The brewing of Swanny D kegs is finally returning to WA after 9 long years of being produced in enemy territory – West End Brewery in SA and then Tooheys in Sydney.
Being shipped across the Nullarbor in 2013 was a final straw in a long list of indignities for Swanny D which was sold to Lion in the 90s.
However, rescuers hatched the plan to get Swanny D back on home soil after being suspicious of a stale pint one night. Telling The Times,
“It’s meant to be the taste of WA but it tasted like a beer under duress. A beer being forced into fermented labour against its will. We knew we had to rescue it before it was too late”
What they found in SA truly disturbed them. A rescuer that needed extensive counselling after the operation told The Times,
“Some days the brewers would eat a meat pie fully submerged in pea soup and then go and brew our beloved Swanny D. That’s just sick. It was clear, they were trying to break its WA spirit anyway it could”
Now, Swanny D will begin the task of learning to love again in its new Little Creatures brewery home.
Once on home turf, Swanny D went through an extensive debriefing to make sure it hadn’t become a double agent. We can proudly report that it winced in disgust after hearing the Adelaide Crows anthem played. It was proof enough.
Now Swanny D long necks & stubbies must be rescued from the City of Churches. Not to mention having to go back for Emu Export who rescuers, unfortunately, had to leave behind. A rescuer told The Times,
“It haunts me every night. We couldn’t save them all. But we will be back and we’ll make sure a WA classic is never brewed behind enemy lines again”
Documenting the Human Zoo is thirsty work, so if you enjoyed what you read how about buying Belle a beer, ay?