ONE of Australia’s most successful beer brands of the 19th century is about to be brought back to life.
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And the man behind the venture – who hopes to open a brewery in the Bathurst CBD by year’s end – believes the city’s bicentenary year is the ideal time to make his dream a reality.
Toney Fitzgerald’s mission to breathe new life back into a range of beers that were known as the “nectar of the west” from the late 1890s to mid-1920s is taking shape with plans to establish a brewhouse and bistro in the city.
Toney Fitzgerald wants to breathe new life back into a range of beers known as the “nectar of the west” from the late 1890s to mid-1920s.
He has plans to establish a brewhouse and bistro in the city but, in the meantime, has pencilled in late October for his first batch of Walkers Brewing fine pale ale to hit the streets of Bathurst.
It will come in kegs or cans, made from a recipe adapted from the original ale produced at the old Dairy Farmers site on the corner of Howick and Bentinck streets.
“Believe it or not, we found the old pale ale recipe from journals of the day,” Mr Fitzgerald said yesterday. “We are making the beer at a mystery location using malt and hops from Tasmania.
“At present we are in negotiations to open the brewery in the CBD of Bathurst and we are confident that will be open by year’s end.”
Mr Fitzgerald described the brand’s spiritual home as being in Bathurst as it was the site of the original Walkers Brewery, established on Howick Street in 1895 by James Walker – a bridge builder, gold fossicker and former mayor of Bathurst.
Another brewery was opened in Orange in 1897.
“Walkers pale ales, bitters, stouts and lagers were famed throughout the Central Western region of NSW and beyond,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
“In fact, Walkers eventually owned every brewery in western NSW by Federation.
“However, in the late 1920s the original Walker and Co. Ltd company was liquidated, brewery operations in Bathurst and Orange eventually closed down, and production of Walkers beer came to an abrupt halt.”
The Walkers brand lay dormant for the best part of a century until the chance discovery of a photo of the Orange brewery – complete with horse-drawn delivery carts and men in bowler hats – inspired Mr Fitzgerald to resurrect the brand.
The CEO and founder of the 21st century Walkers Brewing Co, Mr Fitzgerald said after discovering the original brewery plans were still preserved at the local council, his team arranged a sonar test of the backyard of the original Walkers Brewery site at 80 Moulder Street in Orange.
“We’d heard through a local historian that her grandfather and great-grandfather had worked at Walkers Brewery in Orange, and legend was they’d buried a crate of beer in the yard when it closed down,” he said.
“Although the outlines of the original cellar were revealed, only a handful of bottle tops and broken pieces of glass were unearthed.”
Mr Fitzgerald’s next step was to place advertisements in national papers to find James Walker’s heirs, but this proved fruitless. Determined not to give up, he decided to pay James Walker a personal visit at his gravesite in South Head Cemetery.
“I sat on the edge of his grave and promised to bring the beers back to life if he’d give me his blessing,” he said.
The next day an email arrived from James Walker’s great-granddaughter and a dusty box containing some of the original Walker’s recipes and bottle labels was entrusted to Mr Fitzgerald.
Visit walkersbrewing.com.au and beerbaron.com.au