Iconic Queensland beer Power’s will be the beer of choice at Heritage Bank Stadium in 2023 with the announcement that Carlton & United Breweries will continue their support of the Gold Coast SUNS in 2023. It makes the SUNS the first Queensland sporting team to be sponsored by the new-look iconic Power’s beer.

Gold Coast SUNS players joined industry stakeholders for an impromptu kick comp to celebrate the return of a beer brewed especially for Queensland, by Queenslanders.

The Power’s brand always enjoyed a great affiliation with iconic Queensland sporting teams. Carlton & United Breweries’ Queensland State Manager, Ian Giles, said he’s been taken aback by the passionate response to the relaunch as Power’s bounces back to life.

“Now, Power’s beer is thrilled to support the Gold Coast SUNS in 2023 with the SUNS the first Queensland sporting team to be sponsored by the new-look iconic Power’s beer.

“Power’s was always associated with sport back in the day. Founder, Bernard Power, attributed their huge success to Power’s significant investment with local Queensland sporting identities, having sponsored the Broncos in their inaugural season and beyond in the late 80s and early 90s.

“I like to remind people that Queensland teams had a lot of success with Power’s as their sponsor, so here’s hoping that history repeats itself for the SUNS in 2023!

“The relaunch of the Power’s brand marks the return of a Queensland icon that celebrated our underdog spirit and showed the rest of Australia there was nothing Queenslanders couldn’t do!”

Power’s Ultra Smooth – a modern take on a true classic – will also have a dedicated, themed area within Heritage Bank Stadium called “The Power’s Pocket” – an exclusive match-day offering for Gold Coast SUNS home matches.

Gold Coast SUNS Chief Executive Mark Evans said the club was proud to partner with an iconic Queensland product.

“We’re a club for Queenslanders, so it’s only right that we have a Queensland beer on tap for Gold Coast SUNS home matches at Heritage Bank Stadium in 2023,” Evans said.

“I’m sure there will be an electric atmosphere in the Power’s Pocket this year for all 2023 Gold Coast SUNS home matches at Heritage Bank Stadium.”

This new smooth and crisp beer, specifically brewed for warm weather and modern tastes, features packaging that pays tribute to that pivotal time in Queensland’s history when Bernie Power built the Yatala Brewery in 1988 and shocked the southerners with his success!

Founder Bernie Power said:

“Making a beer that resonates with people is a challenging thing, and I know everyone involved in this has been very careful with what has ended up inside and outside the bottle.

“I am absolutely chuffed to see the Power’s brand returning. When I sold the brewery to CUB in 1993, we were more focused on the future of our staff than we were on the future of the brand. So to see it return, and hear what it means to people, has been a wonderful thing.”

Along with its classic flavour profile, the new Power’s Ultra Smooth has slight bitterness, balanced by a light rounded body, slight malt sweetness, a crisp, smooth, clean finish and 4% ABV. While some Power’s has been brewed over the past 20 years, it was available in limited quantities, with the original Power’s Bitter not brewed in over a decade and not available on tap since the early 2000s.

Power’s Ultra Smooth is being brewed at the original Yatala Brewery.

ENDS

Media contact:
Michelle Vecchio michelle@shoutcommunications.com.au
0414 287 231

Liz Drew Liz@shoutcommunications.com.au
0447 223 021

Sales contact:
Ian Giles ian.giles@cub.com.au
0418 354 683

TIMELINE:
1985: Bernie Power sets out to build a world-class brewery at Yatala to challenge the stranglehold of Castlemaine Perkins, then owned by Alan Bond

1988: The Yatala Brewery opens and Power’s Bitter starts rolling off the line, securing 10% of the
QLD beer market almost immediately

1988: The Brisbane Broncos become the first non-NSW team to join the NSW Rugby League
(forerunner to the NRL). Power’s signs a three-year sponsorship with the fledgling team for one
million dollars a year, at the time the largest sponsorship in the league’s history

1988: Brisbane Broncos debut match in the NRL competition announces their arrival with a huge 44-10 win over reigning premiers Manly

1989: Power’s Light launches in September, followed by Power’s Gold

1990: Power’s Brewery produces 140 million litres and has 20% of the Queensland market

1992: Bernard Power enters a joint venture with CUB and forms Queensland Breweries

1993: Bernard Power sells his stake to CUB in October. CUB moves their QLD brewing operations to Yatala

2000s: Power’s Bitter ceases to be brewed regularly

2011: Power’s Bitter, with just a fraction of its former market share, is brewed for the last time and the brand fades into history – or so it was thought

2023: Power’s Ultra Smooth Lager rolls off the line at Yatala Brewery – now the biggest brewery in Australia -with the first carton taken off the line and signed by Bernie Power.

ENDS