Swan Brewery facts for kids

The redeveloped Old Swan Brewery complex, viewed from the Narrows

The Swan Brewery was a company that made beer in Perth, Western Australia. It was a very important part of Perth's history for many years.

History of the Swan Brewery

The Swan Brewery started in 1857. It was founded by Frederick Sherwood in Perth. He named it after the black swans he saw on the river.

Frederick Sherwood had moved to the Swan River Colony in 1843. He started the brewery to support his six children after his wife passed away. He chose the Swan River because it offered fresh, clean water for making beer. He also hired convicts, who were people sent to Australia as punishment, to work for low wages.

Swan Brewery around 1890

After Sherwood died in 1874, his family leased the brewery. In 1879, the Swan Brewery moved to a new spot near Mount Eliza. The old buildings were then used for bottling the beer.

Over the years, the Swan Brewery grew by taking over other breweries. In 1888, it bought the Lion Brewery. Later, it acquired the Castlemaine Brewery in Fremantle in 1927 and the Emu Brewery in 1928. By 1945, Swan had bought the last other brewing company in Western Australia, the Kalgoorlie Brewing Company.

The brewery expanded to the Northern Territory in 1957. However, it lost its market there in 1972. In 1966, the brewery stopped making beer at the Mounts Bay site. All brewing moved to the Emu Brewery site. In 1978, the brewery moved again to Canning Vale, which is an industrial area in Perth.

In 1981, a company called Bond Corporation bought the Swan Brewery. This company, owned by Alan Bond, later bought other large brewing companies. This meant Bond Corporation controlled a big part of Australia's beer market.

In 1990, a New Zealand company called Lion Nathan bought part of Bond Corporation's brewing business, including Swan Brewery. Two years later, Lion Nathan bought the rest of the company. In 2009, Lion Nathan was bought by a Japanese company called Kirin Brewery Company.

On October 12, 2012, Lion Nathan decided to close the Swan Brewery in Canning Vale. Production of Swan and Emu beers moved to other breweries in South Australia and Tasmania.

Old Swan Brewery Site

Old Swan Brewery
The redeveloped Old Swan Brewery building as viewed from Kings Park, Western Australia
General information
Type	Historic building
Location	Perth, Western Australia
Coordinates	31°57′54″S 115°50′27″E / 31.96509°S 115.84070°E / -31.96509; 115.84070 (Old Swan Brewery)
Western Australia Heritage Register
Type	State Registered Place
Designated	16 June 1992
Reference no.	2186

The buildings at the Old Swan Brewery site have a long history. They were first built in 1838 as a mill for cutting timber and grinding flour. These were the first mills in Western Australia to use steam power.

Later, these buildings became one of the first places where convicts were kept after they arrived in the colony in 1850. Between 1859 and 1879, the buildings were used as a tannery, which is a place where animal hides are turned into leather. At one point, there was even a restaurant there for travelers.

In 1877, the Swan Brewery Company bought the site. The brewery buildings built in 1879 by the Swan River under Mount Eliza became a famous landmark in Perth. Many other buildings around it have since been taken down or rebuilt.

Protests against redevelopment (1989–1990)

In 1989, the Western Australian government gave the site to a building company called Multiplex. The plan was to redevelop it into a business area.

However, Perth's Noongar community reminded the government that the site was very old and sacred to Indigenous people. They set up a protest camp on the site. They wanted the land to be protected as a public reserve.

There was also a group that wanted to save the old brewery buildings because of their historical value. The developers argued that the brewery was built on land reclaimed from the river. They said the important Indigenous site was further inland, near a fresh water spring.

The protest lasted for many months. It ended with a difficult but peaceful confrontation with police in January 1990, and some people were arrested. In August 1992, police had to clear the way for building work to continue. In the end, the development went ahead.

What's there now?

The old 1879 building was renovated and reopened in 2001. It now has a cafe, a restaurant, and a place for events. There is also a small brewery that makes special beers. You can also see old photos and items from the brewery's past.

Canning Vale Site

The main brewery operations moved to a large, modern factory in Canning Vale in 1978. Here, they made local beers like Swan and Emu, as well as other brands like Tooheys and Hahn. The Canning Vale factory was officially opened in March 1979.

In the mid-1980s, the company became part of Alan Bond's business group. Later, it was bought by Lion Nathan, a big brewing company that sells many different beers in the Asia-Pacific area. Some of the well-known beers that were historically Swan brands include Swan Lager, Emu Bitter, and Emu Export.

In 2012, Lion Nathan announced that it would stop brewing in Canning Vale. The production was moved to other states. The large site in Canning Vale is now being turned into an industrial area.

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