Royal Standard Brewery

Royal Standard Brewery

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History
Town	Ballarat
Street	Armstrong Street
Known dates	1870-1904>
Evidence	Now part of Federation University

The Royal Standard Brewery was a brewery in Ballarat, Victoria, <1870-1904>.

Site

The brewery was built on a large block, with frontages to both Armstrong Street South and Lydiard Street South. Several of the brewery buildings are still standing, and form part of Federation University's Lydiard Street campus.

History

The brewery also brewed cider and perry in the 1870s:

The Royal Standard Brewery, carried on by Tulloch, M‘Laren, and Co., is in Armstrong street. The “wort” is boiled by fire in a copper that will hold 1500 gallons. The fermenting tuns will hold 3000 gallons, and the liquor passes over a flat cooler. A great deal of bottling is also done here. The cellar, which is not underground; holds 100 hhds. Tulloch, M’Laren, and Co., manufacture a large quantity of cider and perry in the summer time, and we are informed that there is a very good demand for it.

In January 1873 one of the wooden brewing vats collapsed:

STRANGE ACCIDENT AT A BALLARAT BREWERY. An extraordinary accident, that caused considerable loss, and nearly involved the death of one man, occurred at the Royal Standard Brewery, Armstrong-street, on Tuesday afternoon. A large wooden vat in which the beer is boiled by steam, suddenly gave way when it contained 2400 gallons of the scalding liquor, and the whole lot fell about 8 feet on to the gyle underneath, the force of the blow knocking the bottom out of boiler, and letting the contents flow into the gyle and on to the floors below. About five minutes before a man had been in the gyle, and had the accident occurred then he must have been scalded to death. The boiler when in its place appeared to be strongly supported, for it rested on three beams of stringy bark, each measuring 10 inches by 5 inches, with a span of about 12 feet. These were apparently sound and strong, but after they had broken it was seen that they were rotten in the centre, and not by any means fit for carrying a heavy weight. The liquid weighed about 12 tons, and two of the beams, had they been sound, would have been quite sufficient to support even a greater weight. The loss Messrs. Tulloch, M'Laren, and M'Knight estimate they have suffered is about £250, and the stoppage of brewing will prove a serious inconvenience to the firm. Not a little alarm was experienced by those in the brewery at the time of the accident, for the noise made was so loud that at first it was thought that some portion of the building had given way.

The brewery added a new boiler to the complex in August 1893:

TULLOCH AND SONS’ ROYAL STANDARD BREWERY. Messrs Tulloch and Sons, proprietors of the famous Royal Standard Brewery, Armstrong Street, have just completed some extensive improvements. Finding that their business was so increasing, that the old plant was not equal to requirements, additional power has been added by the building in of a new boiler. The boiler is 27 feet 6 inches long by 7 feet 6 inches in diameter, and was built by Mr Cowley, on whom it reflects credit as a splendid piece of workmanship. The building in was done by Mr J. Darby, and. over 100 tons of material were used in the work. Steam was got up yesterday, and everything found to answer well. The buildings, which cover a large area, have been added to by the erection of new guile rooms, coolers, &c.—a fine three storey structure in which are three vats each capable of hold ing 5000 gallons of beer. The trade in the Messrs Tulloch’s well-known bottled beer has so increased that the brewery is now kept as busy during the winter as in summer. The bitter beer for bottling is all brewed in the winter, and is all kept six months before being sent out. The new brands of bitter beer are now ready, and a stock of 700 hogsheads is in the stores at present. This bitter beer is brewed from the finest malt and hops only, and the quality is all that could be desired.

A man was injured in an accident in June 1904:

INJURED BY A TRAP DOOR. A man named Charles Williams was severely crushed at Coghlan and Tulloch's Royal Standard Brewery, Ballarat, where he was employed. A trap door, weighing nearly half a ton fell on him. His injuries include a broken leg and fractured ribs.