231: THE slang ‘Warb’ or ‘Warby’ was commonly used in Sydney to describe a person who took advantage of free counter-lunches on offer in pubs. After buying a beer in Sydney pubs during the 1890s and early 1900s, customers were often offered free food. A Warb would ‘sponge’ money off customers to buy beer. He would call a few mates together, and order a pint of beer. The glass would be passed between the men, who went to the bar to take advantage of the free food on offer. The term was named after David Warby, who owned one of the most famous free counter-lunch pubs in Sydney – The Liverpool Arms.
230: The term ‘beer-sparrer’ was commonly used Australian slang from the 1890s through to the 1950s to refer to a person who ‘bludged’ or ‘sponged’ a glass of beer from another person in the pub.
229: A popular tourist attraction in the Royal Hotel, Grong Grong, in the Riverina region of NSW, is a unique version of the famous nude painting, Chloe, in Young and Jackson Hotel, Melbourne. The Grong Grong version is entitled ‘Chloe of the West’ and is 1.830cm by 1.070cm.
228: For the first four months of 1947 Australians drank more beer than for any similar period on record. Excise duty was paid on 40,635,364 gallons, an increase of 6,338.783 gallons for the first four months of 1946 and 12,224,627 gallons higher than the 1939 consumption. April consumption in 1947 was the highest on record for that month. The total duty collected was £2,202,807. For the first four months in 1947 duty paid to the Government totalled £9,316,850.
227: Beer consumption on figures released by the United Licensed Victuallers’ Association revealed that for the first time in history, New South Wales beer drinkers put away 3,366,203 gallons during the month of February, 1940. The excise collected by the Federal Government amounted to £336,036, or an increase of £82,213 compared with February 1939.
226: Australians politicians treated their visiting British and Canadian parliamentary delegations a little different than other nations back in 1944. While in Tasmania, the delegations were taken to the pub. The visitors were shown “the oldest pub in the Commonwealth” – the Bush Inn at New Norfolk. The Bush Inn, which is still trading today (2020), has been in business since 1815.
225: The Menzies Hotel, at the corner of George and Carrington Streets, Sydney became the biggest purchaser of liquor in NSW in 1978 after knocking the nearby Wentworth Hotel from the top spot. The Wentworth Hotel, in Phillip Street, slipped from number one in 1977 to 89th in 1978! The rankings were gauged on licensing fees paid to the NSW Government by each hotel, which were in turn based on liquor purchases.
224: What was said to be Australia’s smallest hotel, at Allendale, near Ballarat, Victoria, closed for business on December 31 1952. The hotel measured 7.4m by 7.4m (24ft by 24ft), and had one bedroom. Local drinkers claimed it was the smallest hotel in the world. It was the last of the township’s 15 hotels, which opened in the gold rush of the 1870s. On the closing day it was reported that the town’s population of 280 turned up to farewell the tiny pub. Owner Mr. R. F. Goldsmith had his license cancelled because he refused to spend £10,500 on hotel additions and renovations.
223: Hennessy’s Hotel, an old landmark, on the Melbourne to Sale road, well known to travellers in the early days, had a close shave during major bushfire in February 1898. There was a scarcity of water, and it was reported that the contents of a barrel of beer was used to save the pub from burning to the ground. The fire completely burnt the garden, and only the efforts of many willing helpers saved the hotel.
222: THERE were 77 licensed hotels in Broken Hill, NSW in 1889-90. That is believed to be the highest number ever licensed there. In that licensing year there were 92 hotels in the Broken Hill licensing district.
221: FOR as long as anyone cares to remember, the rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney has been fierce – even when it comes to pubs! According to figures published in 1904 there were 782 hotels in Sydney, or one to every 597 persons. However Melbourne claimed to be thirstier, with 1064 hotels, which worked out at one to every 464 persons.
220: AT the end of 1925 there were 602 licensed hotels in the state of South Australia (380 in the country and 222 in the city), there were 10 railway refreshment rooms, which were licensed to sell liquor, 15 registered clubs, and 20 wine licenses (16 in the metropolitan area and four in the country).
219: The Tattersall’s Hotel in Melbourne was known as the ‘Chameleon Hotel’ during the 1940s and 50s because it had no fewer than four different names over its century of trading. When the original hostelry opened in 1850, it was called the Ship Inn; in 1867 it was renamed the New Exhibition; and after the premises were reconstructed in 1874 the name was changed to the Union Hotel. It was known as the Union until 1924 when it gained the name Tattersall’s. The Tattersall’s was located in Russell Street.
218: Toowoomba (Qld) had a thirsty population in 1927. At the Licensing Court, 52 hotels in Toowoomba and its environs applied for renewals of licenses. That’s a lot of pubs!
