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Historic Beer Birthday: Thomas Aitken

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Today is the birthday of Thomas Aitken (January 5, 1821-January 5, 1884). He was born in Scotland, but emigrated to Australia in 1842, when he was 19. “In 1851 he founded the Corio Brewery in Geelong, and later started the Union Brewery in Melbourne. By 1854 he was in business at Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, where he had built a new brewery, distillery and malthouse. The large complex was called the Victoria Parade Brewery,” which was later known simply as the Victoria Brewery. He also developed the formula for their most popular beer, Victoria Bitter, also in 1854. When Thomas died in 1884, his son Archibald took over the brewery, but today it is owned by Carlton & United Breweries, which in turn was acquired by SABMiller, although last year, Asahi Breweries bought Carlton & United.

This biography of the Aitken family was written in 2007 for the Townsville Bulletin.

The home of Thomas and Margaret Aitken which stood near where the Aitkenvale library now stands. He would one day have a suburb and a street named after him but when Thomas Aitken jumped on board a ship bound for Australia, he was just a runaway in search of a better life in a new country.

Born 1825 in Edinburgh, Scotland Thomas Aitken was raised in an orphanage until, on reaching an age when he was able to fend for himself, he absconded from his guardians and boarded the vessel which was to change his destiny.

Upon arrival in his adopted country in the 1840s, Thomas was drawn to life on the land, working on farms around the Brisbane area, but his heart remained in Scotland.

‘‘He worked on cattle properties on what was then Moreton Bay,’’ John Aitken, 69 of Maroochydore said of his great-grandfather.

‘‘Then he went back to Scotland and married his wife, who was a daughter on a neighbouring property to where the orphanage was — he must have known her previously. Her family disowned them — they didn’t want her associated with a poor orphan but later the family came out to Australia as well.’’

Thomas and his new wife Margaret Aitken arrived in Australia on January 6, 1852 on the ship WilliamandMary, and worked the interior of Queensland as drovers before finally settling in Townsville.

‘‘They came up here to Townsville in about 1867,” Mr Aitken said. ‘‘He and his wife worked their way up from the areas along the D’Aguilar Highway which runs inland from Caboolture. They drove their cattle and travelled in horse drays and they came up through western Queensland, and finally they came into Ravenswood and into Townsville. It took them a number of years. The family Bible records where the children were born and they were born at different places along the way.’’

It was during these travels that the stockman, accustomed to austere living, chanced upon a remarkable discovery that would have changed his family’s fortune — but Thomas clearly was not materialistic by nature.

‘‘On the way through he was the first person to discover gold in Ravenswood,” Mr Aitken said of his greatgrandfather’s propitious find.

‘‘He found gold and then when he came to Townsville he told some people who went back and made their fortune out of it. Granddad was more interested in his cows.’’

With his focus solely on cattle, Thomas Aitken, after arriving in Townsville, procured a large parcel of land for grazing on what was then the outskirts of town.

‘‘He had 3500 acres on the Ross River — that’s a huge amount of land and I suspect it was some sort of land grant to get people to move into the country areas,’’ Mr Aitken said.

‘‘Their original house was a little log shanty down on the banks of the river and it got washed away in a flood. Then they built a fairly substantial homestead in an area just at the back of where the Aitkenvale Library is today. The property was originally hyphenated as Aitken-Vale.

‘‘He subdivided a lot of the property in his later years and he just retained about five acres around the homestead. Herveys Range Road was the main road through to Charters Towers back then, and the first stop on the stage coach was the Aitkenvale Arms Hotel (now the Vale Hotel). That was the first change of horses after you left Townsville on a trip to Charters Towers and that was just opposite where their house was,’’ Mr Aitken said.

