{"id":719459,"date":"2026-06-06T18:11:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T18:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/719459\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T18:11:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T18:11:19","slug":"boags-brewery-workers-call-last-drinks-on-long-history-in-tasmanias-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/719459\/","title":{"rendered":"Boag’s brewery workers call last drinks on long history in Tasmania’s north"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beer is not a spirit, but it can become a ghost.<\/p>\n

Just ask the workers at Boag’s renowned Tasmanian brewery, which is now nearing the end of its own life, and was once allegedly haunted by a spectre that some say could be occasionally glimpsed throughout its halls.<\/p>\n

Beer is always good for loosening the tongue, and the story of the Boag’s ghost is one of many tales upon which the brewers have been ruminating of late.<\/p>\n

Drunk rats and a resident cat in charge of pest control are among other former occupants to feature in anecdotes shared by staff, as they prepare to have their last drinks later this year.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

A photo of Boag’s Brewery bottling machines in the brewery’s early years from the Launceston Manuscript Collection. (Supplied: State Library and Archives Tasmania)<\/p>\n

The brewery is a venue synonymous with Tasmania, but its parent company, Lion Australia, announced on Tuesday its plan to cease production in Launceston by November<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The history of Boag’s beer dates back more than 145 years.<\/p>\n

First opening in Launceston in 1881, it is one of Australia’s longest continuously operating brewing locations.<\/p>\n

Boag’s to cease beer production in Tasmania<\/a><\/p>\n

The famed northern Tasmanian brewer announces it will cease production in the state by November.<\/p>\n

James Boag arrived in Tasmania from Scotland in 1853, working at several breweries along the north of the state.<\/p>\n

But he had bigger plans.<\/p>\n

He and his son, also named James, purchased a series of breweries along the North Esk River, expanding the Boag’s operation quickly to become northern Tasmania’s favourite beer.<\/p>\n

The brewery was passed down the family throughout the years, before the last descendant of the family, George Boag, retired in 1976.<\/p>\n

Investment banker Philip Adkins sold the brewery to Philippines brewing giant San Miguel Corporation in 2000, before Lion purchased it for $325 million in 2007.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

The brewery first started in 1881. (ABC News: Emily Smith)<\/p>\n

Adrian Hinds has worked at the brewery for 23 years and said plenty of fables had been passed along the production lines over the years \u2014 including the ghost story.<\/p>\n

“How much truth was in it or was it because they were having too much beer on shift? Who knows?” he said.<\/p>\n

“But there was a Boag’s ghost that used to wander around the old workers’ bar.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Boags beer brewer Adrian Hinds. (ABC News: Emily Smith)<\/p>\n

“People would be sitting there and all of a sudden a door would swing open and things like that.”<\/p>\n

Although Mr Hinds never witnessed the alleged haunting himself, he suggested that’s because drinking on the job was phased out.<\/p>\n

“That was just before my time,” Mr Hinds said.<\/p>\n

“When I first started it was very industrial, [but] I sort of missed out on those fun times.<\/p>\n

“We [also] used to have an on-site cat; he was our rodent mitigation back in the day. I think his name was Oscar.”<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Current and former Boag’s workers share a beer. (ABC News: Emily Smith)<\/p>\n

Duane Smith has worked at the brewery for 13 years and said sharing tales from the past was part of the history of the place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said, like in many industrial venues, the vermin had long been a problem, but often an entertaining one.<\/p>\n

“I got told by an older fella that he reckons way back in the day the rats behaved like humans when they’re drunk on the product or ingredients,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You’d see a couple in the corner fighting, a couple in the corner sleeping and a couple in the corner having sex.<\/p>\n

“The similarities of mice and men, I guess.”‘The pure waters are special’<\/p>\n

Boag’s has long been spruiked as coming from the pure waters of Tasmania and a series of adverts helped the company’s premium beverage become one of the most popular beers nationally.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Boag’s ads often highlighted how the beer was made with Tasmanian water. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Mr Hinds said the workers on site also did their best to spread the word throughout the city.<\/p>\n