217: Over the Christmas of 1924, the population of Wagga Wagga (NSW) reportedly drank their brewery dry. The Wagga Wagga Daily Express reported on January 17 1924 that the thirsty folk of their town consumed 89,000 gallons of beer!
216: There was a beer famine in Darwin in 1928, which happened when steam freighters were late. Christina Gordon, licensee of the Victoria Hotel, who was holidaying south, sent up a consignment of Brisbane beer by truck, which reached Darwin when draught beer had dried-up. Ten casks were consumed in ten hours – reportedly a record for Darwin at that time. Bedroom jugs were requisitioned, and rows of glasses kept continually filled to quench the big thirsts of the Territorians.
215: Australian breweries produced a record 21.6 million gallons of beer in December 1953. The amount set an Australian monthly record, according to the Commonwealth Statistician’s Bureau. Never before had production reached 20 million gallons.
214: The first woman granted a publican’s license in Tasmania was a widow, Mary Hayes, who ran the Derwent Hotel in Elizabeth Street Hobart, circa 1816.
213: Western Australia, with a population of just over 456,000 people, held the record for beer drinking among the States of Australia for 1937/38. The Coolgardie Miner reported on October 27 1938 that the consumption of beer was 15.772 gallons per head compared with the next best – Victoria, with 10.50 gallons per head. Victoria at this time had a population of just over 1.8 million people. Western Australia’s drink bill was £7/13/11 per capita. In 1911 the ‘Sandgropers’ drank 19.9 gallons of beer per head.
212: According to a Daily Telegraph report in 1904, figures revealed there were 782 hotels in Sydney, or one pub to every 597 persons. In comparison, there were 1,064 hotels in Melbourne, which worked out at one pub to every 464 persons.
The former Turf Tavern Hotel, Epsom, Victoria. Photo: Supplied.
211: BENJAMIN Roper, proprietor and licensee of the Turf Tavern Hotel at Epsom, died on May 12 1950, aged 84. His death ended a period of 92 years’ ownership by father and son – one of Victoria’s longest pub stewardships. Mr Roper’s father is believed to have built the Turf Tavern Hotel and was the proprietor for 42 years. His son took over in 1900. Benjamin Roper was born in the hotel, and lived there all his life. The original hotel was destroyed by fire, and rebuilt about 1900. The charming single storey building no longer trades as a pub, and today is a family residence.
Gill was a measurement used in regard to the volume of alcoholic spirits measures. Photo: Wikipedia.
210: The gill is a unit of measurement for volume equal to a quarter of a pint. It’s no longer in common use, except in regard to the volume of alcoholic spirits measures. During the 19th century it was common practice to order “a gill of rum”, which equalled five imperial fluid ounces.
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209: The Hotel Marrickville had the longest public bar in NSW during the 1940s. Located at the corner of Illawarra Street and Marrickville Road, Marrickville, the building survives to this day (2019), but sadly not as a pub. In 1947 the Hotel Marrickville had a public bar 170 feet long – a total of 230 feet altogether in the public bar, and 390 feet in the entire hotel. The pub was built by Tooth and Company in 1939, and replaced the Victoria Hotel, which had traded from the site as far back as the 1890s.
207: There were 2,650 publican’s licenses; 502 colonial wine licenses, and 76 club licenses in NSW in June 1915. Many of the wine licenses were held by grocers. The fees the NSW Government received during the year for publicans licenses, extra bars, wine and club licenses amounted to £93,309.
206: At the 1951 Royal Commission into the liquor industry, it was revealed that the United Licensed Victuallers Association, the forerunner of today’s Australian Hotels’ Association, was lobbying for the adoption of 10oz middy glasses as the maximum allowed to be served in pubs.
The Gordon Hotel, Portland, built by the Henty family as the Commercial Inn in 1842. The timber, which was pit sawn, was brought from Tasmania, whilst the doors are of European cedar. Originally the building had a shingle roof.
205: Victoria’s oldest continuous hotel license in 2017 was the Gordon Hotel, located at 63 Bentinck Street Portland. The hotel was established in 1842 as the Commercial Inn and was rebuilt as the Gordon Hotel in 1890.
204: The Old Canberra Inn pre-dates the national capital itself. It is located in the present day Canberra suburb of Lyneham. The original slab hut was built in 1857 by Joseph Schumack and in 1876 it was licensed by him as an inn. It was a coach stop on the Yass to Queanbeyan run until 1887 when it was sold to John Read. It became the Read family home until 1974, called The Pines until it was renovated and relicensed as the Old Canberra Inn.
203: The Gold Fields Inn Hotel was established in 1866 and was the oldest wattle-and-daub hotel in Australia when it closed in 2012. Gold was found in Tuena (NSW) in 1851 and at its height, the population was over 10,000, but by 1869 the gold petered out and the population was less than 100. Today the town survives with a few historic buildings halfway between Bathurst and Goulburn.
