NT Draught

375 ml (13.20 imp fl oz; 12.68 US fl oz) stubby bottle, 4.9% ABV

Manufacturer| Carlton & United Beverages (Asahi Breweries)
Introduced| 1957[1]
Alcohol by volume | 4.9%
Style| Lager
Website| cub.com.au/beer/nt-draught/

NT Draught is a lager produced by Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), a subsidiary of Asahi Breweries. NT Draught are the makers of the Darwin Stubby. A Darwin Stubby refers to several large beer bottle sizes in Australia. It was first introduced in April 1958 with an 80-imperial-fluid-ounce (2,270 ml; 76.9 U.S. fl oz) capacity.[2] The 2.25-litre (76.1 U.S. fl oz; 79.2 imp fl oz) Darwin Stubby has an iconic,[3] if kitsch status in Australian folklore. In May 2015 Carlton & United Breweries announced that they will no longer brew NT Draught on a regular basis.

## History

[edit]

Darwin's first brewery, designated "Darwin Brewery", was founded in 1951 by Harry Ellis-Kells in the Berrimah industrial area,[4] 3 miles from Darwin's GPO, and before long was producing four kinds of beer: Buffalo Bitter, Palmerston Dinner Ale, Darwin Ale and Darwin Lager. Ellis-Kells "skipped town" in August that year after being successfully sued by contractor E. Favaro for £359.[5] In 1952 the property was sold to brothers Bernard and John Lyall Allen, who floated a company to purchase the site from them and to erect additional buildings, procure equipment and hire staff to re-commence brewing at the site,[6] but due to insufficient interest, the venture was called off.[7]

In 1956 Carlton & United Breweries established their Darwin brewery,[8] N.T. Brewery Pty. Ltd., in the suburb of Berrimah.[9] The first beer, Carlton Draught, was brewed on 13 October of that year.[10] The brewery, however, did not have an associated bottling plant, so bottled beer still had to be shipped from Melbourne. Due to the logistics of shipping bottles such a long distance, the company decided in April 1958 to introduce a bigger bottle, a 2,270 ml (80 imp fl oz; 77 US fl oz) bottle, which became known as the "Darwin Stubby".

Darwin stubby c. 1981 with interim paper label following merger

At that time most hotels in the Darwin area were owned by the Swan Brewing Company of Western Australia, which preferred to sell its own beer from these outlets, so the "Darwin Stubby" was only available from one or two independent hotels and licensed stores, mostly grocers and supermarkets.

In 1981 Swan Brewery and CUB formed a merged entity Northern Territory Breweries Pty Ltd. In 1981 CUB bought out Swan's interest leaving it in sole control of the Northern Territory beer market. The Darwin brewery closed in 1989 however NT Draught continued to be brewed from the company's Melbourne brewery. In October 1996 CUB acquired the 200,000 hl Darwin Brewery[11] in Winnellie from Goldchill Brewing, and commenced production of Victoria Bitter and Carlton Light for the Northern Territory in November. The brewery also produced NT Draught in the Darwin Stubby.[12]

In May 2015 Carlton & United Breweries announced that due to decreasing volumes and increasing costs that it would be ceasing production of NT Draught. The company did advise that it would become one of their heritage beers and they would investigate bringing it out in special runs.[13]

## See also

[edit]

* List of breweries in Australia

* Beer portal
* Companies portal

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Brew Review : NT Draught | Our Naked Australia
2. ^ McLean, Greg (15 May 2008). "Toasting the Darwin Stubby". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
3. ^ Morgan, Ian (5 June 2008). "The Darwin Stubby turns 50". Retrieved 26 June 2015.
4. ^ "Local Brewery Operating: First Bulk Brew Laid Down". Northern Standard. Vol. 6, no. 244\. Northern Territory, Australia. 9 February 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 27 November 2017 - via National Library of Australia.
5. ^ "Ellis-Kells In Mt. Isa". Northern Standard. Vol. 5, no. 271\. Northern Territory, Australia. 17 August 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 27 November 2017 - via National Library of Australia.
6. ^ "Darwin Brewing Ltd". Northern Standard. Vol. 7, no. 327\. Northern Territory, Australia. 26 September 1952. p. 3. Retrieved 27 November 2017 - via National Library of Australia.
7. ^ "Short Funds Stop New Brewery". Northern Standard. Vol. 8, no. 8\. Northern Territory, Australia. 19 February 1953. p. 1. Retrieved 27 November 2017 - via National Library of Australia. It is likely but not certain that the brewery established by C.U.B. was on this site.
8. ^ Deutsher, Keith (1999). The Breweries of Australia: A History. Lothian. p. 309\. ISBN 9780850919868.
9. ^ Stubbs, Dr. Brett J. Stubbs (12 April 2013). "Australia's post-war breweries". Brew News Australia. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
10. ^ Laws, John; Stewart, Christopher (2007). It Doesn't End There. MacMillan Publishers. p. 31\. ISBN 9781742625645.
11. ^ McKean, Catharine A. (1999). Australian Food: The Complete Reference to the Australian Food Industry. Agri Food Media. p. 268\. ISBN 9780957728509.
12. ^ "The Monitoring and Pre-treatment of Brewery Trade Waste Prior to Discharge". Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
13. ^ McDonald, Shae (2 May 2015). "Carlton and United Breweries stops regular production of NT Draught". NT News. Retrieved 26 June 2015.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Barrie, Douglas R. (2008). The Darwin Stubby Story : Celebrating 50 years of Carlton & United's Production of the Largest Bottle of Beer in the World. S & D. Barrie. ISBN 9780959278330.