Michael McGuire: West End Brewery closing means we lose a little bit of the SA soul

When a state loses its 160-year-old brewery, a little chunk of difference is removed, inflicting a kind of blandness on our community. It joins a long list of SA staples that have disappeared, including John Martin’s, Holden, Mitsubishi and Harris Scarfe, writes Michael McGuire.

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There’s a lot to be sad about with the closure of the West End Brewery at Thebarton. Chiefly for the more than 50 workers who will lose their jobs when the place shuts down next year.

But even beyond that there is a sadness when a brand that has been such a visible part of South Australian life for so long takes such a heavy hit. And there is every chance that, despite the owner’s protestations, the West End brand will ultimately more or less disappear from view. With the beer to be brewed interstate, mixing malts with the likes of XXXX and Tooheys, it’s already falling sales will no doubt plunge further.

Look at what’s happened to Channel 10’s ratings after it ­replaced Adelaide newsreader Rebecca Morse with a Victorian blow-in.

Eventually, that will lead to cutbacks in the many sponsorships and community events West End has forked out for over the years. Chimneys, Christmas lights and sporting clubs big and small.

And the result will be a little bit of what makes us distinctive as the state called South Australia will be lost. So, even those of us for whom it’s been a long time between drinks of the West End can feel a little sentimental. Still, that’s allowed. It’s a common side effect of too much beer drinking.

Brewery technician Adrian Radny is devastated that West End Brewery will close next year. Picture: Tom Huntley

But it also feels like another step toward the homogenisation of our world. Maybe, it’s just globalisation.

You can certainly argue whether globalisation has been a net benefit to the world. The upsides of better communications, easier access to the world and its markets and the breaking down barriers of cultural distrust can be weighed against the downside of the loss of jobs and industries in many countries and its relentless momentum to make the rich richer at the expense of everybody else.

Another downside is it has inflicted a kind of blandness on all our communities. We keep losing parts of our community and our story.

Cities around the world have a certain sameness. Everywhere you go you can find an antiseptic Apple shop, a Zara, an Aldi, an H&M, an Ikea, a Costco.

Then there are the fast food chains: McDonald’s, KFC, Dominos. At least Australia has mostly resisted the blandishments of the hot brown water company Starbucks.

So when a state loses its 160-year-old brewery a little chunk of difference is removed.

Nobody else has West End after all.

It joins a long list of SA staples that have disappeared across the years. We can all name them: John Martin’s, Holden, Mitsubishi, Harris Scarfe, Adelaide Bank, Allan’s, Muses, Rowe & Jarman and so on.

SA Sales Director of Lion Australia Jason Baily addressed the media. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Holden’s demise followed that of Ford in Victoria. That meant the end of the eternal Commodore-versus-Falcon V8 racetrack rivalry.

That’s now been replaced by the decidedly non-Australia Camaro-versus-Mustang battle. It’s a bit like replacing Port versus the Crows, with the Yankees versus the Red Sox.

Of course, some of this is just the natural to-and-fro of business. Nothing lives forever.

And some of these brands played a large role in their own downfall. When Mitsubishi released its 380 in 2005 it was billed as the car that would determine whether local manufacturing would live or die. What Mitsubishi produced was an outstandingly ugly car that looked outdated from the moment of its release. Sales were not great and three years later it was canned.

Outside of the sentiment and the brand names, the loss of three carmakers in a decade means Australia loses a lot of valuable manufacturing skills that won’t be replaced.

It’s hard to know what the answer is. Could the brewery have been saved?

Some suggested the State Government could have helped out. That seems unlikely.

West End is owned by the giant Japanese drinks company Kirin. Kirin generates more money than SA. It’s hard to see how throwing them a few dollars would make much difference.

Perhaps, the only answer lies with consumers. Buy local where you can.

For the first time in my life, I feel guilty about not drinking enough beer.