NT Draught is a
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 "storag ...
produced by
Carlton & United Breweries
Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) is an Australian brewing company based in Melbourne and owned by Japanese conglomerate Asahi Breweries. Its notable brands include Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught, Foster's Lager, Great Northern, Resch's, Pu ...
(CUB), a subsidiary of
Foster's Group
Foster's Group Pty. Ltd. was an Australian beer group with interests in brewing and soft drinks, known for Foster's Lager, now called Carlton & United Breweries since the company was renamed in 2011. Foster's was founded in 1888 in Melbourne, ...
. NT Draught are the makers of the Darwin Stubby. A Darwin Stubby refers to several large beer bottle sizes in Australia. It was first introduced in April 1958 with an 80-imperial-fluid-ounce (2,270 ml; 76.9 U.S. fl oz) capacity. The 2.25-litre (76.1 U.S. fl oz; 79.2 imp fl oz) Darwin Stubby has an iconic, if
kitsch
Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste.
The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation wi ...
status in
Australian folklore
Australian folklore refers to the folklore and urban legends that have evolved in Australia from Aboriginal Australian myths to colonial and contemporary folklore including people, places and events, that have played part in shaping the culture, ...
. In May 2015 Carlton & United Breweries announced that they will no longer brew NT Draught on a regular basis.
History
Darwin's first brewery, designated "Darwin Brewery", was founded in 1951 by Harry Ellis-Kells in the Berrimah industrial area, 3 miles from Darwin's GPO, and before long was producing four kinds of beer: Buffalo Bitter, Palmerston Dinner Ale, Darwin Ale and Darwin Lager. Ellis-Kells "skipped town" in August that year after being successfully sued by contractor E. Favaro for £359.
In 1952 the property was sold to brothers Bernard and John Lyall Allen, who floated a company to purchase the site from them and to erect additional buildings, procure equipment and hire staff to re-commence brewing at the site, but due to insufficient interest, the venture was called off.
In 1956 Carlton & United Breweries established their Darwin brewery, N.T. Brewery Pty. Ltd., in the suburb of
Berrimah Berrimah may refer to:
* Berrimah, Northern Territory
Berrimah is an Eastern Suburb in the city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia.
History
Berrimah is on unceded lands of the Larrakia peoples.
Before World War II, the Milit ...
. The first beer, Carlton Draught, was brewed on 13 October of that year. The brewery, however, did not have an associated bottling plant, so bottled beer still had to be shipped from Melbourne. Due to the logistics of shipping bottles such a long distance, the company decided in April 1958 to introduce a bigger bottle, a bottle, which became known as the "Darwin Stubby".
![Early Darwin stubby](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Early_Darwin_stubby.jpg)
At that time most hotels in the Darwin area were owned by the
Swan Brewing Company of Western Australia, which preferred to sell its own beer from these outlets, so the "Darwin Stubby" was only available from one or two independent hotels and licensed stores, mostly grocers and supermarkets.
In 1981
Swan Brewery and CUB formed a merged entity Northern Territory Breweries Pty Ltd. In 1981 CUB bought out Swan's interest leaving it in sole control of the Northern Territory beer market. The Darwin brewery closed in 1989 however NT Draught continued to be brewed from the company's Melbourne brewery. In October 1996 CUB acquired the 200,000
hl Darwin Brewery in
Winnellie from Goldchill Brewing, and commenced production of Victoria Bitter and Carlton Light for the Northern Territory in November. The brewery also produced NT Draught in the Darwin Stubby.
In May 2015 Carlton & United Breweries announced that due to decreasing volumes and increasing costs that it would be ceasing production of NT Draught. The company did advise that it would become one of their heritage beers and they would investigate bringing it out in special runs.
See also
*
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
*
*
{{SABMiller
Australian beer brands
1957 establishments in Australia
Culture of the Northern Territory
Foster's Group
1950s in the Northern Territory