Hahn Longbrew Lager ‘Legends’ David Hookes Batsman Poster

Dr Charles Hahn and three other partners, together with Kimberley Securities, the major shareholder, formed the Hahn Brewing Co. Pty Ltd. By March 1988 beer had begun to flow at their new brewery in the inner Sydney suburb of Camperdown. Chuck Hahn had gained considerable brewing experience with Coors Brewery in the USA, Tooth’s Brewery in Sydney, and the New Zealand Breweries in New Zealand.

The three large copper kettles, a showpiece of the Hahn Brewery, originally came from Germany in 1952, and were purchased in New Zealand after the Standard Brewery had closed. When brewing commenced, there was only one beer, Hahn Premium Lager, an all-malt, unpasteurised lager that was intended for the restaurant and prestige hotel trade. The beer was an immediate success, and its popularity rapidly spread. Draught and bottled beer were distributed throughout eastern Australia, and other products were introduced to a receptive market.

In March 1989 Kimberley Securities sold their equity in the company to an investment company of Stephen Woods with extensive experience in liquor marketing and distribution. A new product, Sydney Bitter, was introduced in 1991, and different brewing techniques were employed to reduce the brewing and cellaring time, and production costs.

In January 1993 the Hahn Brewery was taken overby the Sydney brewer, Toohey’s Ltd. The brewery at Camperdown con­tinued to brew a range of beers, including many of the popular Hahn brands.

Toohey’s, however, ceased brewing their own beers at Hahn’s Brewery in 1998, following an agreement with the founder of the brewery, Dr Charles Hahn. The premises at Camperdown were renamed the Malt Shovel Brewery Pty Ltd, and, as brewmaster, Dr Hahn then continued to brew and market his own specialty beers.

Article in the Australian Financial Review by Neil Shoebridge, May 15, 1995

“Timing is critical in new-product battles. When Lion Nathan waited five months before it introduced a rival to Carlton & United Breweries’ Carlton Cold, industry watchers suspected that Lion had fallen behind CUB in terms of innovation. Their suspicions were confirmed earlier this year, when it took Lion three months to launch Hahn Longbrew in response to CUB’s Diamond Draft.

Diamond Draft and Hahn Longbrew are part of a battle in which CUB and Lion have launched a collection of new beers and line extensions of existing beers over the past six months. CUB has introduced Foster’s Special Ice, 303 Icegold and Diamond Draft beers since November, plus an alcoholic soda called Sub Zero. Lion has unveiled Hahn Gold, Hahn Longbrew and Tooheys Blue Bock since February.

Both brewers are chasing market share in a static market: beer sales have increased just 0.3% since August. At the same time, analysts say CUB wants to reduce its reliance on Victoria Bitter, which represents an estimated 45% of its annual sales. Lion wants to recapture the reputation for product innovation it enjoyed during the early 1990s with products such as Tooheys Red and Tooheys Blue, but lost in recent years with failures such as Tooheys Gold and Tooheys Classic.’