TOPIC:

Peter Williams,
The West Australian
October 17, 2012, 10:42 am

The Swan Brewery in Canning Vale will be shut down early next year with the loss of about 80 jobs and production moved interstate.

Owner Lion said the production of Swan and Emu beer brands and keg production would be transferred to its West End Brewery in South Australia. WA pack production would move to James Boag & Son Brewery in Tasmania.

Lion said contract labour would also be affected by the closure. Fifty-five sales and support jobs would be retained and the staff relocated to a new WA office site.

"Lion undertakes regular reviews of its operations and unfortunately The Swan Brewery has been operating substantially below full capacity for some time and will require significant ongoing capital investment to maintain its current operations, which is no longer sustainable," Lion Beer, Spirits & Wine Australia managing director James Brindley said.

"This is not something we have taken lightly and is no reflection on the dedication and capability of our people at The Swan Brewery or the importance of the WA market to our business.

Lion said Swan and Emu would be brewed to the same recipe and Lion's expert brewers would shortly begin the process of brew emulation testing to ensure absolute flavour consistency.

The company would invest $70 million into West End Brewery to increase cider and international brand capability and to accommodate the brewing of WA keg production.

It would pump $12 million into James Boag & Son Lion to increase its capability to brew national brands.

The Canning Vale closure is expected to be completed by the end of March 2013.

Lion said new roles created in SA and Tasmania would be first offered to workers from The Swan Brewery.

“Lion remains committed to the Swan and Emu brands and to the Western Australian market,” Mr Brindley said.
“Our ongoing sales presence in WA and our recent acquisition of Little World Beverages demonstrate that we continue to see WA as an important part of our future.”

It doesn't suprise me one bit actually... I had a carton of EMU Bitter sent over from Perth when they had JUST changed to the "new" style at 4.0% ... At the same time I was drinking Toohey's NEW off tap here in NSW. Low and behold, it tasted exactly the same. It doesn't taste bad, just doesn't taste like EMU.

What I reckon Lion Nathan has done is brewed a beer that is probably most likey based around the popular NEW formula, and tried to con everyone into drinking the same beer Australia wide with just a different label. It means they can brew at any brewery, and shut some down.

EMU Bitter was distinct, but shortly it will also be extinct. These Kiwi's think the average Aussie is dumb.

At the end of the day if I'm going to drink SA beer, make it COOPERS.

End of a Legend I suppose.. I never drank Swan even in Vietnam..Preferred VB. Sign of the times though.. Lyon Nathan NZ firm anyway isnt it?
At least VB still brings out the old King Browns (I think).
Who cares as long as it goes down well. James Squire brilliant

Yep. Was sad to hear the news today about the above mentioned news report. Sad but not really surprising. Years ago, Swan was the beer to drink. But with many small brewers, wineries and other beer brands around nowadays, many people went away from Swan. Have to be honest and say the old VB, Tooheys and 4X is not a bad drop. It all goes down the same way on a hot day.

CUB have said their sales dropped drastically for playing with VB. Its supposed to be back to full strength and taste by the end of this month. 5.0%

I think quite a few will go back to VB if this is the case.

I also read from the Mercury (Tassie) that they intend to brew XXXX and Toohey's down at Boags, hence the multi-million $$$ upgrade!

A few years back I saw a show on TV where they were making the cans in QLD, I'm pretty sure it was to do with Castlemain Perkins Brewery, but quite clearly, the EB cans were rolling off in sheets of aluminum ready to be die-cut.

Most likely Lion Nathan has been planning this for 15 years or so since the last time they threatened to close SWAN down.

From my recollection, Lion took control of the Swan brewery in the early nineteen nineties. It feels like Swan started going downhill from then on. Didn't really feel like a west aussie company if that makes sense.