Brewery Newspaper Articles 1880s

[from Papers Past – Hawke’s Bay Herald – 9 July 1895  – Page 4 Advertisements Column  4]

WHITE ROAD COAL, FIREWOOD
AND
HAY AND CORN DEPOT
A. Orders Promptly Delivered to any part of NAPIER AND SUBURBS,
TELEPHONE 168

NOTICE TO PUBLIC
HAVING CLOSED MY BRANCH AT NAPIER MY ENTIRE
BOTTLING BUSINESS IS NOW CARRIED ON AT
THE BREWERY,
HASTINGS
For the convenience of Napier customers
HAVE APPOINTED
MESSRS BARRY BROS.,
TENNYSON-STREET
AS
AGENTS.
Ring up No. 17 and Orders will be Promp [Promptly] attended to.
Sole Agent for the Celebrated TE AROHA MINERAL WATER,  highly recommended by the Medical Profession for its mild alterative and aperient properties.
E. NEWBIGIN

SHARP AND ALFORD
DIRECT IMPORTERS OF BOOKS, STATIONERY, AND FANCY GOODS.
Opposite Roach’s Grocery Store
HERETAUNGA ROAD, HASTINGS.
AGENTS FOR “H.B. HERALD

GUN MAKING AND GUN REPAIRING IN NAPIER
We do every kind of
GUN WORK ON THE PREMISES
In the best possible manner, and Guarantee all Work undertaken.
GUNS sent by Post or otherwise receive Prompt Attention.
Correspondence Invited.
ADDRESS –
W.H. CARDEW
GUNMAKER,
DALTON-STREET  NAPIER
(Opposite Star Hotel).
AGENT FOR
AUCKLAND CYCLE COMPANY YCLES [CYCLES],
Equal to best Imported Machines. For Cash and ontime Payment System

T. MORGAN,
BOOT AND SHOE STORE
CASH SALE  HASTINGS,  CASH SALE
WISHES it to be generally known to the Public of HASTINGS and district that on THURSDAY, 4th July, and until further notice, he will offer the whole of his Stock of Boots and Shoes at COST PRICE for cash, all the Goods being fresh, clean and well-assorted. There will be genuine bargains in all departments of the business, the COLONIAL Goods consisting chiefly of the well-known “STANDARD”  and “ZEALANDIA” brands of Boots and Shoes, while the IMPORTED GOODS, of which there are a great variety, are from well-known English Houses. “Country orders promptly attended to” and carriage paid on all parcels of 20s  and upwards to any part of the Province. Inspect prices in the Window. Note the address –
T. MORGAN
(Opposite the Railway Hotel),
HASTINGS.

MR W.T. SABIN
VETERINARY SURGEON
Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, London,
KARAMU-ROAD, HASTINGS
Naer [Near] Carlton Hotel

16 June 1886

ST AUBYN BREWERY.
AERATED WATER AND CORDIAL MANUFACTORY.
The Plant, in this Factory, is of the best and most approved principal, there is nothing but the best Material, and under the supervision of skilled labour, which places the proprietor in a position to turn out a superior article. A trial is solicited to satisfy the most sceptical that there is no puff.

SUCCESS TO LOCAL INDUSTRY.
Good, no doubt, is St Aubyn’s Stout, in either wood or bottle,
But Ellis’s Ale can never fail, to please a thirsty throttle.

Some will mouth and puff, and call their brews a specialty,
But, St Aubyn’s is the stuff, in fact, its a reality.
(To be continued in our next.)
GEORGE ELLIS,
PROPRIETOR.

9 March 1887

Sly-grog Selling at Ormondville.
From our own Correspondent.

ORMONDVILLE, this day.
The sly-grog selling case Police v. Skinner was adjourned for a month, on behalf of defendant, to allow a subpoena to be served on Mr G. Ellis, of Hastings. The evidence for the prosecution went to show that the horehound beer sold was intoxicating. For the defence, Mr Ellis, brewer, stated that the beer was horehound, but was intoxicating if taken in sufficient quantities. The R. M. suggested to the police the advisability of the beer being analyzed before next court day.

29 May 1886

We are sorry to see announced by Auckland papers the death by drowning of Mr John Wrigley, who was a nephew of Mr George Ellis, of this town. Mr Wrigley was in the employment of Mr Ellis as brewer here for a considerable time, and was an universal favourite with all. He was only a little over twelve months married before his untimely end.

14 Dec 1886

ST AUBYN BREWERY.
AERATED WATER AND CORDIAL MANUFACTORY.
The Plant, in this Factory, is of the best and most approved principal, there is nothing but the best Material, and under the supervision of skilled labour, which places the proprietor in a position to turn out a superior article. A trial is solicited to satisfy the most sceptical that there is no puff.

SUCCESS TO LOCAL INDUSTRY

If you wish to have health and your spirits to cheer,
You certainly ought to drink Ellis Beer;
Or if you lack strength, which with many, no doubt,
Is the case, then you ought to partake of his Stout.
He is careful to see that there is no sophistication
Which makes it esteemed by the whole population,
Of Hastings and all of the country surrounding,
A district where judges of Ale were abounding.
From north and from south, from east and from west,
they all are agreed that his drinks are the best.

GEORGE ELLIS
PROPRIETOR.

Two nice old Milk Stout labels, dated approx. 1930.

1887

ST AUBYN BREWERY.

(By our Special Reporter.)

