The Egyptians constructed the world’s first brewery at Thebes around 2000 BC. The techniques spread to the Romans, who in turn passed their brewing skills onto the British and Europeans.

In Australia, the history of brewing began almost immediately after the arrival of the First Fleet. The free settler, John Boston, is generally credited being the first to make something resembling beer in this country.

The company purchased a distillery in the inner city suburb of Milton, which due to failed sugar crops, had fallen on lean times. The premises were quickly converted, and inside 12 months, the first batch of Castlemaine beer, a XXX Sparkling Ale, was produced. The brew was met with strong approval by the local newspaper, the Brisbane Courier, as it was called then, which described the beer as “a delicious ale, of the brightest amber, pleasant to taste, with a peculiarity of flavour not easily described, and an aroma of an appetising nature by itself”. The prophetic journalist also wrote: “If Messrs. Fitzgerald Quinlan and Company provide the public from one year’s end to the other such a beverage, they will have no reason to repent their venture to the Colony”. The business operation of Fitzgerald Quinlan and Company was very successful; in 1880, Queensland’s first official telephone line was installed, linking the Milton brewery with the company’s Queen St office. In December 1888, the Milton distillery was shut down permanently. Soon after, the financial “crash” of the early 1890’s drove many businesses to the wall.

This was followed closely by one of the greatest floods in Queensland’s history, the deluge causing tremendous loss and damage to the Brisbane city area. However, wise direction and sound business practice kept the brewery afloat. Although a “Castlemaine (XXXX) Sparkling Prize Ale” had been produced at Milton from the early 1880’s (it won a “Special Prize ” at the First International Exhibition in Sydney in 1883), it was not until the financial crash of the early 1890’s that the first trade mark showing four X’s was applied for. Until this time the Brewery had been producing “Milton Beer” as well as the original “Castlemaine (XXX) Sparkling Ale”. The trade mark for the new XXXX brew showed an eagle carrying a barrel with XXXX written on it. Since medieval times when brewing was confined mainly to monasteries, X (the sign of the cross) was a standard symbol of purity for alcoholic beverages. The number of X’s represented the strength of the beer. The beer was simply called Castlemaine Sparking (XXXX) Ale; the four X’s were quite low in profile at this time. This new Castlemaine Sparkling (XXXX) Ale was not the popular brew we know today. The introduction of the famous XXXX Bitter Ale came later.

The 1st World War saw the directors wisely withdraw from the general and mercantile fields and concentrate on their brewery techniques and their wine and spirits agencies. In 1916, the directors agreed that the quality of the Castlemaine Sparkling Ale should be improved. They thought the beer should be specially brewed for a Queensland, rather than a Victorian palate and climate. The beer launched in 1916 was called “Castlemaine XXXX Sparkling Ale” and, although it was well received, it was plagued with brewing problems. After much expense through wastage, the directors finally, in 1920, employed a new, German Head Brewer, Mr. Bill Leitner, who spent many long nights at the Brewery before eventually tracing the cause of the problem. Leitner then re-designed the plant, deciding that a lighter, German style lager would be more acceptable to the Queensland drinker. This meant a further enlargement and extension of the Brewery. It was not until 1924 that the new “XXXX Bitter Ale” became available for sale. The new Head Brewer imported yeast cultures from Europe, experimenting to produce the right type of beer. “XXXX Bitter Ale” proved to be the most popular, and it was this formula that became the basis for the modern product. And what a success story it has been.

In February 1924 the first advertisement for XXXX Bitter Ale appeared in the “Brisbane Courier”. A few months later, in October, the first caricature of Mr. Fourex appeared. He was a younger version of the Mr. Fourex we know today, and he wasn’t wearing his hat. This advertisement called the beer “Fourex”. A month later another Mr. Fourex advertisement appeared, this time with a hat. Over the years there has been much speculation as to just who the little Mr. Fourex was. Some say he was actually the canny Paddy Fitzgerald who was the General Manager of the Castlemaine Perkins Brewery during a period of great growth. There certainly seems to be a degree of similarity. However , this little man was on the scene long before Paddy became a force in Milton. Others have hypothesised that Mr Fourex was modeled on a well-known dwarf who sold newspapers in Fortitude Valley in the 1930’s. No-one can confirm this. One of the greatest milestones in the history of the company was in 1928 when negotiations were completed with Perkins and Company Ltd, another brewing and wine and spirits company, for the purchase of its breweries in Brisbane and Toowoomba, and its maltings operation in Toowoomba. Perkins and Company had a history almost as old as the Castlemaine Brewery partnership.

