Australians appear to have fallen back in love with beer, at least with premium brew, with local sales and revenue picking up for global beer giant SABMiller.The country's second-largest beer supplier says increased sales and and higher prices have helped it report "good growth" in Australia.SABMiller owns Carlton & United Breweries (CUB). Its biggest local brands include Victoria Bitter, Carlton and Crown Lager.Australian sales volumes grew by 4 per cent in the three months to   June 30, SABMiller said overnight.Net producer revenue (NPR) in Australia rose 7 per cent from a year earlier, compared with global NPR growth of 2 per cent.The market represented a bright spot in SABMiller's overall Asia Pacific business, which saw declining sales for the quarter.  
"Europe, South Africa, Colombia, Peru and Australia delivered good growth," the company said in a presentation. "We continued to outperform our key competitors in [Australia], supported by sustained momentum in our premium and contemporary brands."This was partly offset by the continued decline of our mainstream brands Victoria Bitter and Carlton Draught."Growth was driven by higher prices and better sales of higher-margin premium brews. SABMiller's premium brands include Beez Neez, Fat Yak and Matilda Bay.Australians buy about $14 billion worth of beer. SABMiller is the country's second-biggest supplier, behind Lion which owns brands such as XXXX , Tooheys, Hahn and Corona. The competition regulator in   May said it would not oppose the proposed acquisition of SABMiller by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) as it would not "substantially lessen competition in the Australian beer market".