoria, you drank one of Carlton & United’s beers. If you were in New South Wales, it was Resch’s, Tooths or Tooheys. In Queensland, XXXX. And so on.  Victorians might grudgingly admit that Boag’s from Tassie wasn’t a bad drop, but in pubs the offerings were generally restricted to Victoria Bitter, Fosters and Carlton Draught.

The first Courage beer was a lager not radically different from the CUB products. It was launched with great fanfare and Victorian drinkers rushed to try it. Many pubs ran out. However, the initial enthusiasm didn’t last. CUB fought back, accused of using dirty tricks. Before long, a rumour began to circulate that Courage gave you diarrhoea.  Gradually, drinkers returned to their old CUB favourites.

The launch of Courage Beer was also a brave move in a market where the brewery giant owned so many of the pubs. This gave the company leverage with hotel operators who risked not having their leases renewed if they sold competitive products.

Courage persisted for ten years, making a loss in every year but one. They introduced new products, like Ace Lager (a low calorie beer) and the “slow brewed” Tankard Bitter.