202: The Grand Hotel in Yamanto, Queensland boycotted selling CUB-produced beers, including Carlton Draught, Crown Lager, and the most popular beer in Australia, Victoria Bitter, in August 2016 in support for 55 workers who lost their jobs at Carlton & United Breweries. The Grand Hotel was one of many pubs across Australia that boycotted selling CUB beers as a result of the dispute.
201: Tooth and Company, NSW’s largest beer manufacturer at the time, made a play for the Victorian market in 1978 by acquiring the Courage Brewery.
200: IN 1884 a bill was presented to the NSW Legislative Council to try and abolish barmaids in the state’s pubs. It failed.
Hollywood Hotel, Surry Hills. Photo: http://www.timegents.com
199: Surry Hill’s iconic Hollywood Hotel was rebuilt in Sydney in 1941. The architect was J. M. Hellyer.
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198: The Darwin Stubby was first introduced in April 1958. In May 2015 Carlton & United Breweries announced that they will no longer brew NT Draught on a regular basis.
197: The brothers who owned Foster’s Brewery promoted their new beer in the late 1880s by offering free ice.
196: Three Australian states introduced 6pm closing of hotels in 1916 – NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
195: The Licenses Reduction Board was put to work to withdraw Victorian pub licenses in 1907 when there were 3,562 trading in the state. By 1919 the Board had managed to terminate almost 1,300 licenses throughout Victoria.
194: The first NSW Government “Local Option Poll” – which enabled taxpayers of an electorate to decide by referendum to abolish, reduce, or maintain the number of pubs in the district – was held in 1907. Out of state’s 90 electorates, 65 voted for reduction, and as a result 293 pubs and 46 wine bars lost their licenses.
193: The Royal Hotel was built by John Terry Hughes and was opened in George Street Sydney on October 7 1841. It was five storeys high, contained almost 100 rooms including a public bar, two large saloons, dining-rooms, coffee-rooms, and billiard-room. It was considered the first hotel that broke the mould of the small intimate colonial inn that dominated Sydney during the first 50 years of white settlement, and paved the way for the larger impersonal hotels that would follow.
192: The Royal is the most common name for a hotel in NSW.
191: The year 1955 is considered to be when the pub industry in Australia was revolutionised. That was the year that also coincided with the building of the first motel, the first “international hotel”, and the beginning of the move of pubs to the outer suburbs.
190: Sydney’s famous Adam’s Marble Bar was dismantled in 1970, before the Tattersall’s Hotel was demolished. The bar was reassembled inside the Hilton Hotel, which replaced the Tattersall’s Hotel.
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189: The former Goulburn Hotel, known in recent years as Scruffy Murphy’s, had less than a four feet (1.22m) frontage to George Street, Sydney.
188: In brewing terms, crushed malt is known as ‘grist’.
187: In beer brewing terms, unfermented beer is known as ‘wart’.
186: The Lags Pier Hotel, Lags Bay, South Australian claims to have installed Australia’s first drive-through pub bottle shop in 1953.
185: The dent in the bottom of a beer bottle is known as a ‘punt’.
184: Mary Dillon was granted a license for the Golden Fleece Hotel, South Brisbane on August 10 1843 and is reportedly Queensland’s first woman publican.
183: Sarah Bird is recognised as the first woman publican in the colonies of Australia, having been granted a license in New South Wales in 1797.
182: The Mangrove Hotel, Broome was voted by the AHA as the best regional pub in Western Australian in 2016.
181: According to Roy Morgan data, the top three beer brands among Australian men in 2016 were Carlton Draught, Corona and XXXX Gold. In an average seven-day period, 11.1 per cent of beer-drinking men consume Carlton Draught, fractionally ahead of Mexico’s most famous cerveza, Corona(11.0 per cent) and Queensland’s mid-strength staple, XXXX Gold (11.0 per cent).
180: The Sunken Monkey Hotel, Erina, took out the 2016 AHA NSW Best Country Hotel.
179: The Cardinia Park Hotel, Beaconsfield (regional) and Zagame’s Berwick (Metropolitan) were the 2016 Victorian AHA Hotels of the Year.
178: The Prince Alfred Hotel, Booval was the 2016 Qld AHA Hotel of the Year.
177: Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel in Sydney’s east, was the 2016 NSW AHA Best City Hotel.
176: The Sandstone Point Hotel, Sandstone Point, took out the 2016 AHA regional hotel of the year.
The Rosstown Hotel, Carnegie, Victoria, the 2016 AHA metropolitan hotel of the year.
