Region & History

Where does Brisbane's XXXX come from? Two brothers from Victoria, Nicholas and Edward Fitzgerald, bought the site of a failed distillery on Milton Road in 1877 and opened a brewery there. They named it Castlemaine, after their operation in the town of Castlemaine to the south.

The first beer was brewed in 1878, a XXX Sparkling Ale. The crosses go back to an old strength marking for ale: the more X's, the stronger the beer. The brand has carried the fourth cross since 1924.

The XXXX Bitter, launched that year, is actually a lager despite its name—meaning it's bottom-fermented. It has little in common with an English bitter. Mr Fourex, the brand's mascot, also dates back to 1924 according to the brand's history.

In 1928 the company merged with the Perkins brewery to form Castlemaine Perkins. From 1992 it belonged to Lion Nathan, and in 2009 the Japanese conglomerate Kirin took over that owner. That same year, Queensland added the Milton brewery to its list of Q150 Icons, marking the state's 150th birthday.

Alongside the dominant player, a small craft scene has sprung up in recent years. Felons brews right under the Story Bridge on the Brisbane River, Ballistic is based in the suburb of Salisbury, and Newstead Brewing moved into a converted bus depot. Green Beacon is also part of this young wave.

There's no protected designation of origin for Queensland beer like there is in Europe. No Australian beer appears in the EU register, and "Queensland Lager" is a style descriptor, not a protected name.