Coopers Brewery will spend $50 million to construct a new world-class whisky distillery, visitor centre and microbrewery in an expansion of its Regency Park site in Adelaide.
Coopers, Australia’s largest independent family-owned brewery, celebrates its 160th anniversary this year, and the expansion is aimed at attracting domestic and international tourists to the centre.
A new 3200 litre microbrewery will allow the Coopers brewing team to develop a broader range of ales and lagers in addition to its popular core range.
Next to the microbrewery, a new whisky distillery will be constructed and two pot stills installed: a 9600 litre wash still and a 5500 litre spirit still. Wash for whisky production will be supplied by the microbrewery, with the site slated to produce 200,000 bottles per year. Maturation will take place in a purpose-built underground stillage, although the first Coopers whiskies from the new site are said to be years away from release.
Architect designs for the new Coopers brewery, distillery and visitor experience
‘We have been thinking about malt whisky for some time as we see it as a natural extension to our on-site maltings and our experience in brewing and fermentation,’ Managing Director Dr Tim Cooper said in a press release.
‘Our goal is to achieve the highest possible level of spirit quality to match our reputation in brewing. Having our own maltings will allow us to tell the whole story from the barley grower to the whisky glass.’
Unbeknown to many, Coopers have a long history of supplying malt to the whisky industry. The early Smith’s Angaston whiskies were all created using malt and wash supplied by Coopers back in the 1990s, while a number of South Australian distilleries, like Fleurieu Distillery, have since used Coopers malt to create their own whiskies.
In 2017, Coopers spent $65 million in opening a new 54,000-tonne capacity maltings alongside its Regency Park brewery in Adelaide. The site was created to enable Coopers to produce lightly-kilned and roasted malts to supply the growing number of craft and larger independent breweries and whisky distilleries cropping up across Australia.
With the new brewery and distillery, Coopers will take the knowledge previously gained from working with South Australian distillers to develop their own single malt whisky and add another strong player to the booming South Australian whisky industry.
Louise Cooper and Dr Tim Cooper – John Kruger for Coopers
Dr Cooper said it was an opportune time to be making this announcement in the 160th year of the sixth-generation family company, and brings total investment at Regency Park to nearly $400 million since 1999.
‘We’re very proud of our story over the past 160 years, arising from humble beginnings to prevail as an Australian-owned and operated brewery despite wars, recessions and takeover offers,’ Dr Cooper said.
‘This new visitor centre is about celebrating our history and our originality, with an emphasis on what makes Coopers different…’
Construction of the new facility will begin in mid-2022 pending Council approval, with the site expected to be fully operational in late 2023.