Thomas and his wife remained in Townsville, raising five children, most of whom continued to live in the township. Elizabeth married Henry Kidner and built the Grand Hotel on Flinders St. Isabella married a Mr Covington — a ’pen-pusher’ for Charles Darwin on his Beagle voyage. Jane married Mr Buckpitt who owned a butcher shop on Flinders St East (where Avis now stands). Margaret married Germanborn Mr Maass and opened Townsville’s first soap factory in Sturt St. Charlotte went to live in Ayr but Mr Aitken’s grandfather John stayed in the region.

‘‘John was the only son — he and my grandmother Sarah lived with Thomas and Margaret for many years on the Aitkenvale property,’’ Mr Aitken said.

‘‘My grandmother used to tell us stories about how in Aitkenvale the water was from a hand pump and in the winter they used to have to pour boiling water down the pump to melt the ice in the mornings before they could pump it. If there’s such a thing as global warming that’s an indication — I don’t think you’d ever have to do that in Aitkenvale now.

‘‘The biggest disruption to their lives however was when there was flooding because they couldn’t get into town. The flood waters used to cut them off in the area of Rising Sun,’’ he said.

Travelling from Aitkenvale to the city was no easy matter in those early days with natural impediments frequently necessitating a more circuitous route, Mr Aitken said.

‘‘My grandfather worked at the Hubert Wells — the electricity generation and water supply works for Townsville. It was on Ross River Road opposite where The Cathedral School is now. The power was generated by coal and there was a railway line that used to go from Garbutt through to the power house.

‘‘He lived in Railway Estate and he used to go to work on his push bike from Railway Estate to Hubert Wells and if the tide was high and he couldn’t get across the creek at Sandy Crossing he used to have to go across Victoria Bridge because there was no Lowth’s Bridge. It was a long ride. When Lowth’s Bridge was built, my grandmother never called it Lowth’s Bridge, it was always the new bridge. It was rusting and falling apart when I first knew it but it was still called the new bridge,’’ Mr Aitken said.

While the Aitken family prospered in Townsville, they also had their share of misfortune when their spacious home burned down in 1899 and they also narrowly avoided tragedy in 1911 when the SSYongalavanished off Cape Bowling Green.

‘‘My grandmother sailed from Brisbane to Townsville on the Yongalaon the trip before it vanished. She was living in Davidson St in South Townsville at the time and told me how the locals used to walk to the river each evening to meet the returning search parties to find any news of the missing vessel,’’ Mr Aitken said.

Thomas Aitken, who died a wealthy man in 1897, is remembered today as a person of historic importance to Townsville and his name lives on not only in the suburb which is his namesake but also in Aitken St which was once a track leading down to the old homestead. Elizabeth and Charlotte streets were also named in honour of two of his four daughters.

The Victoria Brewery in 1870.

And this short obituary appeared in the Melbourne Herald on January 5, 1884.

“He arrived in Melbourne in the year 1842, being at that time a youth of 19 with intelligence and energy to aid him in his career. In Scotland he had acquired a knowledge of the brewing trade, but he turned his attention to other pursuits at first and was fairly successful. The gold discoveries of 1851 gave an impetus to trade, and Mr Aitken, being of a speculative disposition, took advantage of the tide of affairs and started the Corio Brewery in Geelong. Melbourne, however, offered better advantages, and in 1852 he commenced business in the Union Brewery, Lonsdale street west; shifting two years later, to the site of the present Victoria Parade Brewery. Mr Aitken’s business venture developed into an extensive undertaking, the secret of success being the production of a good article, and the employment of business capabilities to push the trade. The premises owned by the deceased gentleman cover an area of more than three acres of land. The building is effective in design, with an imposing and ornamental facade to the front elevation. In 1861 Mr Aitken established the first distillery under the new Distillation Act, which also proved a success, and the business reached such proportions that the value of the property and plant is now close upon £80,000.”

Thomas Aitken in the late 1800s.

Also, Gary Gilman, has a nice article about Aitken entitled The Inspirational Victoria Brewery, Melbourne, if you want to know more.

