West End Draught, commonly referred to as red tins, is a South Australian
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" ...
brewed by
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 ...
, a subsidiary of Japanese company
Kirin. It was formerly brewed by the
South Australian Brewing Company
The South Australian Brewing Company, Limited is a brewery located in Thebarton, South Australia, Thebarton, an inner-west suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is a subsidiary of Lion (Australasian company), Lion, which in turn is owned by ...
on
Port Road,
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 ...
, which was taken over Lion in 1993.
The company continued to trade as SA Brewing until 1 May 2019.
Lion continues to use the name "West End Brewery" for its current brewery and website, which was the name of
a former brewery on
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 ...
, taken over by SA Brewing in 1888.
West End Draught is a full-strength beer with an alcohol percentage of 4.5%. Other beers formerly brewed under the West End brand were West End Export, West End Gold, and West End Light,
but these are no longer manufactured. "West End Bitter" was extensively shown and consumed in the 1971 Australian feature film ''
Wake in Fright
''Wake in Fright'' (initially released as ''Outback'' outside Australia) is a 1971 psychological thriller film directed by Ted Kotcheff, written by Evan Jones, and starring Gary Bond, Donald Pleasence, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay and Jack Thomps ...
''.
West End are the original sponsors of the
AFL "Showdown" and the
"Slowdown" charity game 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 ...
(AFL).
The company is actively involved with 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 ...
. In 1954, the annual tradition of painting the colours of the SANFL grand finalist teams on the brewery chimney began. The company also sponsors the West End State Team and the West End Country State Team; and cricket including the
South Australian Cricket Association
The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) is the peak body for the sport of cricket in South Australia. The association administers the Southern Redbacks based in Adelaide. SACA is the controlling body for the South Australian Grade Cri ...
, the
West End Redbacks,
Adelaide Strikers
The Adelaide Strikers are an Australian professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia that compete in the Big Bash League (BBL).Cricket Australia (n.d), Teams and Players, Cricket Australia, accessed 1 Decembe ...
; and
Bowls South Australia.
In October 2020, Lion announced the closure of the Thebarton plant in June 2021, with production of West End Draught being transferred to breweries in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
.
[
]
See also
*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 ...
* West End Brewery
External links
*
References
Australian beer brands
1859 establishments in Australia
Food and drink companies established in 1859
South Australian Brewing Company
Kirin Group
Culture of South Australia
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