Deal sends Welsh beer down under

The Australian lager (left) will be produced in Merthyr and Rhymney's ale in Melbourne

A small Welsh brewery has struck a deal to sell one of its beers in Australia.

Rhymney Brewery has signed a licensing agreement with a Melbourne-based company to brew and distribute its Hobby Horse ale for the Pacific region.

In return, the Merthyr Tydfil brewer will make and sell O'Brien Brewing's gluten-free lagers in Wales.

The south Wales brewery, which was opened by a father and son team in 2004, currently employs 13 people and brews around 1m pints of beer a year.

The deal was helped by the assembly government's international business Wales team, who conducted research for the company in Australia.

Steve Evans, who revived brewing in Dowlais after a gap of more than 25 years, said the company's Hobby Horse beer would be the only Welsh ale on sale in Australia.

"Not only will our premium ales be distributed in Australia and across the Pacific Rim but the agreement offers us a unique opportunity to brew and sell their award winning gluten free range of beers in the UK", he said.

"It's ironic in a sense as our main markets have been in Wales but our beers will now be available in outlets in throughout the Pacific."

Merthyr to Melbourne

Economic Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones, said the international trade team had found the brewery a "potentially lucrative" new market for its products.

"IBW can offer Welsh businesses a wide range of help and expertise and in the current economic climate this can offer new business opportunities and an important new revenue stream."

The O'Brien brewery has developed a range of gluten-free beers suitable for people with coeliac problems, using rice in place of barley and wheat.

Coeliac disease affects around 1 in 100 people in the UK and is particularly common between the ages of 30 and 45.

It is caused by a reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats.