Sri Lanka: Lion Brewery opens its state-of-the-art craft beer innovation centre

Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC, the biggest brewer in Sri Lanka, has officially opened its groundbreaking LKR4 billion (USD13.76 million) state-of-the-art craft beer innovation centre, the first such research establishment in the country, asiabrewersnetwork.com reported on December 6.

The facility will be dedicated to the research and development (R&D) of craft brews, and will focus on incorporating local ingredients, including the country’s iconic Ceylon Tea.

The brewery has already diversified into the craft beer sector and has developed a wide range of innovative brews, including Elle Valley White (a wheat beer), Thambapanni Red Ale, Ambalavi Mango, Cucumber Lime, Fest Celebration Lager, Blonde (a Belgian-style beer), Pure Ceylon Tea Beer, and Coffee Stout.

The company’s main brewery has an annual capacity of 200 million litres of which about 160 million litres are used, but its minimum production volume of 168,000 litres per batch has created difficulties in experimenting with new products without generating excessive wastage. The new R&D centre addresses this hurdle by allowing for much smaller batches of just 2,000 litres.

At the opening, Lion Brewery Director and CEO R.H. Meewakkala said that the facility is expected to help the company grow its export share from 15% to 20% of total output.

Craft beers with local ingredients also benefit from the growing demand for local flavours from international tourists. “When tourists visit Sri Lanka, they want to eat and drink local cuisines and beverages,” said Meewakkala. Revenues from the tourist sector are also significant, accounting for about 12% of beer sales in Sri Lanka during peak seasons.