WE’VE BEEN FEELING LIKE A TOOHEYS OR TWO FOR 150 YEARS.
Back when Lillee was taking wickets, and Border was smashing sixes, we began celebrating the feeling that our beers inspired. Our beer went hand-in-hand with the optimism and success of the 1980s. And even though that’s when ‘How Do You Feel?’ was first coined, it was tapping into something our beers have always done.
The Beer
WE’VE SERVED UP MORE COLD BEVERAGES THAN YOU COULD POKE A STICK AT, HELPING KEEP THE STATE’S BEER ECONOMY FLOWING.
Remember Tooheys Flag Ale? New South Welshmen were raising a Flag for the better part of last century. Or there was Tooheys Stag Lager, inspired by the Toohey brothers’ favourite watering hole, Leichhardt’s Bald Faced Stag. And who could forget Tooheys Oatmeal Stout? It held its popularity for decades.
NSW has enjoyed Tooheys Amber Bitter, Tooheys 2.2 Lite, Tooheys Pils, Tooheys Blue Ice and Tooheys Red Bitter, among so many others. We even took on spirits for a while there, with Stag Rum, Dominion Dry Gin and Corio Grande Brandy.
These days, we push out the iconic duo of New and Old, along with a more recent brew in Tooheys Extra Dry.
THE BROTHERS
THE TALE OF TWO BROTHERS IS ONE OF DETERMINATION, PERSEVERANCE, GETTING STUCK IN AND HAVING A GO.
John and James Toohey are modern-day legends in this part of the world, but they didn’t know that would be the case when they headed up from Melbourne in the 1860s.
Having run pubs south of the border, they set about making their own beer in Old Sydney Town, taking over a cordial factory in Darling Harbour and getting hold of a brewing license to get the operation off the ground.
Then, one September arvo in the bustling colony, the boys sat back, knocked the froth off a ‘Tooheys Black Ale’ and admired their work: it was an instant NSW favourite, now called Tooheys Old, which we’ve come to love for each and every one of the past 150 years.
TOOHEYS BREWERIES
THEY STARTED IN A CORDIAL FACTORY IN DARLING HARBOUR, AND THE REST IS HISTORY.
The brothers knew they were on to a winner and before long, the business outgrew the Darling Brewery. We shifted to the Standard Brewery at Surry Hills in 1875, staying put until long after John and James passed – but their legacy saw the birth of several new brews.
The Surry Hills crew had mostly pumped out ales and porters, until the new wave of brewers decided to have a crack at a lager. They put together something called ‘Tooheys New Special’ in 1931 – and we reckon you’ve tried one or two of those before, too.
Of course, the roaring success of the New drop meant another big move was on the cards. In the early 1970s, the workers packed their bags, headed up Parramatta Road and landed at the shiny new Tooheys Brewery in Lidcombe. It’s been doing the job for this great state ever since.
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