|
The Emu Brewery was a brewery in Perth, Western Australia, which traced its history to the first decade of the colony. Founded in 1837 by James Stokes as the Albion Brewery, it was located beside the Swan River on a block bounded by Mounts Bay Road, Spring Street and Mount Street. The business changed hands — and names — several times, until its ultimate acquisition by competitor the Swan Brewery in 1927. New brewery buildings were constructed over the years. The most notable of these was an imposing Art Deco building erected between 1936 and 1938. This building continued to be used to produce Emu-brand beer until the late 1970s, when production was shifted to a new factory in Canning Vale. Emu beer continues to be produced as a brand of Swan Brewery owner Lion Nathan. == Albion Brewery: 1837–1848 == In the early 1830s, the Swan River Colony was in its infancy and did not have a substantial local beer industry.〔Spiller, p. 17〕 Preachers from the Temperance League lobbied against the drunkenness prevalent in the Colony, however the lack of locally produced beer meant that they focused their attention on spirits drinkers.〔Spiller, p. 18〕 Governor James Stirling believed that the construction of a local brewery may reduce the Colony's drunkenness problems by allowing the men to drink beer instead of spirits.〔 Scotsman James Stokes had arrived in Western Australia in 1834 at the age of 24.〔 He saw the opportunity in the market for a brewery, and investigated potential sites. Surveyor-General John Septimus Roe had set aside a small triangular lot for use as a brewery; this block was bounded by Spring Street, Mount Street and St Georges Terrace.〔 Stokes preferred the much larger block across Spring Street, which extended almost all the way to the riverfront.〔 The site was more suitable because it featured a natural spring, there was a sufficient different in elevation to enable the use of gravity in the brewing process without the need for a large tower.〔 The proximity to the river also made river transport an attractive option. Stokes bought this land from George Leake, and was operating his brewery by 1837.〔Spiller, p. 19〕 Although the brewery was named the Albion Brewery after the ancient name for Great Britain,〔 it was more popularly known as Stokes' Brewery.〔 It was the colony's first major stand-alone brewery.〔〔 At the time, darker beer varieties were popular in Britain, however Stokes believed that the pale ales that were being exported to India would become popular locally.〔 Contrary to what Governor Stirling had hoped, Stokes began distilling spirits at the brewery in 1838.〔 In 1839 Stokes mortgaged the brewery site back to the original owner, Leake, to fund the purchase of the adjacent block.〔Spiller, p. 20〕 There, he built himself a house; around this time he also bought the small portion of river frontage immediately in front of the brewery from the government for £13/5s/-.〔 In the same year, Stokes also formed a partnership in land and commission agents with Dubois Aggett,〔 however in 1840 Aggett maimed himself while attempting suicide, and Stokes severed the partnership.〔Spiller, p. 21〕 1840 also saw the market for Albion Brewery's beer fall away due to a sluggish economy.〔 It did not escape Stokes' attention that duties were levied on imported spirits, but not on those produced locally.〔 Seizing upon the business opportunity, he imported a large still and expanded the brewery's distillery.〔 The Government responded to this by imposing a tax on locally produced spirits as well, leading Stokes to stop Albion's distilling efforts.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Emu Brewery」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|