175: The Rosstown Hotel, Carnegie, took out the 2016 Victorian AHA metropolitan hotel of the year.
174: On April 13 1964 the use of seven ounce beer glasses become legal in NSW pubs.
173: There were 210 licensed pubs in NSW during 1830, or one for every 217 people in the colony.
172: There were 121 licensed pubs in Tasmania during 1830, or one for every 201 people in the colony.
171: There were seven licensed pubs in WA during 1830, or one for every 167 people in the colony.
Menzies Hotel, William Street Melbourne. Photo: State Library of Victoria.
170: The Menzies Hotel, corner of William and Bourke Streets, Melbourne was the first hotel to install a lift in Victoria in 1886.
The Royal Hotel, George Street, Sydney. The first Sydney hotel to install a lift in 1886. Photo: State Library of Victoria.
169: The Royal Hotel, George Street Sydney, was the first to install a lift in NSW in 1886.
168: When an under age person is served grog in the pub, the licensee, the bar staff and the under age customer are charged.
167: It’s illegal to drink in a hotel after it has closed, except in two circumstances – If finishing a drink within 15 minutes of closing, and if you’re staying at the hotel.
A nine gallon firkin of beer
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166: A ‘firkin’is a small keg of beer. It is nine imperial gallons, or just over 34 litres.
165: The standard size of a bar runner is one metre by 35cm
The piano in the cellar of the Hero of Waterloo Hotel at Millers Point, Sydney. The piano is often heard playing by itself at night. Photo: Supplied.
164:Convict landlady, Anne Kirkman was murdered in the Miller’s Point pub in 1849. She was thrown down the cellar steps by her brutish husband after she discovered that he was having an affair with a younger girl who was also pregnant with his child. Anne is often heard playing the piano in the pub cellar late at night.
The Great Western Hotel, Cobar has a lacework balcony 100m long, making it the longest of its kind in Australia. Photo: Aussietowns.com.au
163: The Great Western Hotel ( built 1898) in the main street of Cobar in NSW has a timber veranda with cast-iron balustrades and an iron lacework balcony 100 metres long. The balcony is reputedly the longest cast iron veranda and balcony in Australia. See more: aussietowns.com.au
162: The Eatons Hill Hotel in Brisbane is laying claim to being the biggest pub in the world after opening its doors to its 7,000-capacity interior in 2011. Valued at $30 million, the 7,500sqm pub boasts nine separate bars and 100 beer taps. Additionally, the venue has a 350-seat restaurant, a large beer garden and also claims to have the biggest TV in Queensland, which had to be specially imported from China.
Malanda Hotel, Malanda, North Queensland, said to be Australia’s largest timber pub.
161: The Malanda Hotel, Malanda on the Atherton Tablelands, North Queensland is entirely built from the timber of local trees. As you enter the restaurant section of the hotel, you will notice the prominence of these timbers, seen in the floorboards and the magnificent staircase (made from local Silky Oak) leading to the hotel rooms and second floor. It claims to be the largest timber pub in Australia.
160: The 2017 president of the Australian Hotels Association Northern Territory branch was Mick Burns.
159: The 2017 president of the Australian Hotels Association Western Australian branch wasNeil Randall.
158: The 2017 president of the Australian Hotels Association South Australian branch was Peter Hurley, who had been at the helm since 1994.
157: The Spalding Hotel, aka The Barbed Wire Pub, is a unique tourist attraction in the mid-north of South Australia. The hotel’s museum features one of the largest collections of barbed wire and associated fencing paraphernalia in Australia.
156: The 2017 president of the Australian Hotels Association Victorian branch wasPeter Burnett, host of the Lord of the Isles Tavern, Newtown Geelong, Victoria.
155: The Tooheys brothers first bought The Darling Brewery, Darling Harbour, Sydney.
154: The Exchange Hotel is a historic landmark hotel in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The hotel was built in 1900 for the Wilkie Brothers, contractors for the Southern Cross-Kalgoorlie railway line. They hired the construction team Shaw and Harcorn, and the architectural team Hawkins and Spriggs. It has two storeys and it made up of bricks, iron and a timber balustrade. It has a corner tower and corrugated galvanised iron gabled roof.
153: The 2017 president of the Australian Hotels Association was Scott Leach.
152: The once popular Sydney beer, Resch’s Dinner Ale, or DA, was often called ‘Dirty Annie’.
151: According to Dubbo Council’s Heritage Walk Guide, The Commercial Hotel, established 1859, is the oldest operating pub in the NSW central west city.
150: In 1837 James Stokes established WA’s first brewery, which later became the Emu brewery.
149: At the peak of hotel activity in 1875, coinciding with the gold rush period, there were 61 hotels operating at one time in Bathurst NSW.