Historic Beer Birthday: Thomas Cooper

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coopers
Today is the birthday of Thomas Cooper (December 17, 1826-December 30, 1897). He was born in England, but moved to Australia when he was 26. He initially worked a variety of jobs, but in 1862 founded the brewery known today as Coopers Brewery “at his home in the Adelaide suburb of Norwood. He brewed his first recorded batch on 13 May 1862.”

Thomas_Cooper

This biography of Cooper is from the Cooper Brewery Wikipedia page:

[He] was born in Carleton, North Yorkshire, the youngest of 12 children of Christopher and Sarah (née Booth). His parents died when he was young (Sarah in 1830 and Christopher in 1832), and he was raised by his sister Ann. Thomas was apprenticed to a shoe-maker, and by the late 1840s, six of the seven living children had moved to Skipton. John, a shuttlemaker, lived in Bradford; Jane and Mary married; Ann was a housekeeper; Elizabeth and Martha were domestic servants.

In 1849 he married Ann Laycock Brown (1827–1872) in the Wesleyan Chapel in Skipton. Their first child, William (1850–1882), was born in 1850, and Sarah Ann (1851–1852) in 1851. In 1852, Thomas, the pregnant Ann, and their two children emigrated to South Australia, setting sail from Plymouth on the SS Omega on 29 May 1852. During the 86-day voyage, Sarah Ann was one of the six children who died, but their third child was born as they rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and was named Sarah Ann (1852–1854) in memory of her sister. The family arrived in Port Adelaide on 24 August 1852. Their first home was a rented two-room cottage near the Rising Sun Inn on Bridge Street in the then village of Kensington, about three miles east of the city. In the ten years before he commenced brewing in Norwood, Thomas worked initially as a shoemaker, then as a mason, and then as a dairyman, while Ann bore four more children: Mary Ann (1855–1856); John Thomas (1857–1935); Christopher (1859–1910); and Annie Elizabeth (1861–1921). In 1856 he purchased land in George Street, Norwood, and using his new skills as a mason, built a house which he described to his brother as having “6 rooms & Cellar & Passage” and 12 ft ceilings “on acct of Sumr heat”. In the same letter, and many others, he urged his brother and family to join him in South Australia, but this never eventuated.

On 13 May 1862, Thomas brewed his first recorded batch. He did all the work himself (purchasing, calling for orders, brewing, washing, filling, corking and wiring the bottles, delivering the finished product), possibly with the help of then 12-year-old son William, while continuing to attend the cows, run the dairy, and do the daily milk deliveries. Being unlicensed, in early June he sought “professional advice on the sale of beer” from a solicitor, which his ledger records as having cost 7s 6d. Towards the end of 1862 Thomas realised that to make a living as a brewer, he would need to increase his brewing capacity, so he mortgaged his property to Frederick Scarfe, the Mayor of Norwood, a butcher, and a customer of Thomas’s ale, for £300, and built a new brewhouse. In January 1863 he sold his cows and the milk delivery run. Although with half-a-dozen breweries in Adelaide, there was a lot of competition, Thomas’s ale was unique in that he used no sugar, “consequently, ours being pure, the Doctors recommend it to their patients”. Although one of the smaller South Australian brewers, Thomas gained a reputation for quality. By 1867 he had over 120 customers, some quite notable (e.g. Samuel Davenport, John Barton Hack, George Hawker, Dr Penfold and the Lord Bishop of Adelaide, but he did not supply public houses, “apparently because it was against his principles”.

Ann bore four more children before dying suddenly in 1872: Joseph Brown (1863–1888); Jane Amelia (1865–1943); Margaret Alice (1868–1869) and Samuel (1871–1921). She was survived by all five of her sons, and two of her six daughters.

Thomas remarried in 1874, and Sarah Louisa Perry bore eight children: Stanley Reasey (1875–1938); Thomas Perry (1876–1876); Francis Scowby (1877–1878) Frederic (1878–1952); Edward Booth (1880–1881); Charles Edward (1881–1936); Lily Louise (1881–1893); and Walter Astley (1882–1909).

