Little Creatures Brewery Explained

Little Creatures Brewing Pty Ltd
Location City:	Fremantle, Western Australia
Location Country:	Australia
Industry:	Alcoholic beverage
Products:	Beer
Owner:	Little World Beverages
Parent:	Lion (owned by Kirin)

Little Creatures is a brewery based in Fremantle, Western Australia, operating as a subsidiary of the Japanese firm Kirin Company. It is owned by Little World Beverages, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lion which is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Kirin.^[1]

Little Creatures was originally established in 2000 by the original brewers of the Matilda Bay Brewing Company. The name Little Creatures is inspired by a song lyric from Talking Heads' album Little Creatures and refers to the live yeast cells that turn the sugars in malt wort into ethanol.

History

Little Creatures Brewery was founded by Howard Cearns (a marketing specialist), Nic Trimboli (a restaurateur) and Phil Sexton (a master brewer),^[2] all of whom previously worked with the Matilda Bay Brewing Company. In 1997 Cearns, Trimboli and Sexton discussed the possibility of brewing an American style India Pale Ale.^[3] Sexton, having worked in the United States, was involved in the development of the BridgePort IPA.^[4] Cearns came up with the name after reading about little creatures wandering from ale house to ale house in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and at the time thinking that it sounded like yeast fermentation.^[4] The brewery released its first beer, Little Creatures Pale Ale, in 2000.^[5] The Company sponsors the Fremantle Print Award.In 2008 the company established a second brewery in Healesville, Victoria. In 2012 the company was bought by Lion Nathan^[6] In 2013 another brewery was opened in Geelong, Victoria, at a cost of $60 million. Brewing capacity is reported as "10abbr=offNaNabbr=off a year, or 80 kegs an hour."^[7]

Brewery

The brewery building was originally constructed to house the Taskforce '87 yachts (such as Kookaburra) participating in the 1987 America's Cup. But it housed a crocodile farm before being converted to its current use. The brewery is open to the public and contains a café restaurant.^[8]

Brands

• The original Little Creatures Pale Ale is an American Pale Ale (5.2% alc/vol), brewed with Cascade (aroma) and Chinook (bittering) whole hop flowers, self-propagated yeast with a secondary bottle fermentation, and Australian malts.
• Rogers, an amber ale (3.8% alc/vol)
• Little Creatures Pilsner, a Pilsener (4.6% alc/vol), brewed with Tasmanian Helga, New Zealand Pacifica and Saaz hops.
• Little Creatures Bright Ale, a golden ale (4.5% alc/vol), brewed using a selection of four malts including Pale, Carapils, Munich and Vienna.
• Little Creatures Dog Days, a Sessions ale, hoppy beer that marries bright peachy, juicy-fruit hop flavours with a soft malt backbone. 4.4% alc/vol, 355ml can.(previously a Seasonal only beer)
• Pipsqueak Cider, an apple cider
• Furphy Refreshing ale, an ale made with 100% Victorian ingredients. 4.4% alc/vol, stubbie.

For the flagship Pale Ale, cool bottle fermentation is carried out with a lager yeast.

Awards

The brewery has won a number of Australian International Beer Awards. In 2002, Little Creatures Brewery was named Champion Australian Brewery, and its Pale Ale crowned as Champion Ale. The beer also won Choice magazine's 2003 Best Australian Ale and the 2004 BBC Good Food prize for Best Ale.^[9]

People's Choice

Little Creatures' beers have also featured in the annual GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of the Year event.

• 2008 1st place (Pale Ale)
• 2009 1st place (Pale Ale)
• 2010 2nd place (Pale Ale)
• 2012 3rd place (Pale Ale)
• 2013 3rd place (Pale Ale)

See also

• List of breweries in Australia

Notes and References

1. News: Little Creatures shareholders drink to success. The Age. Spooner . Rania. 19 September 2012. 15 February 2013.
2. Web site: Cheers to Little Creatures sale. The West Australian. Williams. Peter. 18 September 2012. 15 February 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130210011825/http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/14878736/cheers-to-little-creatures-sale/. 10 February 2013. dead.
3. Web site: Success on tap: Little Creatures brew up a global storm. Nett. Nielson. Yvette. 14 May 2008. 15 February 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140419013312/http://nett.com.au/sales-marketing/success-on-tap-little-creatures-brew-up-a-global-storm-0069/. 19 April 2014. dmy-all.
4. Book: Tierney-Jones, Adrian . 1001 Beers You Must Try Before You Die. Hachette . 2011 . United Kingdom . 9781844037162 .
5. Web site: Little Creatures founders gulp down $256 million deal in brewing takeover: Seven secrets of their success. SmartCompany. Waters. Cara. 19 June 2012. 15 February 2013. 23 August 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120823143035/http://www.smartcompany.com.au/food-and-beverages/050258-little-creatures-founders-gulp-down-256-million-deal-in-brewing-takeover-seven-secrets-of-their-success.html. dead.
6. News: news.com.au. 2014-03-30. 2012-06-19. 6 May 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140506152255/http://www.news.com.au/finance/small-business/lion-swallows-little-creatures-for-380m/story-fn9evb64-1226400661838. dead.
7. News: Eli. Greenblat. Lion has big plans for Little Creatures. 2014-03-30. The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 December 2013.
8. Book: Donald, Darroch. Katrina O'Brien . Andrew Swaffar . Footprint Australia Handbook. Footprint Handbooks. 2002. Australia. 978-1-903471-42-5. 541 .
9. News: White Rabbit flies Little Creatures flag. The Australian. Hart. Cath. 8 December 2008. 15 February 2013.