Kalgoorlie Stout ‘for health and strength drink…’ Poster

The Kalgoorlie Brewing & Ice Co. Ltd was incor­porated on 24 February 1896, and brewing commenced in September of that year. J. H. Schickel, owner of the Caledonian Brewery in Adelaide, was the brewer and manager.

Output was 50 hogsheads of beer per month at the start, and by 1908 this had risen to an incredible 1100 hogsheads, with much of the credit due to the chief brewer, Syd Elliott, who built an enviable reputation for ‘the stuff he put out’. 

Depots were opened in the more important towns of the outback, and during the long life of the brewery many other breweries were taken over.

1912 Lion Brewery, Coolgardie; closed a few years later.

1918 Elliott’s Brewery, Kalgoorlie; closed.

1919 Union Brewery, Kalgoorlie; became the company’s headquarters.

1924 Boulder City Brewery, Boulder; closed. The equipment was sent to the town of Merredin, where the company established another brewery.

By this time all of the local opposition had been taken over, and there were no other breweries operating in Kalgoorlie or the nearby towns of Boulder and Coolgardie. But soon opposition of another kind began to have a profound impact on the brewery’s trade. Tastes in beer were changing: lager was becoming the popular beer, and the company’s Big K brand was losing favour. Richmond Tiger Lager, Swan Lager and South Australian Nathan Lager were taking over the bottle trade.

In 1936 a new brewery was built, specially designed and equipped to produce Hannan’s Lager Beer. After the launch of the new product, the company began to regain some of its lost trade. In its attempt to take advantage of the large and growing beer market in Kalgoorlie and surrounding districts, the Swan Brewery Co. Ltd, Perth, had started bottling at their brewery in Kalgoorlie during the late 1890s. But it was almost fifty years later before Swan actually brewed in the area. In fact, Swan was the only brewer in Kalgoorlie when it acquired all the interests in the Kalgoorlie Brewing & Ice Co. Ltd in February 1945. The acquisition included both the Kalgoorlie and Merredin breweries, and the name was changed to the Kalgoorlie Brewing Co. Pty Ltd.

The Merredin Brewery was closed in 1949, and the brewery at Kalgoorlie continued until 1983.