When he died in 1897, Thomas was survived by his wife, and nine of his nineteen children – seven of his sons, and two of his daughters.

breweryandthomascoopershouse

This story is of Coopers’ beginnings is from the brewery website:

When Thomas Cooper used an old family recipe to brew his first batch of ale back in 1862, it would be fair to describe him as a novice craft brewer. Apparently he’d only intended it to be a tonic for his sick wife, but the resulting ale was so flavoursome that friends and neighbours soon came to appreciate it for more than just its ‘restorative’ properties. As demand for his naturally conditioned ales grew throughout the fledgling colony of South Australia, Thomas Cooper’s growing passion for brewing soon became his profession.

Before Thomas passed away, he handed over the reigns of the brewery to four of his sons, and so began a proud family tradition that has continued in an unbroken chain of six generations, for more than 150 years. While we’re still using Thomas Cooper’s original recipe, successive generations of Coopers have made improvements along the way.

The fusion of traditional Coopers brewing methods with cutting edge production technology has helped us grow our capacity and deliver consistent brew quality and flavour. As a result, we now have the ability to produce our naturally conditioned ales and stouts for a global audience, with absolute confidence that whenever one of our signature beers is poured, the drinker will enjoy a quality Coopers brew. This marriage of century-old brewing techniques and modern innovation is what makes Coopers unique in Australia’s brewing landscape.

Metal-Sign-Thomas-Cooper

This more modern history is by Martin Wooster, which was part of a longer travel piece he did for All About Beer in 2000 about Australian breweries, entitled “In the Shadows of Giants:”

The brewery that has done the most to provide Australians with choice and diversity is Coopers of Adelaide. But even when given clear directions, it’s a hard brewery to find. It’s quietly nestled in the shady Adelaide suburb of Leabrook, hidden beneath towering jacaranda and lilly pilly trees. For a brewery that’s been making beer on its site for over 100 years, it’s an amazingly quiet place.

The Coopers story begins in 1862, when Thomas Cooper, a British emigrant, decided to make some ale to help his ailing wife Ann deal with a fever. Ann Cooper came from a brewing family, and Thomas Cooper used her recipe. In south Australia’s relatively hot climate, Cooper had to adapt the British recipe, making his ale bottle conditioned to last longer and adding sugar to spark the secondary fermentation. The result was a style known as “sparkling ale.”

Cooper then followed with Coopers Extra Stout. Like the ale, the stout is bottle conditioned and can age for a long time. The Lord Nelson Hotel in Sydney serves five-year-old Coopers Extra Stout⎯when it mellows and develops port-like notes.

Thomas and Ann Cooper had 10 children; when she died in 1874, Thomas Cooper married Sarah Perry and had 10 more children. Eleven of these children survived into adulthood, ensuring that there were lots of Coopers to continue the family name. Coopers is the only Australian brewery controlled by descendants of its founder. “We wouldn’t want to be the generation that sold the brewery,” says marketing director Glenn Cooper.

Like most family-owned breweries, Coopers has gone through hard times. Coopers refused to adapt to changing times; it did not make lager until 1968, and until 1982, secondary fermentation for its ale and stout still took place in giant wooden casks called “puncheons.” While many younger drinkers thought that the cloudy beers were something only grandpa drank, Coopers stubbornly stuck to its traditional ways. The result was that, even when Australian beer was at its blandest, consumers knew that a good beer didn’t have to be a lager.

Coopers paved the way for us,” said Blair Hayden, managing director of the Lord Nelson Hotel, Sydney’s only brewpub. “It showed Australians that there was something else to drink besides lagers.”

What saved Coopers was homebrewers. Homebrewing was legalized in Australia in 1973, and Coopers at first sold sacks of wort that could be fermented with the addition of yeast. But customers found the sacks cumbersome, so in 1977 Coopers was the first brewery to market malt extracts for homebrewers. Coopers engineers also built the canning equipment needed to mass produce the extracts, and created a special lid to ensure that the Coopers yeast packets were securely fastened to the cans.

