ADELAIDE-BASED Coopers Brewery will become the biggest supplier of home-brew beer kits and products in the US and globally, after agreeing to buy Mr Beer for an undisclosed sum.

It is Coopers' first international acquisition in 30 years.

Mixing it: Coopers has taken over US supplier Mr Beer. Credit:John Woudstra

No longer the fusty hobby of pensioners brewing up frightful beer in old bathtubs in their sheds, the home-brew industry in North America has blossomed into a $100 million-a-year market with growth rates of more than 20 per cent a year.

Coopers, a family-owned beer group that this year celebrates its 150th birthday, will now sit atop that home-brew market in America after buying the Arizona-based Mr Beer, which distributes home-brew starter kits, concentrates and accessories to more than 14,000 stores, as well as directly to consumers via an online sales platform.