First brewed in 1859, West End Draught the best-selling beer in South Australia through to 21st Century
West End Draught in the red and white colours, derived from West Adelaide Football Club, featured at the Thebarton West End brewery that closed in 2021.
West End Draught, first brewed in 1859 and later a 4.5% alcohol pale lager, remained the largest selling beer in South Australia in 2007. Also brewed under the West End brand were West End Export, West End Gold and West End Light.
West End Draugh's name derived from South Australian Brewing Company’s West End brewery in Hindley Street, Adelaide city. The black and red colours of South Australian Brewing Company came about after West Adelaide Football Club (black and red) defeated Port Adelaide in the 1911 South Australian National Football League grand final. Had Port won, legend has it, the brewery's colours would have become black and white.
The Hindley Street brewery closed between the 20th Century world wars and its operations merged with the Southwark brewery’s at Thebarton. This had been the site of the 19th Century Torrenside Brewery at Southwark, on the River Torrens banks northwest of the city centre, producing Southwark beers. It was founded by A. W. & T. L. Ware in 1886 and became the Walkerville Cooperative Brewery in 1898. This business was taken over by the South Australian Brewing Company in 1938.
When it was bought by New Zealand’s Lion Nathan in 1993, South Australian Brewing split its assets into SA Brewing Holdings and its diversified operations were formed into a new company called Southcorp. One of Southcorp's major assets was Southcorp Wines (bought from Adelaide Steamship Company in 1990), and later taken over by Lion Nathan's main Australian rival, the Foster’s Group. South Australian Brewing had another overseas owner, Kirwin Brewing Co. of Japan, from 2009.
The West End brewery had a $70 million upgrade in the 21st Century and maintaind Adelaide traditions such as the Christmas decorations display on the River Torrens banks and the brewery chimney carrying the colours of the premier team in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
In 2020, it was announced that the Thebarton brewery would close in the following year. More than 90 jobs at the closure in June 2021, with about a third of the workforce, mainly in sales and sponsorship, staying on with the company in South Australia