According to Glenn Cooper, Coopers currently has 35 percent of the world market for homebrew kits and 80 percent of the Australian market. Sales, he says, are largest in countries with high beer taxes, such as Canada and the Scandinavian nations.
In the 1990s, Coopers has diversified into many other areas. In the early 1990s, it began to enter the honey business through its Leabrook Farms subsidiary. Why honey? “Like malt extract, it’s a heavy, viscous substance,” Glenn Cooper said. Another Coopers division makes gourmet vinegars.

The core of Coopers business remains its beers. Under the leadership of head of brewing operations Tim Cooper (who abandoned a career as a cardiologist to work in the family brewery), Coopers now has 10 beers, adding several filtered beers and a dark ale to its portfolio. In 1998, the company released Extra Strong Vintage Ale, the first vintage-dated beer ever issued in Australia. Production of the ale, which is designed to age for up to 18 months, is limited to 25,000 cases, for sale only in Australia.

Production, Glenn Cooper says, is increasing by 18 percent a year. And Coopers beers are becoming more available in America. They are available in most Outback Steakhouses, and, repackaged under the Old Australia label, are also sold in most Trader Joe’s stores.

thomas-cooper-statue-adelaide
This statue of Thomas Cooper is at the side of the Coopers Brewery today.

Beer Birthday: Paul Holgate

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holgate
Today is the 57th birthday of Paul Holgate, who’s the co-founder of the Holgate Brewhouse is Melbourne, Australia. I met Paul in Melbourne a few years ago, when I was there to judge at the Australia International Beer Awards. Getting to know Paul was great fun, and, like me, he’s an old-timer in beer terms. Join me in wishing Paul a very happy birthday.

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Paul’s profile photo on Facebook, from 2017.

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From the brewery website.

Beer Birthday: Nick Galton-Fenzi

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Today is the 45th birthday of Nick Galton-Fenzi (October 18, 1979- ). He is from Perth, in Western Australia, where he’s the “Innovation and Product Development Brewer at NAH Limited, Consultant Brewer at Golden Bosun Tavern and Product Developer at Carib Brewery St Kitts & Nevis LTD” though his main gig seems to be Nick’s Ale House in Perth. Over his 25 years brewing commercially, he’s worked at and/or owned 50 different places in 23 countries. I first met Nick in South Africa judging the African Beer Cup a few years ago and have subsequently run into him in various beer competitions around the world, and he’s a great international ambassador for good beer. Join me in wishing Nick a very happy birthday.

Nick and me in Colorado earlier this year for World Beer Cup judging.
Nick and me with Markus and Pete in Minnesota for World Beer Cup judging.
Out at a bar in Capetown, South Africa, with Nick in the back center.

Historic Beer Birthday: Patrick Perkins

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castlemaine-perkins
Today is the birthday of Patrick Perkins (October 10, 1838—May 17, 1901). He was born in Ireland, but emigrated as a child to Queensland, Australia, with his parents in 1854, when he was sixteen. “With his brother Thomas, he started breweries in Victoria and Queensland. In 1866, Patrick Perkins started the Perkins Brewery in Toowoomba. In 1872, he later extended his operations to Brisbane with the purchase of the City Brewery in 1872. In 1876, Patrick Perkins moved to Queensland in order to manage the Brisbane and Toowoomba breweries.” He was also heavily involved in local politics. After his death, “in 1928, the Perkins brewing company was bought by their rivals Castlemaine Brewery with new company being known as Castlemaine Perkins.”

Patrick_Perkins

This is his biography from his Wikipedia page:

Patrick Perkins, nicknamed Paddy Perkins, was a brewer and politician in colonial Queensland. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly and, later, a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council.

Patrick Perkins was born in a humble cottage on a small farm in the village of Clonoulty near Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland. He was the second son of Thomas Perkins, a farmer, and his wife Ellen (née Gooley). He attended the local National School.

