Steel City Beer Company takes first step in building a major brand

And that's exactly the plan for Steel City Beer Company.

Managing director Oliver Semken, a born and bred Novocastrian, says the company owners are himself, marketing director Ryan Ginns, brewing giant Lion (which has a minority interest), and the seven celebrity ambassadors - rugby league heroes Andrew Johns, Matthew Johns, Danny Buderus, Kurt Gidley, and surfing heroes Matt Hoy, Craig Anderson and Ryan Callinan.

Steel City was launched quietly this month, the owners first having a drink at a local steel manufacturing plant with the workers, and later meeting for a celebratory drink at the Burwood Inn.

The beer is available on tap ($7.50 a schooner at The Prince of Merewether) at a handful of Newcastle pubs, and packaged (24 cans at about $65) through a dozen local bottle shops.

The taste is mainstream lager, and so is the branding. With guidance from masterbrewer Chuck Hahn and Lion Beer boss James Brindley, the shareholding owners brought their own favourites to a series of tasting sessions before arriving at the final brew (the recipe is owned by Steel City).

It's easy drinking by design, at 4.5 per cent.

"There's definitely a strong drinking culture in this town," Semken says. "And in Newcastle, there's a lot of things to talk about from a brand perspective, things to reflect on far as history. So I think it was pretty well placed to have its own beer company."

T

he marketing campaign for the cold grey cans is slick, with the 60-second black-and-white ad featuring scenes of early morning trackwork at Broadmeadow with trainer Kris Lees, surfboard shapers Steele Lewis and Sam Egan, industrial scenes and the father-daughter commercial fishing duo of Steve and Marissa Moncrief. And, it includes a quick pan of Nobbys headland, too.

The ad finishes: "we choose to embrace the struggle, to unite as one, rise above, and make a break for it. And when the day is done, reward yourself."

Move over, VB. There's a new kid on the block.

None of the seven celebrity shareholders features in the ad - another indication there's a lot more firepower to be spent on the Steel City brand.

Semken says they are also actively looking to create a "spiritual" and physical home by claiming their own brewpub. The product is currently brewed at Lion's Malt Shovel Brewers in Camperdown in Sydney, with Steel City doing all of their own distribution.

"We just missed out on a location [in Wickham], but we're going to have another spot, probably in a fringe area [near the city] in the next 12 months," Semken says.

"I think it's a key part of any brewery these days to have that spiritual home, where people can come and get to know the people behind the brand, and see how it's made, and get to know that process as well."

Plans also call for rolling out at least another two products before the end of year - Steel City Pale Ale and Steel City Mid Strength.

And the long term plan is for national distribution of Steel City beer.