Gage Roads kicks more beer goals with rugby deal
Gage Roads has secured ties to another sporting venue after signing a lucrative sponsorship with Australian rugby.
A day after announcing its beer line-up for Perth’s new multi-purpose stadium, the WA brewery has revealed it will be an official partner for the HSBC Sydney 7s tournament.
Spectators at Allianz Stadium for the three-day festival from January 26 will be able to enjoy Gage Roads’ Single Fine Summer Ale.
The beer will be available to all spectators at what is described as Sydney’s biggest sport party. And a bigger selection of Gage Roads beers will be on offer in corporate areas.
The 7s deal follows the declaration, as expected, that Gage Roads will sell its 3.5% Alby Lager at Perth’s multi-purpose venue, alongwith reduced alcohol versions of Single Fin Summer Ale and Atomic Pale Ale plus a new Apple cider called Hello Sunshine.
The cost of a schooner (425ml) of the beverages will be $8.50.
Single Fin is normally brewed to 4.5% and Atomic at 4.7% but because of the stadium’s controversial liquor licence no beers on offer are allowed to be above 3.5%. The first major event at the stadium is on January 28.
The politics behind the licence has denied spectators an improvement on what was available at Domain Stadium or the WACA. But it will showcase a WA brewery rather than a macro beer maker whose headquarters are overseas.
The licence would have forced any brewery to compromise on what it could deliver and what is available to fans at most of the other major stadiums around the country.
Gage Roads has been the official beer of the Perth Cricket Festival for the past three years, has the stadium rights for at least five years and now stretches its wings (or fins) to the east coast with the rugby deal.
James Purcell, Gage Roads Partnerships Manager, said, “The two-year partnership with Rugby Australia and the Sydney 7s means that fans will have the opportunity to watch the best of Australia’s home-grown talent while cooling off with a locally brewed craft beer.”
“The Sydney 7s is Sydney’s biggest sport party, so we thought it was only fitting to offer spectators something special to cool off with. The first game kicks-off on Australia Day, so it only makes sense for a quintessentially Aussie beer to be on offer.”
Having craft beer at the HSBC Sydney 7s is a divergence from the traditional lager-style offerings common to sporting events. This is representative of the broader shift in tastes among Aussie beer drinkers. Craft beer in all its variants has captured the attention of consumers across the country and their thirst for new styles is limited only by the imagination of the brewers.
