Robert Stewart pioneer in West Coast brewing
Robert Stewart was born at Old Kilpatrick, Dumbartonshire, Scotland in 1842. Son and Grandson of a cooper, Robert also learned coopering and worked for his father William who owned a cooperage at Old Kilpatrick.
He left Scotland for Australia in 1862 and sailed to Brisbane where he met his wife, Margaret Cochrane, also from Dumbartonshire, SCotland though they sailed on different ships. They live in North Queensland until late 1865 when they sailed for Hokitika after finding the climate too hot in Queensland.
In Hokitika Robert work for a brewery and this was the start of several moves for Robert and Margaret.
Robert worked in various breweries and they are at Sydney, Christchurch, and Charlston.
At Charleston around 1870 he worked for Thomas McCarthy owner of the Standard Brewery and when the gold rush was ending Mr McCarthy moved to Wellington where he established another brewery and urged Robert to come with him but Robert preferred to remain on the West Coast.
After Charleston Robert and his growing family moved to Westport where Robert built his own brewery but disaster struck in 1878 when a south west squall blew the brewery over and this calamity caused the family financial hardship for a time and the family moved to Coal Creek on the northern side of the Grey River.
Robert then went to work for a Thomas Joyce, owner of Joyce’s brewery at Omoto but left after Joyce did not stick to the agreed terms.
Robert then built his own brewery not far from where he lived on the side of Cobden Hill near where the current road stands but Thomas Joyce then wrote to the council complaining that Stewart’s brewery is causing an obstruction so the council wrote to Robert asking him to remove the obstruction but he refused. Joyce continued to complain and Robert received more letters from the council but this had little effect. Robert owned 8 acres around the brewery and leased another 8 acres. He milked cows and supplied milk to Greymouth.
The brewery had its ups and downs but in 1905 after a string of setbacks, Robert finally got his final brewery going at Coal Creek after saving money from working at the Crown brewery in Hokitika,, a job he started in 1899.
In 1936, the brewery was shifted closer inland on the banks of Cobden Hill at great expense by Robert’s son, Archie at a cost of 10,000 pounds. Archie continued brewing until 1961 when the brewery brewed its last batch.
Craft brewing is proving popular in New Zealand with many people turning their home brewing into a commercial operation. There is a lot of information on the internet teaching you the ins and outs of home brewing and I have put the link to one such site for you. Your first batch may be just a click away;
Brewing made easy