XXXX (pronounced four-ex) is a
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
of
Australian beer
Beer arrived in Australia at the beginning of British colonisation. In 2004 Australia was ranked fourth internationally in per capita beer consumption, at around 110 litres per year; brewed in
Milton
Milton may refer to:
Names
* Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname)
** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet
* Milton (given name)
** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...
,
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
by
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
brewers
Castlemaine Perkins
Castlemaine Perkins is a brewery at 185 Milton Road, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a wholly owned entity of the Japanese-controlled Lion company. Operations began in 1878 and continue today. Castlemaine Perkins is the home of t ...
(now a division of the Japanese-owned company
Lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
). It enjoys wide popularity in the state of Queensland, where it is commonly found on-tap in
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
s and
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
s.
The XXXX brand was first introduced by Castlemaine in 1924 and is a throwback to the long-standing tradition of using Xs to indicate the strength of an ale. The brand name also built upon XXX Sparkling Ale introduced in 1878.
Beers
Currently sold brands include:
*
XXXX Bitter
Castlemaine Perkins is a brewery at 185 Milton Road, Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a wholly owned entity of the Japanese-controlled Lion (Australasian company), Lion company. Operations began in 1878 and con ...
, a 4.4%
ABV
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
pale lager
Pale lager is a very pale-to-golden-colored lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness.
The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid-19th century, when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing ...
marketed under the brand XXXX. When ordering in Queensland, it is often referred to as XXXX Heavy.
*
XXXX Gold
XXXX Gold is a mid-strength Australian lager manufactured in the state of Queensland, Australia, by Castlemaine Perkins, and it is one of Australia's most popular beers. XXXX Gold is also produced in the Boag's Brewery in Launceston, Tasmania. ...
, a mid strength
lager
Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...
- 3.5%
ABV
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
. XXXX Gold is also a lower
carb beer. When ordering in Queensland, the beer is simply referred to as Gold.
*
XXXX Summer Bright Lager
XXXX Summer Bright Lager is a beer manufactured in the Australian state of Queensland by Castlemaine Perkins.
It is available in three varieties consisting of XXXX Summer Bright Lager, XXXX Summer Bright Lager with mango and XXXX Summer Bright ...
, a full strength 4.0%
ABV
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
low carb beer. Summer Bright is also available in both lime and mango flavour.
*XXXX Dry, marketed as an easy drinking full strength
lager
Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...
with a 4.2%
ABV
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
.
As well as these, previous beers that are no longer in mass production are occasionally available in small, limited releases at the XXXX Alehouse & Restaurant, located on the same site as the brewery. In the past, these have included:
* Thirsty Dog, a
Wheat Beer
Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German ''Weizenbier'' and Belgian ''witbier''; other types include Lambic (made with wild ye ...
popular in the 1990s.
* XXXX Draught, a less carbonated version of XXXX Bitter released in the 1970s, intended to replicate the unique taste of a beer from a wooden
Barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...
.
* Carbine Stout, a
Stout
Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout.
The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...
brewed from 1915 to 2008, named after a famous racehorse from the 1890s.
* Castlemaine Best IPA, an
India Pale Ale first brewed in 1918.
* In December 2019, the original XXX Sparkling Ale had a limited release in several bars across Brisbane's CBD, including at the Alehouse.
Other beers that are no longer available include:
* XXXX Light, a lower alcohol beer at 2.3%
ABV
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
.
* XXXX DL Lager, a lower carbohydrate beer which was available at 4.4%
ABV
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
.
* XXXX Gold Australian Pale Ale, at 3.5%
ABV
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
.
History
The XXXX brand was launched in 1924 by Castlemaine Brewers, named after the town of
Castlemaine, Victoria
Castlemaine ( , Variation in Australian English, non-locally also ) is a small city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region of Victoria, Goldfields region about 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest by road from ...
where the company was founded in 1857. The yellow-and-red label still bears the town's name. XXXX has been brewed in the Castlemaine Perkins
Milton
Milton may refer to:
Names
* Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname)
** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet
* Milton (given name)
** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...
Brewery since its introduction, and has featured an artist's sketch (later very stylised) of its brewery on the label of beer bottles and cans. In the 1950s the prominent 'XXXX' illuminated sign was erected on the brewery. "XXXX" itself refers to
a traditional grading system for strong beer.
In 1992, Castlemaine Perkins was acquired by Australian beverage and food company
Lion Nathan
Lion is an alcoholic beverage company that operates in Australia and New Zealand, and a subsidiary of Japanese beverage conglomerate Kirin. It produces and markets a range of beer and cider in Australia, and wine in New Zealand and the Unite ...
, who in turn were taken over by Japanese beverage conglomerate
Kirin in 2009.
In March 2016, XXXX Bitter was reduced from 4.6% to 4.4%
alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
by volume (ABV).
Distribution
XXXX was brewed under licence in the UK by
InBev
InBev () is a brewing company that resulted from the merger between Belgium-based company Interbrew and Brazilian brewer AmBev which took place in 2004. It existed independently until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch in 2008, which formed Anheu ...
Ltd until 2009. It was commonly available in cans in British off licences and sometimes on tap in British pubs. At 3.7% alcohol, the British brewed XXXX was somewhat weaker than most of the Australian variants. Castlemaine XXXX was withdrawn from the UK at the end of June 2009 when InBev's licensing agreement expired.
