The South Australian Brewing Company, Limited is a brewery located in
Thebarton
Thebarton ( ), formerly Theberton, on Kaurna land, is an inner-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of West Torrens. The suburb is bounded by the River Torrens to the north, Port Road, Adelaide, Port Road and Bonython Park to ...
, an inner-west suburb of
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, South Australia. It is a subsidiary of
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 ...
, which in turn is owned by
Kirin, a Japan-based beverage company. It manufactures
West End Draught
West End Draught, commonly referred to as red tins, is a South Australian lager brewed by Lion, a subsidiary of Japanese company Kirin. It was formerly brewed by the South Australian Brewing Company on Port Road, Thebarton, which was taken ove ...
beer.
The company was created in 1888 as the South Australian Brewing, Malting, and Wine and Spirit Company, from an amalgamation of the
West End Brewery (in
Hindley Street
Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street and West Terrace. The street was named after Charles Hindley, a British parliamentarian and soc ...
,
Adelaide city centre), the
Kent Town Brewery
Kent Town Brewery was a brewery in Kent Town, a suburb adjacent to the city of Adelaide on its eastern side, in South Australia. Its original name was Logue's Brewery, after its first proprietor.
History
The brewery was founded on King Willi ...
, and the wine and spirit merchants
Rounsevell & Simms. In 1938 the company took over the
Walkerville Brewery
Walkerville Brewery was a brewer of beer in Adelaide, South Australia, originally founded in the 1840s. The company became a co-operative, and grew by admitting hotel owners as shareholders, and absorbed smaller breweries. After several amalgamat ...
in 1938, whose main site was at 107 Port Road, Thebarton (the original site of
Torrenside Brewery established in 1886). The company's operations continued at its two factories on Hindley Street and Thebarton, with the Thebarton site becoming known as the Nathan Brewery after the takeover in 1838, then again reverting to its former name, Southwark Brewery, before being rebadged the West End Brewery after the Hindley Street premises closed in 1980.
The Thebarton brewery closed in June 2021.
19th century: foundation
The South Australian Brewing Company was established in February 1888 as the South Australian Brewing, Malting, and Wine and Spirit Company
by the amalgamation of Sir
Edwin Thomas Smith's
Kent Town Brewery
Kent Town Brewery was a brewery in Kent Town, a suburb adjacent to the city of Adelaide on its eastern side, in South Australia. Its original name was Logue's Brewery, after its first proprietor.
History
The brewery was founded on King Willi ...
,
William Knox Simms
William Knox Simms (1830 – 25 December 1897) was a brewer, businessman and politician in the early days of South Australia.
History
Simms migrated to South Australia from England, arriving in December 1845.
He formed a partnership with John ...
's
West End Brewery and the wine and spirit merchants Rounsevell & Simms (Ben Rounsevell and Alfred Simms). The managing directors of the new company were
Robert Alfred Stock, Alfred Simms, and W. B. (Ben) Rounsevell. Provisional directors were Edwin Smith, W. K. Simms, W. B. Rounsevell, R. A. Stock, Alfred Simms,
Charles H. T. Hart, and
Frank Rymill
Henry Rymill (1 May 1836 – 21 February 1927) and Frank Rymill (27 November 1837 – 26 May 1915) were brothers prominent in business and public service in the 19th century South Australia.
Henry "Harry" Rymill and Francis "Frank" Rymill were ...
of Adelaide, and Hon.
N. Fitzgerald,
John Robb,
Malcolm McEacharn
Sir Malcolm Donald McEacharn (8 February 1852 – 10 March 1910) was Mayor of Melbourne from 1897 to 1900. He was a well-known Australian shipping magnate in the early part of the twentieth century and successfully stood for the Division of Me ...
,
John B. Watson, and
John McIlwraith (brother of
Thomas McIlwraith
Sir Thomas McIlwraith (17 May 1835 – 17 July 1900) was for many years the dominant figure of colonial politics in Queensland. He was Premier of Queensland from 1879 to 1883, again in 1888, and for a third time in 1893. In common with most po ...
), of
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
.
The new company set about enlarging the brewing facilities at West End and centring the malting work at
Kent Town.
[ It began a campaign of purchasing hotels freehold or leasehold, and by the end of the 1880s had a stranglehold on the Adelaide market, owning 44 hotels and leasing 65.] In 1893 they sold off their wine and spirit business to A. E. & F. Tolley Pty Ltd and Milne & Co., and the name was changed to South Australian Brewing Company, Limited.
20th century
Robert Stock, Edwin Smith's brother-in-law and manager of the Kent Town Brewery
Kent Town Brewery was a brewery in Kent Town, a suburb adjacent to the city of Adelaide on its eastern side, in South Australia. Its original name was Logue's Brewery, after its first proprietor.
History
The brewery was founded on King Willi ...
, became chairman of the board and general manager of SA Brewing; Stock died in 1904 and Samuel Jacobs served from 1904 to 1937. Jacobs' son (later Sir) Roland Jacobs was managing director from 1948 to 1967.[
The black and red colours of the SA Brewing Company came about after the ]West Adelaide Football Club
West Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Commonly known as The Bloods and Westies, the club's home base is Richmond Oval (South Australia), Richmond Oval (current ...
(whose colours are black and red) defeated Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
in the South Australian National Football League
The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport.
Originally formed as the ...
(SANFL) 1911 Grand Final, and defeated VFL
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...
premiers Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
*Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
**Essendon Airport
*Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League
United King ...
in the Championship of Australia play-off at Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...
shortly afterwards in the same year.
In 1927 T. A. Nation was the brewer and G. B. Bryant the general manager. His board of directors comprised S. J. Jacobs (later managing director), Sir Lancelot Stirling
Sir John Lancelot Stirling, (5 November 1849 – 24 May 1932), generally known as Sir Lancelot Stirling, was an Australian politician and grazier. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1881 to 1887, representing Mount ...
