Pub debut for Foster's Gold

One of the major success stories of the supermarket lager market will be hitting the chiller cabinets of more than 2,000 pubs across the country.

Foster's Gold, the bottled premium lager, which despite being touted on TV by those annoying characters Brad and Dan, has attracted legions of drinkers.

Heineken, which brews and distributes Foster's in the UK despite its Australian parent company's takeover by SABMiller for £6.5bn last year, said it sold 54 million bottles in the past year. That's a retail value of more than £37m.

"We realised there was a change in the culture of drinking taking place," said Foster's brand director Gayle Harrison. She added Gold hit the spot with young men because it was "easy to drink but had the right brand image".

Now the lager, which is stronger than draft Foster's, is being rolled out in Walkabout, Punch Enterprise and Young's pubs.