Thomas and Ellen Perkins and their eight children (including Patrick) immigrated on the Persian, departing Southampton and arrived in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 9 April 1854.

Toowoomba
Toowoomba circa 1865.
In 1861, he married Mary Ellen Hickey in Victoria. They had three children born in Victoria: Thomas Hector (born 1864), Edgar Colin Francis (born 1868) and Lilly Eleanor Perkins (born 1875). They had two children born in Queensland: Patrick Harold (born 1878) and Helene Cicilia (born 1880).

Patrick Perkins was a miner and storekeeper on the diggings in Victoria in districts including Ballarat, Bendigo, Woods Point and Jamieson.

With his brother Thomas, he started breweries in Victoria and Queensland. In 1866, Patrick Perkins started the Perkins Brewery in Toowoomba. In 1872, he later extended his operations to Brisbane with the purchase of the City Brewery in 1872.

Perkins_Brewery
In 1876, Patrick Perkins moved to Queensland in order to manage the Brisbane and Toowoomba breweries.

Perkins also had interests in property and mining, including the Mount Morgan Mine and coal mining in the West Moreton area. He was considered a shrewd and successful businessman.

On 9 April 1877, Edward Wilmot Pechey, the member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly in the seat of Aubigny, resigned. On 1 May 1877, in a by-election, Perkins was elected in Aubigny, defeating Angus Mackay (the then editor of The Queenslander) by a large majority. He was elected again in Aubigny in the 1878 election and was appointed as Minister of Lands in the First McIlwraith Ministry from 21 January 1879 to 13 November 1883.

Perkins was elected again in Aubigny in the 1883 election, However, allegations about electoral fraud (including intimidation, bribery, and ballot stuffing) in the Aubigny election started to surface, resulting in a petition to the Governor of Queensland detailing numerous kind of electoral fraud and asking to declare that the Aubigny election was void and that Patrick Perkins was guilty of bribery and corruption. On 21 February 1884, the Committee of Elections and Qualifications ruled the Aubigny election was null and void and called for a by-election. Perkins had denied any involvement in the alleged electoral fraud and the Committee of Elections and Qualifications did not disqualify him from re-contesting the seat, which provoked outrage in some quarters. However, Patrick Perkins announced he would not re-contest the seat as he would be taking a trip to England. James Campbell was elected unopposed at the resulting by-election on 4 March 1884.

At the 1888 election, Perkins was elected in the seat of Cambooya on 10 May 1888, which he held until 6 May 1893.

On 23 May 1893, Perkins was appointed to Queensland Legislative Council from 23 May 1893. Being a lifetime appointment, he served until his death on 17 May 1901.

city-brewery-australia
Late in life, Perkins was in poor health and moved to Hawthorn, Melbourne. He attended the opening of the first Federal Parliament at the Royal Exhibition Building on 9 May 1901 and caught a chill which developed into bronchial pneumonia, from which he died on Friday 17 May 1901 at “Ingleborough”, Berkeley Street, Hawthorn. On Saturday 18 May 1901, his funeral was conducted at the Roman Catholic church at Glenferrie, after which he was buried in the Boroondara General Cemetery in Kew, Melbourne.

In 1928, the Perkins brewing company was bought by their rivals Castlemaine Brewery with new company being known as Castlemaine Perkins Limited.