“Our waste malt truck, obviously a massive aroma would come from that,” Mr Hinds said.<\/p>\n

“They used to drive through the city and all the smells from that, they believed that would encourage people to go to the pub and have a beer.<\/p>\n

“One other thing I remember [is] we used to have a whistle that used to go across the city and people in the offices would know it’s time to have a coffee or a smoke.”<\/p>\n

\"James<\/p>\n

Boag’s beers will still be available in Tasmania but they won’t be brewed here. (ABC News: Kate Nickels)<\/p>\n

Former brewery director Nathan Calman said the history of the brewery would forever be “intertwined” with the history of Launceston.<\/p>\n

“Brewing was happening in the buildings behind us here back to the early 1820s which predates even Cascade,” he told the ABC outside the venue earlier this week.<\/p>\n

“Beer was often a currency that preceded, you know, even coins, notes or gold.<\/p>\n

“Liquid gold, maybe.”<\/p>\n

The great beer divide<\/p>\n

Visitors to Tasmania are nowadays often aware of the rivalry between beer drinkers in the north and south of the state.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Cascade Brewery’s much-loved facade.\u00a0 (ABC News: Jake Grant)<\/p>\n

Beer drinkers in the south pledge allegiance to Cascade, while those in the north prefer a Boag’s beverage.<\/p>\n

It’s an unwritten rule that still stands today, though workers like Adrian Hinds and Duane Smith question its relevance among workers.<\/p>\n

“Is there a rivalry? I don’t know. It was healthy competition,” Mr Hinds said.\"A<\/p>\n

Tasmanians can be tribal about which brand they support. (ABC News: Loretta Lohberger)<\/p>\n

“They were one set of breweries at one stage.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

“During fires they had down at Cascade and they couldn’t actually hold beer, so we were actually holding Cascade beer for them.”<\/p>\n

Mr Smith believes it stems from the natural rivalry between the north and south, whether it be football teams, the best places to travel or Launceston vs Hobart.<\/p>\n

“It’s probably built up with the public more than the workers,” Mr Smith said.<\/p>\n

“There have been times that we’ve batted for the same team.<\/p>\n

“Boag’s and Cascade has just been thrown in the ring.”<\/p>\n

What’s the future of the Boag’s site?<\/p>\n

The iconic Boag’s site is one of the most easily recognised parts of Launceston.<\/p>\n

The state government has said the 42 workers impacted by the cuts would be the “immediate priority”, but the future of the site remains unclear.<\/p>\n

A Heritage Tasmania spokesperson said the site was protected by strong and up-to-date heritage statutory protections, and was permanently placed on the register last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The site has been listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register since 1999 through five separate entries, which were recently consolidated following title changes and development in the 2000s,” a Heritage Tasmania spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

“This process resulted in the permanent registration of the whole property on 19 February 2025.”<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Boags will cease their Tasmanian operations in Launceston in November after 145 years of local operation. (ABC News: Emily Smith)<\/p>\n

The Boag’s Brewhouse is set to remain open and Lion Australia has said it will work closely with all levels of government about the future of the brewery site.<\/p>\n

Boag’s beer will continue to be brewed, but on the mainland.<\/p>\n

A financial consultant has suggested the government try to attract another company to keep the site operational in some capacity.<\/p>\n

Corporate adviser David Williams said incentives should be considered to attract other types of drinks companies to the state, with the health drinks market currently booming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beer is not a spirit, but it can become a ghost. Just ask the workers at Boag’s renowned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,33773,345003,176097,99,18679,348814,297702,97361,27481,248039],"class_list":["post-719459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-beer","tag-boags","tag-brewery","tag-business","tag-closure","tag-james-boag","tag-lion-australia","tag-mainland","tag-production","tag-tasmanian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}