Australian brewer Lion Nathan is preparing to withdraw its Castlemaine XXXX Australian beer from the UK following its failure to find favour British palates, more accustomed to ale, stout and bitters.

Castlemaine XXXX beer was introduced in the UK market 25 years ago but will now make an exit at the end of the month.

The beer was being produced by InBev UK, which was licensed to produce the lager at its Samlesbury brewery in Lancashire in north west England. The licensing agreement expires on 30 June and will not be renewed as Lion Nathan says it will retire the brand on expiry of license on 30 June.

"The mainstream lager market in the UK is subject to challenging market conditions," the company said in a statement.

"Also, in an increasingly globalised world, Lion Nathan has taken the view that maintaining varied brand positioning in different markets is not in the best interests of the  brand."

The beer was first brewed in 1924 and marketed overseas with the slogan "Australians couldn't give a Castlemaine XXXX for anything else".

Though sold in the UK since 1984, the brand could never rival the popularity of its rival Foster's and has been sliding on a sales slump.

Meanwhile, InBev is now increasingly concentrating attention on other products including lower strength versions of Stella Artois and Becks.

According to bar managers it is only the odd person who asks for the brand while most consumers prefer Coopers and Boags. They add that even Aussie-themed bars stopped selling Castlemaine XXXX more than two years ago.

According to Lion Nathan, the reason the brand was being withdrawn was that the mainstream lager market was subject to challenging market conditions and the profitability was not sufficient to justify continuation of the brand.

The Australian brewer plans to export Steinlager Pure to UK on hopes of better returns. Annual profits from Castlemaine XXXX had dropped to just ?388,000.

The brewer said it looked at all options before taking the decision to withdraw the brand and the decision was made in line with the company's larger strategy.

Castlemaine XXXX was once the official beer of the country's rugby league after its launch in 1984 but sales faltered and it became a discount brand. According to Australian media reports the brand's sales fell to less than one per cent of national sales and wqs being kept alive as a discount option.