148: The Ship Inn was opened by George Brown in what is today McCabe Park, Church Street, Wollongong, opposite the Illawarra Leagues Club, in 1830. It was the Illawarra region’s first licensed pub.
147:West End Draught was first brewed in 1859. It is currently brewed by the South Australian Brewing Company and is South Australia’s largest selling beer.
146: A jug holds nearly four middies in NSW.
145: The oldest licensed pub is South Australia is the Edinburgh Castle in Currie Street, Adelaide. Its proprietor, John Guthrie, was granted the first license to sell alcohol in South Australia on 31 May 1837. The pub was originally known as Guthrie’s and parts of the original building are still in use.
144: The oldest Irish pub in Australia is the Mercantile Hotel, The Rocks, Sydney NSW.
143: In 1956 Carlton & United Breweries established a brewery in Darwin, in the suburb of Berrimah. The first beer, Carlton Draught, was brewed on 13 October of that year.
142: The Carlton & United Brewery delivered us the iconic Darwin Stubby.
141: You will find the Tooheys brewery in the Sydney suburb of Lidcombe.
140: ACCORDING to data from the Medibank Better Health Index, Queenslanders were the biggest drinkers in 2017. Medibank Better Health Index data showed that those in Sunshine State are drinking an average of 11.14 alcoholic drinks per week.
139: ACCORDING to data from the Medibank Better Health Index, Victorians were consuming the least amount of alcohol in 2017, drinking 9.79 alcoholic drinks per week — less than any other state.
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The Swan Brewery, Perth C1890.
138: In 1857 Frederick Sherwood established a new brewery at the foot of what is now Sherwood Court in Perth, calling it the Swan Brewery, after the black swans that he had seen on the river. He saw the Swan River as the ideal place to build a brewery, as the Swan provided fresh, clean water for making the beer, hiring convicts as a source of cheap labour.
137: India Pale Ale was brewed in Melbourne, by the South Australian Brewing Company.
136: At the last count in 2014, Australia sat at number 19 in the world for beer consumption, drinking 74.2 litres annually, per capita. The Yanks outdone us, coming in at 17th, drinking 75 litres annually per capita, while the Czech Republic put us all to shame, doubling the Aussies annual consumption by downing 142.6 litres annually per capita.
135: A person cannot be licensee of more than one hotel at a time in NSW.
134: Weekly award wages in 1956: A barman was paid £14 and 13 shillings, a cellarman £15 11 shillings and six pence, and a barmaid £11 and seven shillings.
133: Weekly award wages for a bartender in NSW, Victoria, South East Queensland and Tasmania on January 1 1990: NSW – $317.40, Victoria – $315.50, South East Queensland – $311.10, and Tasmania – $315.50.
132: Despite beliefs to the contrary, a NSW publican can close anytime he or she likes.
131: Staff employed in Australian pubs in 2006: NSW: 54,803, Qld: 38,691, Vic: 35,750, WA: 24,563, SA: 20,966, Tas: 9,479, NT: 3,148 and ACT: 1,448.
130: About half an inch is considered a good size for a head on a beer.
129: The term “old” beers means it has been top fermented.
128: Tooth & Co. was the first brewery to sell beer cans in Sydney in April 1962.
127: Carlton United was the first Australian brewery to introduce steel beer cans in Melbourne during 1958.
126: According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)survey (published in 2006) reported that in the year ended 30 June 2005 (FY2005), there were 3,454 hotel businesses operating in Australia, from 4,252 premises.
125: The first aluminium beer can was introduced into Australia in 1972.
124: The Royal Melbourne Hotel, Bourke Street Melbourne has a pear tree over 138 years old.
123. Ten hotel licenses were first issued in the Colony of New South Wales in April 1796. Of the 10, the only license that official survived is to James Larra, of the Masons Arms, Parramatta.
122. The first hotel license in Tasmania is thought to have been issued in 1804, however evidence is indirect. There was definitely a license issued in 1805, but no details are known. The first known license is that of Thomas Hopkins, who was issued a license on July 27 1807 for the Whale Fishery in Hobart.
121. Victoria’s first hotel license was officially issued on October 31, 1836, for the Governor Bourke, Melbourne to Michael Carr.
120. Western Australia’s first hotel license was officially issued on January 1, 1830, for the Stirling Arms, Fremantle, to Robert Thomas.
119. South Australia’s first hotel license was officially issued on May 31 1837, for the Guthrie’s Hotel, Glenelg, to George Guthrie.
118. Queensland’s first hotel license was officially issued on September 26, 1842, for the Brisbane Hotel, South Brisbane, to Robert Rowland.
117. If beer is warm it pour ‘heady’.
116. The Foster brothers, William and Ralph, founded Foster’s Brewery in Melbourne in 1888. They sold the brewery the following year and returned to New York, in the United States of America.