castlemaine-perkins

The Castlemaine Perkins brewery in Brisbane (pictured above early last century) has strong links to the history of Toowoomba. Don Talbot and John Larkin outlined the story In their book Strange and Unusual Tales. Queensland’s first brewery was built in Toowoomba in 1867. By 1869, it was one of the largest breweries in the southern hemisphere. The brewery’s original and official name was the Downs Brewery, but came to be known as Perkins Brewery. Paddy Perkins was born in Tipperary, Ireland, in 1838 migrating to Australia in 1855 with his father Thomas, and brothers James and Thomas. Paddy and his family travelled the Ballarat and Bendigo goldfields. Paddy and his brother Thomas set up a merchandising store in Castlemaine, Victoria, and later held an interest in the Castlemaine Brewery in Victoria. After testing water quality in Brisbane and Ipswich, the Perkins brothers located a reliable spring in West Swamp, Toowoomba. In 1867, the brothers purchased land in Margaret St (where Grand Central is today). In December, 1869, Perkins Brewery brewed its first commercial hogshead of light ale in Queensland. At this time, the brewery was one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere with the capacity to produce 400 hogshead (113,650 litres) of XXX (Extra Exhilarating Extract) beer per week. Paddy Perkins later purchased the City Brewery, Mary Street, Brisbane in 1872. In August, 1876, tragedy stuck the Perkins family when Thomas was killed aged 35 while riding his horse in Grandchester. Paddy continued running the breweries in Toowoomba and Brisbane which prospered and expanded up until the 1920s. Profits began to decline due to competition from the new and extremely popular XXXX Bitter Ale, a stronger beer which was bought out by Perkins’ competitor Castlemaine Brewery Brisbane. The Perkins and Co. Ltd Downs Brewery in Toowoomba and the City Brewery in Brisbane were sold to the Castlemaine Brewery in August, 1928. The company was then restructured as Castlemaine Perkins Ltd. The Downs Brewery ceased brewing in 1958 after it had operated continuously for 89 years.

Perkins_and_Company_Brewery_Toowoomba_1871
The Perkins Brewery in Toowoomba around 1871.

And this history of the Perkins Brewery is from a site focusing on the Toowoomba Region:

Queensland’s first brewery was built in Toowoomba in 1867. By 1869, it was one of the largest breweries in the southern hemisphere. The brewery’s original and official name was the Downs Brewery but came to be known as Perkins Brewery. Read about its history and how it eventually became part of Castlemaine Perkins.

Perkins BreweryPaddy Perkins was born in Tipperary, Ireland in 1838 migrating to Australia in 1855 with his father Thomas, and brothers James and Thomas. Arriving in Victoria Paddy and his family traveled the Ballarat and Bendigo goldfields.

Paddy and his brother Thomas set up a merchandising store in Castlemaine, Victoria and later held an interest in the Castlemaine Brewery in Victoria.

After testing water quality in Brisbane and Ipswich, the Perkins brothers located a reliable spring providing the quality they required in West Swamp Toowoomba. In 1867 the brothers purchased land in Margaret Street (where Grand Central is today) and contracted Mr. John Garget to construct Queensland’s first brewery.

In December 1869 Perkins Brewery brewed its first commercial hogshead of light ale in Queensland. At this time, the brewery was one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere with the capacity to produce 400 hogshead (113,650 litres) of XXX (Extra Exhilarating Extract) beer per week.

Another product from the Perkins Brewery was Carbine Invalid Stout that was promoted for fortifying the blood and as a tonic for nursing mothers.

The Perkins brothers also founded the malting industry in Toowoomba, building a malt house in addition to their Dent Street brewery. In 1871 maltster J. G. Sims processed 14,000 bushels of barley on the floor of the Perkins’ malt house (1 bushel = 0.363 litres).

The opening of the brewery in Toowoomba saw an increase of barley growing on the Downs which led to experiments in the cultivation of hops, all of which were unsuccessful. The malting process was discontinued in the 1880s and 1890s until a duty was imposed on imported malt and processing of local barley was again encouraged.

Perkins and Co described their beer as “A good, light, drinkable and nutritious ale, having been a long-felt want in Queensland, the proprietors beg to announce that they are now prepared to supply unlimited demand with a sound and nutritious ale, such as they trust will command general favour and support.”

Paddy Perkins later purchased the City Brewery, Mary Street Brisbane in 1872.

In August 1876 tragedy stuck the Perkins family when Thomas was killed aged 35, whilst riding his horse in Grandchester. Thomas Perkins is buried at the Toowoomba & Drayton Cemetery.

