The South Australian Brewing Company, Limited was a brewery located in Thebarton, an inner-west suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is a subsidiary of Lion, which in turn is owned by Kirin, a Japan-based beverage company. [1] It manufactures West End Draught 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, Adelaide city centre), the Kent Town Brewery, and the wine and spirit merchants Rounsevell & Simms. [2] In 1938 the company took over the Walkerville Brewery, 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 breweries 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. [1]
The South Australian Brewing Company was established in February 1888 as the South Australian Brewing, Malting, and Wine and Spirit Company [3] [4] by the amalgamation of Sir Edwin Thomas Smith's Kent Town Brewery, William Knox Simms'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 of Adelaide, and Hon. N. Fitzgerald, John Robb, Malcolm McEacharn, John B. Watson, and John McIlwraith (brother of Thomas McIlwraith), of Melbourne. [5]
The new company set about enlarging the brewing facilities at West End and centring the malting work at Kent Town. [6] 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. [7] 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. [6] [8]
Robert Stock, Edwin Smith's brother-in-law and manager of the Kent Town Brewery, 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. [7]
The black and red colours of the SA Brewing Company came about after the West Adelaide Football Club (whose colours are black and red) defeated Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) 1911 Grand Final, and defeated VFL premiers Essendon in the Championship of Australia play-off at Adelaide Oval shortly afterwards in the same year. [9]
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, K.C.M.G., Edward Fitzgerald, LL.D., and H. W. Morphett. [10]
The Walkerville Cooperative Brewery, which produced the popular Nathan beers, [11] [12] was taken over by the South Australian Brewing Company in 1938, [13] [14] after which operations were concentrated on the old Torrenside Brewery (established 1886, a precursor of Walkerville Brewery). [4] [15] The brewery was renamed Nathan Brewery to remove the Walkerville's "Southwark" branding [16] in 1939. [15]
In 1941, architect F. Kenneth Milne (who was contracted to the company from 1912 until 1946 [17] ) was responsible for upgrading the Hindley Street building. [18] [19]
From 1949, the brewery was again renamed Southwark Brewery, [4] [15] 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. [16] [20]
From 1955 operations were split between the company's two major factories, with the West End Brewery in Hindley Street making only draught beer in kegs; bottled beer only was produced in the Thebarton plant.[ citation needed ]
Until 1974, when the Whitlam government revised the Trade Practices Act , they were legally able to dispense only the company's beer in their pubs. [7]
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, [7] 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 took over the West End brands. [8]
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. One of Southcorp's major assets was "Southcorp Wines", (acquired from the Adelaide Steamship Company in 1990), and subsequently acquired by Lion Nathan's main Australian rival, the Foster's Group.[ citation needed ]
West End Draught was the largest selling beer in South Australia in 2007. West End Draught is a 4.5% abv pale lager, first brewed in 1859. [21]
In October 2020 it was announced that the Thebarton brewery would be closing in June 2021, with the loss of over 90 jobs. [8] 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. Artefacts in the on-site museum were catalogued and donated to the State Library of South Australia and other local institutions. [22]
The South Australian Government purchased the 8.4 hectares (21 acres) Thebarton site from Lion Nathan for $61.5 million in 2023, intending to develop it with over 1,000 homes, of which 20% would be economical residential. The site is within 2 km of the CBD, and is well serviced by trams. [23]
The West End Brewery chimney tower has been heritage-listed and will be preserved when the site is redeveloped. [22]
The tradition of painting the brewery chimney with the team colours of the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) premiership team began in 1954, [24] when a West Adelaide player and employee Clarrie Cannon [7] suggested painting the chimney in the West Adelaide Football Club colours, red and black, as the West End Brewery (then still in Hindley Street [24] ) 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 coach and captain, Fos Williams, 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. [25] [26]
The tradition of painting the colours of the premier and runners-up was maintained at the Hindley Street premises until its closure in 1980, [24] before transferring to the Thebarton site, [27] [7] which was rebadged "West End". [8] It continued there until the last finals before the closure of the brewery in 2020, with the Woodville West Torrens Eagles colours aloft. [28] The tradition of painting a chimney in the two teams' colours would continue at the Hoffmann Kiln at the Brickworks Marketplace in nearby Torrensville from 2021, [29] with the cost of the painting continuing to be borne by Lion. [30]
SA Brewing was the original sponsor of the "Showdown" in the Australian Football League in 1997, and is one of the sponsors of the "Slowdown" charity football match. [31] [7]
The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL, 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.
West End most commonly refers to:
Coopers Brewery Limited, the largest Australian-owned brewery, is based in the Adelaide suburb of Regency Park. Coopers is known for making a variety of beers, the most famous of which are its Pale Ale and Sparkling Ale. In the twelve months to 30 June 2020 total beer sales, excluding non-alcoholic beverages, rose to 79.8 million litres, an increase of 3.9% from the previous year. It is also the world's largest producer of homebrewing beer concentrate in cans. Cooper's also manufactures DIY kits, reusable plastic bottles and boxed brew enhancers. Its shares are primarily owned by the extended Cooper family, and the company's constitution and classes of shares makes it difficult to sell shares outside the family.
The Swan Brewery is a brewing company, whose high profile brewery was once located beside the Swan River, in Perth, Western 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; although, the nation ranked considerably lower in a World Health Organization report of alcohol consumption per capita of 12.2 litres. Lager is by far the most popular type of beer consumed in Australia.
Torrensville is a western suburb 3 km (1.9 mi) 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.
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 and Bonython Park to the east, Kintore Street to the south, and South Road to the west.
West End Draught, commonly referred to as red tins, is a South Australian lager brewed by Lion, a subsidiary of Japanese company Kirin.
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 social reformist.
William Knox Simms was a brewer, businessman and politician in the early days of South Australia.
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 United States through Distinguished Vineyards & Wine Partners. It acts as distributors for a range of spirits in New Zealand, but does not own any distilleries outright, although holding a 50% share of Four Pillars Gin in Victoria.
The West End Brewery in Hindley Street, Adelaide, was a South Australian brewer of beer founded in the colony of South Australia in 1859 by a consortium of brewers. Its West End Ale was a popular brand and the enterprise was a successful one. The company merged with the Kent Town Brewery and Ben Rounsevell's wine and spirit business to create the South Australian Brewing, Malting, Wine and Spirit Company, in 1888, which continued to use the West End brand.
William Henry Clark (c.1815–1870) was an early settler and brewer in Adelaide, in the Colony of South Australia. He was the founder of the Halifax Street Brewery around 1844, and in 1859 was responsible for the building of a brewery at the western end of Hindley Street. However he fell into insolvency, leaving the state in 1860 to avoid his debtors, and the Hindley Street brewery taken over by William Knox Simms, later becoming the West End Brewery.
Charles Edward Mallen was a carpenter and brewer in the early days of the colony of South Australia.
The Pirie Street Brewery was a brewery situated on Pirie and Wyatt Streets, Adelaide, in the early days of the British colony of South Australia. It was succeeded on the same site after a few years by the Adelaide Brewery. Its original address was 50-62 Wyatt Street; today the buildings at 54–60 are heritage-listed in the South Australian Heritage Register, and there is a remaining building at 113 Pirie Street now occupied by the Hill Smith Gallery.
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 amalgamations it moved its operations to Southwark and by 1920 it was South Australia's largest brewing company.
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.
The Morphett Street Brewery was a brewer of beer in Adelaide, South Australia.
West End Brewery may refer to:
This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 15, (Melbourne University Press), 2000
Taken from Geoffrey H. Manning's A Colonial Experience. [2001]