115: The Duke of Wellington, opened in 1853, claims to be the oldest pub in Melbourne.
114: The Carrington Hotel in Bourke Street claims to be the oldest pub operating in Surry Hills, Sydney. It was established 1877.
113: Guiness first came to Australia on board one of the 11 ships that comprised of the Third Fleet, which set sail from the United Kingdom in February, March and April 1791, bound for the Sydney penal settlement, with more than 2,000 convicts aboard.
The Standard Brewery, Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills NSW
112: At the end of the 19th century, the Toohey’s brewery was known as The Standard Brewery. It was located in Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills, Sydney, NSW.
111: The beer keg known as a ‘pin’ was4½ gallons or 20 litres.
110: Jimmy Woodser was a name given to a man who drank alone, or a drink consumed alone. The name is thought to come from a poem by Barcroft Boake, published in The Bulletin on May 7 1892, about a fictional Jimmy Wood from Britian who is determined to end the practice of ‘shouting’ (buying rounds of drinks for a group of mates), by drinking alone. See more: Old Jimmy Woodser.
109: A Bill was defeated in the NSW Legislative Council in 1884 in an effort to ban Barmaids.
108: A Northern Territorian beer glass, called the ‘Handle’ measured in at 10 oz / 285ml or the size of a New South Wales ‘middie’.
107: In 1969 barmaids started getting equal pay as barmen.
106: A large bottle of beer in NSW cost 36 cents in 1967.
105: CO2 nitrogen mix is the gas used to pump beer to the taps for pouring.
104: The Victoria Hotel (Better known as the Vic), in Darwin, Northern Territory, survived its third tropical cyclone (Tracey) on Christmas Day 1974.
103: A ‘black tan’ is half beer, half stout.
102: A ‘portergaff’ is a stout and lemonade.
101: Victorians ask for “a glass” when ordering seven ounces of beer.
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100: Queenslanders ask for “a beer” when ordering a seven ounce glass of beer.
99: On April 13 1964 it become legal to sell a ‘pony’ (seven ounce glass) of beer in NSW.
98: New South Welshmen call a 7oz glass of beer ‘a pony’. The name has almost died-out, but is still used in some country pubs.
97: Queenslanders call a New South Wales’ middie of beer, apot.
96: A yard glass hold fivepints or 100 fluid ounces.
95: In Western Australia a 4oz (115ml) beer glass is called a ‘Shetland Pony’.
94: A 7oz (200ml) beer glass in South Australia is called a ‘Butcher’.
93: A schooner glass in South Australia is 10 oz (285 ml).
92: The Chevy truck parked on top of the Ettamogah pub was manufactured in 1927.
91: At the turn of last century the brewery we now know as Tooheys was known as the The Standard Brewery.
90: AFTER the Cascade Brewery was destroyed in the 1967 Tasmanian bushfires, Carlton United Brewery canned their beer while they rebuilt.
89: Before he was US President, Herbert Hoover was a regular guest at the Palace Hotel, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. His mirror and a poem he wrote to a barmaid he fell in love with is said to remain at the gold rush pub.
88: Dwellingup Community Hotel is located 100km south of Perth. It was the only building to survive the town’s devastating bushfire in 1961, and was bought by the community. It remains the only community-owned pub in Western Australia.
87: Legend has it that Australia’s unofficial national anthem and much loved song, Waltzing Matilda, penned by Banjo Paterson, was sung for the first time at the North Gregory Hotel, Winton, north-west Queensland.
86: The Daly Waters Hotel is the Northern Territory’s oldest pub. The pub was built in 1930 by Bill and Henrietta Pierce. More on the pub’s history HERE.
85: In the 1960s artist Clifton Pugh befriended the publican of Tibooburra’s Family Hotel in outback NSW, and created some priceless murals on his outback its walls. Other artists, including Richard Armor, Russell Drysdale and Eric Minchen have also added to the pub’s gallery over the years.(pictures: visitnsw.com).
84: Australia’s smallest pub, with a bar just 1.2 metres long – just enough to fit comfortably two thirsty drinkers, is considered to be the Lynd Oasis Road House (pictured below). It’s located 300km North West of Townsville (Harvey’s Range Road) in outback Queensland. Picture: Gillian Burgess.
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83: Mick Dundee (Paul Hogan) enjoyed a beer in the movie, Crocodile Dundee at the Walkabout Creek Hotel, McKinlay.
The title of Australia’s oldest publican is said to belong to Margaret Alice Ring (Ma Ring), who hosted the New Brighton Hotel at Billinudgel – a town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.