Iconography, advertising and brand recognition
XXXX's
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
is Mr Fourex - a jovial cartoon man in a suit with a
boater
__NOTOC__
A boater (also straw boater, basher, skimmer, The English Panama, cady, katie, canotier, somer, sennit hat, or in Japan, can-can hat, suruken) is a semi-formal summer hat for men, which was popularised in the late 19th century and ear ...
hat, who features on the City side of the Fourex Brewery at Milton. Mr Fourex is said to be modelled after
Paddy Fitzgerald, a former director of the company, however Mr Fourex had been conceived in 1924, and Fitzgerald started with XXXX only in circa 1933.
[
] A second theory is that the cartoon is modelled on a well-known dwarf who sold newspapers in the inner city suburb of
Fortitude Valley
Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestri ...
in the late 1920s. The true identity for the inspiration behind the cartoon remains a mystery.
A common nickname used by the military (Australian, passed along to their Allied guests) was "Barbed Wire," as the XXXX has the appearance of the fence product used in the Outback.
The second major campaign was launched in the early 1980s in the North Queensland area after the general manager of 'XXXX' Pat Holmboe at the time heard of the locally famous Clinton Howe, a council road worker, being able to consume a very high quantity of the beer in a short time (approx. 3L in 1 minute or 3/4 gal.). The company was forced to close the campaign within the first few days of T.V. advertising following government pressure.
An advertisement campaign from the 1980s and 1990s featured the tagline ''"Australians wouldn't give a XXXX for anything else."''
Most beers under the XXXX label are sold in Australia as 375
ml cans (''tinnies''), 375 ml bottles (''stubbies'') and 750 ml bottles (''tallies'' or ''long necks''), on tap (in most Queensland pubs but also to a lesser extent throughout the rest of Australia) and all bottles have twist top lids. Underneath the twist top lids there are trivia questions.
XXXX is still being served from wooden barrels at the
Breakfast Creek Hotel in
Newstead, Queensland
Newstead is an inner northern riverside suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. At the , it had a population of 7,496.
Geography
Newstead is north-east of Brisbane central business district, bounded by Breakfast Creek to the north and the B ...
. Whilst not cask-conditioned, as in the case of British
real ale
Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...
, the beer is unpasteurised and delivered by gravity.
In
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels.
Pratchett's first nov ...
's
Discworld
''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat pla ...
series of fantasy novels, an
Australian-like continent is named XXXX, pronounced "fourecks".
XXXX's labels generally feature a depiction of the Milton Brewery alongside the
Ipswich railway line
}
The Ipswich and Rosewood line refers to the section of the Main Line railway, Queensland, Main Line to Toowoomba that has a regular suburban rail transport, rail service, extending southwest from the Brisbane central business district. It is p ...
, presently with a
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
EMU
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...
in the foreground with the existing extensive railway fencing omitted. Prior labels had steam engines and diesels when those locomotives were more regularly seen in Brisbane.
Sports sponsorship & Campaigns
XXXX is the major sponsor of the
Queensland Maroons
The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales in the State of O ...
in the
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
State of Origin series
The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons.
Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...
. XXXX Gold is also a sponsor of the
Queensland Bulls
The Queensland cricket team or the Queensland Bulls is the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket side in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments:
*Sheffield Shield: four-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926–27 sea ...
and the QLD, SA, ACT & NT Cricket Associations. XXXX Gold also sponsors the Australian V8 Supercars Championship Series as well as the
Professional Bull Riders
The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization based in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. In the U.S., PBR events have been televised on CBS and CBS Sports Network since 2012. In 2013, the ...
' (PBR) Australian branch.
XXXX sponsored the ''
XXXX Gold Beach Cricket Tri-Nations 2007'' series. It involved famous cricketers from Australia such as
Allan Border
Allan Robert Border (born 27 July 1955) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test ma ...
, England including
Graham Gooch
Graham Alan Gooch, (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, h ...
and
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
including
Courtney Walsh
Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ (born 30 October 1962) is a former Jamaican cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches. He is a fast bowler and considered one of the all-time greats, best ...
and
Sir Viv Richards
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is an Antiguan retired cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Batting generally at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...
.
From 2012 to 2015, XXXX GOLD had a three-year lease on the 15-acre
Pumpkin Island
Pumpkin Island is a privately owned island in Keppel Bay on the southern Great Barrier Reef in Australia.[Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...]
, which they turned into
XXXX Island
Pumpkin Island is a privately owned island in Keppel Bay on the southern Great Barrier Reef in Australia.[Australian pub
An Australian pub or hotel is a public house or pub for short, in Australia, and is an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. They may also provide other services, such as entertainment, meals and ...]
*
Beer in Australia
Beer arrived in Australia at the beginning of British colonisation. In 2004 Australia was ranked fourth internationally in per capita beer consumption, at around 110 litres per year;
*
List of breweries in Australia
Beer production in Australia has traditionally been dominated by regional producers. Since the 1980s, there have been a steady stream of takeovers and amalgamations, and now the two major producers (who were once Australian-owned) are Carlton & U ...
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.xxxx.com.au
XXXX Island WebsiteXXXX Gold Beach Cricket Official site The Aussie Beer Baron
Kirin Group
Australian beer brands
Culture of Brisbane
Culture of Queensland
Milton, Queensland