Tap Handle #86: Bluetongue Brewery

February 25, 2012

Tap Handle #86: Bluetongue Brewery

Tap size: 10.25"
Rarity: Very Rare
Mounting: internal 3/8" nut

This tap is stunning, in every way. The colors are bold and beautiful, and the detail is excellent, especially the marble-colored base and even inside the mouth! All Bluetongue taps are the same - none of them list a specific brand of beer, only the name of the brewery. Considering that the taps had to be imported from Australia, they were rare to start with, but now that the brewery is out of business, they are sure to become very rare and expensive.

Click through to read more about Bluetongue and to see more photos of this gorgeous tap...

Bluetongue was founded in 2003 in Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia, by Philip Hele, Bruce Tyrrell, Ian Burford and Paul Hannan. They sold 50% of the brewery to John Singleton in 2005. In 2007 the brewery was sold to Pacific Beverages, a joint venture between Coca-Cola Amatil and SABMiller. After 4 expansions, the brewery had outgrown the Hunter Resort, and in 2010 moved to a new, state-of-the art facility in the Central Coast suburb of Warnervale (the brewpub remains in Hunter Valley).

In 2012, Coca-Cola Amatil sold their 50% share in Pacific Beverages to SABMiller, making Bluetongue wholly owned by an SABMiller subsidiary called CUB (Carlton and United Breweries). They were currently the sixth-largest brewery in Australia and the second largest in New South Wales when they were closed by CUB early in 2014. CUB insisted that the reason for the closure was duplication and excessive capacity caused by the acquisition of Fosters. However, the closure is being investigated by the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commision), which believes it was closed to prevent competition with its other assets. Although the Bluetongue brand is still active, it is set to be phased out by the end of 2014.