Paddy continued running the breweries in Toowoomba and Brisbane which prospered and expanded up until the 1920s. Profits began to decline due to competition from the new and extremely popular XXXX Bitter Ale, a stronger beer which was bought out by Perkins’ competitor Castlemaine Brewery Brisbane. The Perkins and Co. Ltd Downs Brewery in Toowoomba and the City Brewery in Brisbane were sold to the Castlemaine Brewery in August 1928. The company was then restructured as Castlemaine Perkins Ltd.

Catlemaine_Perkins_128860

Beer In Ads #3864: Foster’s Kangaroo Pouch

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Thursday’s ad is for “Foster’s Lager,” from 2002. This ad was made for Carlton & United, who made Foster’s Lager, although it was later part of AB-InBev but more recently was sold to Asahi. It was started by two American brothers who emigrated to Australia in 1886, and started selling it in 1889. In 1907, the Foster brothers merged with four other Melbourne breweries to created Carlton & United Breweries. The Foster’s brand barely sells in Australia, but began importing to the UK and the US in the early 1970s, and thanks to very successful advertising became a popular international brand. This one features a bottle of Foster’s with a pouch, and inside the pouch, naturally, is that most quintessential of Australian animals, the kangaroo.

Beer In Ads #3863: Our Message From Down Under

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Wednesday’s ad is for “Foster’s Lager,” from 1984. This ad was made for Carlton & United, who made Foster’s Lager, although it was later part of AB-InBev but more recently was sold to Asahi. It was started by two American brothers who emigrated to Australia in 1886, and started selling it in 1889. In 1907, the Foster brothers merged with four other Melbourne breweries to created Carlton & United Breweries. The Foster’s brand barely sells in Australia, but began importing to the UK and the US in the early 1970s, and thanks to very successful advertising became a popular international brand. This one features a cartoon ad which I believe is from around the time of the Olympics the last time they were in Los Angeles, which was 1984.

Beer In Ads #3862: Men At Work

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Tuesday’s ad is for “Foster’s Lager,” from 1983. This ad was made for Carlton & United, who made Foster’s Lager, although it was later part of AB-InBev but more recently was sold to Asahi. It was started by two American brothers who emigrated to Australia in 1886, and started selling it in 1889. In 1907, the Foster brothers merged with four other Melbourne breweries to created Carlton & United Breweries. The Foster’s brand barely sells in Australia, but began importing to the UK and the US in the early 1970s, and thanks to very successful advertising became a popular international brand. This one features the Australian rock band Men at Work, best known for their hits “Down Under” and “Who Can It Be Now?”

Beer In Ads #3861: Australian For Male Bonding

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Monday’s ad is for “Foster’s Lager,” from 1994, I believe. This ad was made for Carlton & United, who made Foster’s Lager, although it was later part of AB-InBev but more recently was sold to Asahi. It was started by two American brothers who emigrated to Australia in 1886, and started selling it in 1889. In 1907, the Foster brothers merged with four other Melbourne breweries to created Carlton & United Breweries. The Foster’s brand barely sells in Australia, but began importing to the UK and the US in the early 1970s, and thanks to very successful advertising became a popular international brand. This one features a Rugby scrum and the tagline: “Australian for Male Bonding” and an oil can of Foster’s and the tagline: “Australian for Beer.”

Beer In Ads #3860: Foster’s Boomerang

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Sunday’s ad is for “Foster’s Lager,” from the 1950s, I believe. This ad was made for Carlton & United, who made Foster’s Lager, although it was later part of AB-InBev but more recently was sold to Asahi. It was started by two American brothers who emigrated to Australia in 1886, and started selling it in 1889. In 1907, the Foster brothers merged with four other Melbourne breweries to created Carlton & United Breweries. The Foster’s brand barely sells in Australia, but began importing to the UK and the US in the early 1970s, and thanks to very successful advertising became a popular international brand. This one features a blue tray for “Foster’s Lager” and the tagline “Australia’s National Beer.”