New Zealand born ‘Ma’ took over as the licensee of the New Brighton Hotel in 1929 and remained as host for 53 years until her death in 1983 at the age of 101. She was married in New Zealand around 1900, where she had one daughter, who was born in 1907. Ma lost her husband in 1909 after he had fallen ill with typhoid, and she came to Australia in the late 1920s, leaving her adult daughter in New Zealand. At the time of her death in 1983 she was considered to be the oldest publican in Australia. Among her many claims to fame are that she taught former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke how to pull a beer, and was awarded an MBE for community service. A painting of Ma hangs over the public bar of the now re-named Billinudgel Hotel.
81: The famous nude, “Chloe” (pictured above) graces the wall of Young & Jackson’s Hotel, Melbourne.
80: The famous scene from “Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1993) was filmed in the Silverton Hotel, Silverton, in outback NSW.
79: The correct temperature to serve Australian beer varies, but is generally considered to be between 5 – 7◦ C
78: Tooheys brewery first produced the 250m twist top bottle of beer.
77: Ring-pulls were introduced into Australian beer cans in 1968.
76: Tooth & Co bought out Resch’s Limited Brewery in Sydney in 1929
75: Toohey’s brewery served up Oatmeal Stout.
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74: Australia’s only underground hotel is it located in Coober Pedy, South Australia, and is known as The Desert Cave Hotel.
73: The Black Stump Hotel, Merriwagga, claims to have the tallest bar and pub stools (1.3m) in the southern hemisphere.
72: There were nine breweries in Melbourne in 1889.
71: The ‘bottle shop license’ was introduced into NSW, allowing single bottles sales, on December 13, 1966.
70: The “sparkle” in a beer is the bubbles that rise from the bottom.
69: The Kulgera Roadhouse/Pub, Northern Territory, is considered the most geographically central pub in Australia. The pub is located 275 kilometres south of Alice Springs and 21 kilometres north of the border with South Australia, making it the southernmost permanent settlement in the Northern Territory and the most central pub in Australia [Image: Google].
68: If you ordered a ‘cold gold’ in the 1970s, you would get a can of KB Lager.
67: Lace is the frothy pattern the beer leaves as circles on the inside of your glass… And, yes, you should be happy to have them, they are a sign of a good beer.
66: According to the Australian Hotels Association’s overview of the industry, there were at least 1,689 pubs in NSW in 2009 (About 100 less than in 2005).
65: According to the Australian Hotels Association’s overview of the industry, there were an estimated 6,807 hotels in Australia in 2009, employing an estimated 188,000 people.
64: The most western pub in Australia is the Rumah Tinggi Tavern, Christmas Island.
63: The most western mainland pub in Australia is the Shark Bay Hotel, Denham Western Australia.
62: The most southern pub in Australia is the Southport Hotel, Tasmania.
61: The most eastern pub in Australia is the Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, NSW.
60: The most northern pub in Australia is the Royal Hotel, Thursday Island.
59: The most northern mainland pub in Australia is The Bamaga Tavern, Bamaga, Queensland.
58: The Rose & Crown Hotel in the Perth suburb of Guildford was built in 1841 and holds the title of the state’s oldest. The hand swan beams in the “smugglers’ cellar” has markings dating back to 1837. It is a traditional Australian Georgian pub that has become famous for its now collapsed grog smuggler tunnel that run underground for hundreds of meters to the Swan River.
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57: The largest Australian-owned brewery in 2016 was the family-owned Coopers Brewery.
56: The oldest continually operating brewery in Australia is the Cascade Brewery, established in 1832 in South Hobart, Tasmania.
55: The Grand Hotel, Cobar took the Guinness World Record title in 1990 for the largest beer can anywhere in the world and as recently as 2012 was named among the Australia’s top 10 “Big” attractions. The ‘can’ stands 5m high and is 2.5m wide. It’s so large that if it was filled with actual beer it could hold up to 24,000 litres. It sits on the awning of the western NSW pub.
54: Arthur Laundy Senior, and his wife Veronica started the family pub business in 1945 with the Sackville Hotel, Rozelle.
53: The Yagoona Tavern, Yagoona is affectionately known to locals as “The Snake Pit”.
52: Fosters Lager was first brewed in Melbourne in1888.
51: The Keg & Brew Hotel on the corner of Commonwealth and Foveaux Streets, Surry Hills, NSW, was originally known as The KB [Kent Brewery] Hotel.
50: Closing hours in NSW pubs was reduced from 11pm Monday to Saturday, to 6pm Monday to Saturday in1916.
49: The oldest trading pub (although in updated premises) in Wollongong is The Harp Hotel. It was established in 1839.
48: The oldest pub building still operating in the Wollongong local government area is the Scarborough Hotel, Scarborough. It was built in 1886 and opened the following year.