Formed in 1881, it was for a long time one of the most prosperous breweries in Queensland, but had encountered difficult business conditions. Fierce competition from XXXX during the 1920’s had contributed to the fall in much of Perkins’s trade. The Perkins’ Brewery even tried to upstage the Castlemaine Brewery at Milton by producing XXXXX beer - but to no avail. When the Castlemaine Brewery took control in 1928, all operations at the Perkins’ Brisbane Brewery ceased. The new company became known as Castlemaine Perkins Limited. A large part of the Perkins’ Mary Street Brewery buildings was destroyed by fire a few years later. Nonetheless, the Toowoomba malting and brewery operations continued for thirty years, until 1958, when all of the company’s operations were concentrated at the Milton site.

Castlemaine XXXX Bitter Ale was the major product manufactured by Castlemaine Perkins’ Brewery between 1924 and 1970. The sale of some Perkins’s products, such as Perkins XXX Ale, Sparkling Ale and Carbine, Nurse and Gooleys Stout, did continue until about 1934, but sales were extremely poor and most of these products were discontinued. Castlemaine Perkins continued to grow, as did the sales of XXXX Bitter Ale, until 1970 when the range was expanded with the introduction of XXXX Draught. Other additions to the Castlemaine brand portfolio followed. They included XXXX Lite, at 3.2%, Queensland’s first low alcohol beer when it hit the market in 1979. XXXX Lite was the fore-runner to XXXX Gold, brewers upping the alcohol content to 3.5% when they introduced 2.7% XXXX Light Bitter in 1991. There have been numerous other examples of product innovation along the way, for example, XXXX DL. (Diet Lager), Castlemaine Gold (1977) and the limited draught production of Games Special during the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games.Since its inception in 1878, Castlemaine has maintained its standing as Queensland’s leading brewery, its flagship XXXX brand now recognised the world over as a great beer and equally famous trademark.

The Milton brewery, still operating on the original inner-city site, is a Brisbane landmark, each year attracting thousands of visitors from around, Queensland, Australia and overseas. The company also has a colourful corporate history, merging with New South Wales brewing company, Tooheys in 1980 to form Castlemaine Tooheys. In 1985, Castlemaine Tooheys was bought by Western Australian entrepreneur Alan Bond, who already had Perth’s Swan Brewery in his corporate stable. The three breweries traded under the name Bond Brewing until the America’s Cup hero ran into financial trouble in 1989.The following year, Douglas Myers, Chief Executive of New Zealand based company Lion Nathan formed a joint venture with Australian Consolidated Investments to acquire control of the three Australian breweries. Lion Nathan is today Australia’s largest beverage company, boasting some of the most recognisable brand names in brewing - among them, XXXX, Tooheys, Swan, Hahn, Emu, West End, and in New Zealand, the internationally acclaimed Premium beer, Steinlager. They also have the Pepsi Cola Franchise for Australia and New Zealand, as well as a burgeoning brewing operation in China.

In May this year, Lion Nathan formed a strategic alliance with Japanese brewing giant Kirin. The new partnership means that Castlemaine Perkins is now part of the 4th largest brewer in the world. However, regardless of where the corporate headquarters might be, the Castlemaine Perkins operation remains firmly entrenched right here in Queensland. The company makes more than 250 million litres of beer a year, quenching the thirsts of drinkers not only in Queensland, but around Australia and the world. Each brew is made almost exclusively rom raw materials grown or produced in Queensland - the only exception being hops, which come from the colder climate states of Tasmania and Victoria. Having celebrated their 120th birthday in October 1998, Castlemaine Perkins chalked up another remarkable milestone recently with the production of the 5 billionth stubby to roll off the main “P3” packaging line. Five billion stubbies, if placed end to end, would form a line more than one million kilometres long - 27 times around the world. Alternatively, packaged in cartons end to end, the beer would form a 25cm high wall stretching 86,432km - 2.3 times around the world. A lengthy journey in any mode of transport. Just thinking about in makes you thirsty!