, K.C.M.G., Edward Fitzgerald, LL.D., and H. W. Morphett.
1938: Walkerville/Nathan takeover
The Walkerville Cooperative Brewery, which produced the popular Nathan beers, was taken over by the South Australian Brewing Company in 1938, after which operations were concentrated on the old Torrenside Brewery (established 1886, a precursor of Walkerville Brewery). The brewery was renamed Nathan Brewery to remove the Walkerville's "Southwark" branding[ in 1939.][
In 1941, architect ]F. Kenneth Milne
F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet.
F may also refer to:
Science and technology Mathematics
* F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems
* ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function
* F-distributi ...
was responsible for upgrading the Hindley Street building.
From 1949, the brewery was again renamed Southwark Brewery,[ administration was centralised at Hindley Street, and in November 1951 Walkerville's Nathan beer (Bitter) was renamed Southwark beer (Bitter). "Southwark Bitter" (actually a lager) became the most well-known product.]
From 1955 operations were split between the company's two major factories, with the West End Brewery in Hindley Street making only draught beer
Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as
Name
Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served dire ...
in kegs; bottled beer only was produced in the Thebarton plant.
Until 1974, when the Whitlam government revised the ''Trade Practices Act
The ''Competition and Consumer Act 2010'' (CCA) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia. Prior to 1 January 2011, it was known as the ''Trade Practices Act 1974'' (TPA). The Act is the legislative vehicle for competition law in Australia, an ...
'', they were legally able to dispense only the company's beer in their pubs.[
]
1980: Hindley St site closed
In 1980, faced with mounting problems with traffic on West Terrace and ageing and inefficient equipment, not to mention the rapidly increasing value of City land, the original West End Brewery closed and the property sold,[ operations moved to the Southwark Brewery in Thebarton, which was rebadged "West End". The old Hindley Street building was demolished in 1983, and in 1993, ]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 ...
took over the West End brands.[
]
1993 Lion acquisition
Prior to the acquisition of the brewing assets by Lion Nathan in 1993, SA Brewing split its brewing assets into "SA Brewing Holdings", and its diversified operations were formed into a new listed company named Southcorp
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, Vi ...
. One of Southcorp's major assets was "Southcorp Wines
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, Vi ...
", (acquired from the Adelaide Steamship Company in 1990), and subsequently acquired by Lion Nathan's main Australian rival, the 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, Vi ...
.
21st century
West End Draught
West End Draught, commonly referred to as red tins, is a South Australian lager brewed by Lion, a subsidiary of Japanese company Kirin. It was formerly brewed by the South Australian Brewing Company on Port Road, Thebarton, which was taken ove ...
was the largest selling beer in South Australia in 2007. West End Draught is a 4.5% abv 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 ...
, first brewed in 1859.
In October 2020 it was announced that the Thebarton brewery would be closing in June 2021, with the loss of over 90 jobs.[ It finally closed at close of business on 17 June 2021, with about a third of the workforce, mainly those in sales and sponsorship roles, staying on with the company in South Australia. The on-site museum of artefacts were catalogued and were donated to the ]State Library of South Australia
The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research l ...
and other local institutions.
The West End Brewery chimney tower has been heritage-listed
This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...
and will be preserved when the site is redeveloped.
Football
Chimney-painting
The tradition of painting the brewery chimney with the team colours of the South Australian National Football League
The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport.
Originally formed as the ...
(SANFL) premiership team began in 1954,[ when a West Adelaide player and employee Clarrie Cannon][ suggested painting the chimney in the ]West Adelaide Football Club
West Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Commonly known as The Bloods and Westies, the club's home base is Richmond Oval (South Australia), Richmond Oval (current ...
colours, red and black, as the West End Brewery (then still in Hindley Street[) was located in their territory. General manager C. R. Aitken agreed, but only if West Adelaide was the winning team that year. However ]Port Adelaide Football Club
Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed ...
coach and captain, Fos Williams
Foster Neil "Fos" Williams AM (21 February 1922 – 1 September 2001) was a leading Australian rules footballer who played for and coached the Port Adelaide and West Adelaide Football Clubs and coached South Adelaide in the South Australian Na ...
, said that he expected his team to win, and the men agreed that if Port Adelaide won, their colours would be painted on the chimney. Port Adelaide won that year, so the chimney was painted in black and white vertical stripes, but Williams suggested that a red stripe be painted below the black to honour the runners-up.
The tradition of painting the colours of the premier and runners-up was maintained at the Hindley Street premises until its closure in 1980, before transferring to the Thebarton site,[ which was rebadged "West End".][ It continued there until the last finals before the closure of the brewery in 2020, with the Woodville West Torrens Eagles colours aloft. The tradition of painting a chimney in the two teams' colours would continue at the Hoffmann Kiln at the ]Brickworks Marketplace
Torrensville is a western suburb west of the centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It was named after Irish-born economist and chairman of the South Australian Colonisation Commission, Robert Torrens.
Torrensville is in the City of West Torre ...
in nearby Torrensville
Torrensville is a western suburb west of the centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It was named after Irish-born economist and chairman of the South Australian Colonisation Commission, Robert Torrens.
Torrensville is in the City of West Tor ...
from 2021, with the cost of the painting continuing to be borne by Lion.
AFL Showdown
SA Brewing was the original sponsor of the "Showdown" in the Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
in 1997, and is one of the sponsors of the "Slowdown" charity football match.[
]
See also
*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
*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 ...
*South Australian food and drink
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
Further reading
*
{{Authority control
Australian beer brands
1859 establishments in Australia
Food and drink companies established in 1859
Beer brewing companies based in South Australia