47: In 1989 the Australian Hotels Association carried out a fundraising campaign called the “All Australian Pub Collection” by placing donation tins in pubs around the nation to raise money forThe Royal Flying Doctor Service.
46: The hotel in Condell Park, near the Bankstown Airport has the sign,The High Flyer.
45: Sarah Bird, 27, was the first woman to hold a license in her own name in New South Wales. The license was granted in 1797, and the pub known as The Jolly Settler.
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44: You find the Rag & Famish Hotel inNorth Sydney.
43: A kilderkin is a18 gallon keg (81 litres).
42: The Drovers Dog Hotel can be found in Eumungerie, NSW
41: Tooth & Company sold Sydney’s first canned beer in 1962.
40: Carlton & United Brewery sold Australia’s first canned beer in 1958.
39: Ale is a top fermented beer.
38: The four basic ingredients of beer are water, malt, hops and yeast.
37: The Macquarie Arms Hotel, Windsor NSW was first licensed inMay 1815.
36: After more than six decades, NSW was granted Sunday trading of pubs on December 14 1979.
35: NSW pubs closing time was extend from 10pm to 11pm on December 14 1979.
34: There were 2,005 pubs in NSW in 1989.
33: THE Cascade Brewery in Tasmania is at the foot of Mount Wellington.
32: The Courage brewery in Victoria featured VFL footy stars on the back of their cans.
31: NSW pubs’ closing times were extended from 6pm to 10pm on February 1 1955. Publicans were forced by law to turn the taps off between 6.30pm to 7.30pm for “meal breaks”. This was this abolished on March 8 1963 allowing pubs to trade straight through from 10am to 10pm.
30: John Tooth start brewing his famous beer Tooths beer in Sydney in 1835.
29: John Boston is said to be the first to brew beer in Australia.
28: Famous Australian writer and poet, Henry Lawson once said: “Beer makes you feel like you ought to feel without beer”
27: Australia’s first boutique pub brewery was The Sail and Anchor, Fremantle Western Australia. It opened in 1986.
26: Australian Olympic swimming legend Dawn Fraser hosted The Riverview Hotel, Balmain, Sydney from 1978 to 1983.
25: The manager or publican of a hotel can open or close his pub any time he or she wishes (within the hotel’s licensing conditions).
24: The Camperdown Hotel in Sydney’s inner-west, was established in the 1850s as the Honest Irishman.
23: Brothers, John and James Toohey established the Toohey’s Brewery in Sydney.
22: Tooth and Comnpany’s famous KB lager beer, was the initials of theKent Brewery.
21: The late Australian actor, John Meillion lent his voice to the VB or Victorian Bitter commercial.
20: His Royal Highness King Charles had his first beer in The Rose & Crown Hotel, Brisbane.
19: The name of the little bloke on the XXXX label is Mr. Fourex.
18: The name of the old bearded fellow Carlton United Brewery featured in their “I allus has wan at eleven” advertising campaign early last century was Sam Knot.
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17: In 1956 the weekly award wage for a barman was £15 and 13 shillings, a cellarman £15 11 shillings and sixpence, and a barmaid £11 and 7 shillings.
16: Former Australian prime minister, the late Bob Hawke was the one time world beer drinking champion in 1955. He drank for 2.5 pints in 12 seconds to gain the title.
15: Tooth & Company once brewed “Sydney Draught”.
14: One of Australia’s oldest continuously licensed hotel buildings is the Bush Inn, New Norfolk, Tasmania. See Time Gents’ story: Bush Inn, Tasmania.
13: Tooth and Company once brewed White Horse Ale.
12: Greg Norman, Wayne Gradiner, Pamella Stephenson, and Darryl Somers all have promoted Swan Lager through commercials.
11: The 1970s pop group, Skyhooks sang “This is my City”, which contained the lyrics: “back in the land of pie and sauce, drinking flat beer with no third course”.
10: The first NSW beer can, made by Tooths Brewery was 26 Fl oz or 738.7396ml
9: Crown Corning manufactured the majority of beer glasses for Australian pubs in 1990.
8: The Lord Nelson at Sydney’s The Rocks sells “Nelson’s Blood”, a 4.9 per cent porter beer.
7: The 1989 Ashes series was commemorated on XXXX cans.
6: A ‘bung’ is thestopper in a beer barrel. Bung was also slang for publican during the late 19th and early 20th century.
5: Beer cans went from imperial to metric measurement in Australia in 1972.
4: The first beer brewed in Australia was in 1796.
3: A 13oz glass (longsleever) of beer cost sixpence (6d) in 1939.
2: The closing time in NSW pubs was extended from 6pm to 10pm in 1955.
1: FOR years, pubs weren’t allowed to open before midday on ANZAC Day. This restriction was lifted in 1980.
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