Castlemaine Perkins

Okay, so I'm standing here right in front of the Castlemaine Perkins brewery on Milton Road, and it's quite a sight! You can't miss it, especially with that huge XXXX red neon sign on top. It's really prominent, and you can see it from all over the surrounding suburbs. Look, there's even a neon XXXX man on the side of the building, which you'd see if you were driving out of the city.

This place has been brewing since 1878, which is pretty wild to think about. It all started when brothers Nicholas and Edward Fitzgerald teamed up with a commercial firm in Brisbane to buy a failing distillery and turn it into a brewery. They named it after their existing Castlemaine Brewery. Their very first beer here was called XXX Sparkling Ale.

Funnily enough, the Perkins part of the name comes from Patrick Perkins, who started his own brewery in Toowoomba back in 1866, and then bought the City Brewery in Brisbane in 1872. It wasn't until 1928, long after Patrick Perkins had passed away, that Castlemaine bought his company, and that's how we got Castlemaine Perkins Limited.

The famous XXXX brand, which they're known for, actually got its start with a new advertising campaign in 1924. That's when they brought in a German brewer, Alhois William Leitner, and introduced the XXXX beer. The advertising had this little man in a suit with a smile, a wink, and a boater hat – the 'Fourex Man' – and he became a super recognizable symbol in Queensland.

It's pretty cool how this building, the Milton Railway Station, and trains are featured on almost all the XXXX packaging. I've seen some old labels with steam trains, and newer ones with diesel and electric trains. This brewery has quite a history, even being recognized as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland in 2009 for its role as a "structure and engineering feat." They also got inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame that same year. Pretty neat!