Happening to pass by the well-known St. Aubyn Brewery this morning my olfactory senses were assailed with the peculiar aroma which accompanies the process of brewing, and as I had a spare half hour on hand I turned into the premises to have a look round. Almost the first person met with was the genial proprietor himself, Mr George Ellis and upon acquainting him with the fact that I would like to see the premises he at once offered to act as my guide. The first place visited was the newly-erected lemonade and cordial factory, the erection and fitting up of which have just been completed by Mr Ellis. Formerly this department of the business was conducted in a part of the brewery premises, but our paternal Government passed an Act last session that no lemonade factory should be conducted upon the same premises as a brewery. The object of this is not very clear, but all the same Mr Ellis being a proprietor of both had to comply with the law, hence the erection of the commodious premises in which the manufacture of the seductive syrup and the refreshing soda is now carried on. Although possibly in this case a hardship has been inflicted by compelling an unnecessary outlay of capital there can be no doubt that great benefit will ultimately result as the conveniences for working are greatly superior to those formerly existing. The building is about 70 feet long and 26 feet wide and is divided into two apartments. The floor is of concrete, and it is intended to erect a verandah on the sunny side of the building for the purpose of keeping the place as cool as possible. The smaller room is devoted to the syrup and cordials, a large stock of which is to be found upon the shelves. The contents of the bottles looked beautifully clear and shows that great care had been exercised in their manufacture. A novelty is found here in the shape of a hydraulic capsuling machine, which enables the operator by a very simple movement to fasten the capsules upon the bottles with a firmness that prevents the possibility of removal until required for use. In the largest of the two rooms are situated the gas generator, bottling machine, etc., and last but not least the motive power in the form of a new gas engine, which Mr Ellis said he had expected to have had working today, but at the time of my visit the gas had not been “turned on” in the main.

The engine is a half-horse power, one of the Otto upright class, and has all the latest improvements. It is an exceedingly compact affair, and no doubt will be found valuable for the  purpose for which it has been procured. With its aid about 50 dozen of lemonade or 70 dozen of “soda splits” can be turned out per hour, sufficient to avoid a scarcity of these beverages in this part of the world. A “soda split” it should be explained is a small bottle of soda water just sufficient when dashed with a little “Three Star” to revive your drooping frame. There are also in this room a large copper boiler used for boiling the fruit consumed in making the syrup, and an ingenious bottle rinser, which secures the soundness so necessary in the bottles. After the bottles have been washed they are placed neck downwards in the rinser, which has a number of pipes about the thickness of a lead pencil. These pipes are pierced with a tiny hole at the top and are long enough to reach into the bottle near three parts of its length. When the rack has been filled with bottles a tap is turned on, and a spray of water shoots out of the top of the pipes and rinses the bottle quickly and thoroughly. As we were just passing the bottling cellar belonging to the brewery, Mr Ellis suggested we go and look in there, a proposition that was agreed to without amendment. The cellar has been excavated for a considerable depth, and has a cement floor, with heavy concrete walls of considerable height, resting upon them is the remaining portion of the brewery which is of wood. The temperature is always maintained as even as possible as the bottled products of the brewery are stored here to mature. In winter a stove is used to warm the atmosphere. The appliances located in this department are a siphon, […] and a corking machine, by the aid of which one hand can get through a lot of work. On my leaving, of course, the contents of the bottles had to be savoured and upon my expressing a preference for stout as against ale, Mr Ellis took down a bottle of the former and poured me with a glass  from it. Had I not known where it came from I could have passed it very well for some of the best of the imported article. I told the genial George so and he remarked that I was not singular in my praise. “That stout,” said he “was just bottled last September, and in a month or two more I will defy any man to tell it from the best Imported.” I am inclined to think he is quite right too. Leaving the cellar we

stepped across the yard outside the brewery, where it was evident the process of manufacturing XXX or something equivalent was in full swing. It is not the intention of the writer to describe the modus operandi; it is more or less well known, besides which it might say too much so it had best be left alone altogether. In looking through the place one could not help noticing how convenient everything is for the proper and economical working of the establishment. Up on the top floor, are the large tanks for hot water, the mash tubs and the huge steam-jacketed copper, the first, by the way, used in New Zealand, but not the first made. Messrs A. and T. Burt, of Dunedin from whom Mr Ellis procured his, have constructed several for Australian breweries. In this copper the wort is boiled by the aid of steam, which can be regulated to a nicety by means of a valve. Riverslea hops are alone used and Mr Ellis speaks in the highest terms of their quality. Taken all round, he considers them the best to be got, and he ought to know. There is a patent self-acting mashing machine, a very useful article, and also a self acting “spanger,“ which percolates the water over the mash with a mathematical precision. Another noticeable thing was a large tin which is kept supplied with water in the case of fire, although the [….] for its use is remote, as there is […] or lights inside the building. We watched the boiling wort for […] minutes, and asked a multitude of questions, which the proprietor readily responded to, but which would probably not interest my readers. We descended to the next floor, where the malt-crushing mill and the engine which drives it are situated. Here also are to be found the fermenting room, a large cooler, refrigerator and a temperator all being important instruments in the decoction of the brew that has rendered St. Aubyn famous. The temperature is especially important as it enables the operator to “control” the wort and keep it at a proper temperature, which is an essential point. Upon the top floor are store-rooms and malt bins. All the malt at present used by the brewery is imported from Christchurch and I saw it was very much against Mr. Ellis’s grain to tell me so. He’s a thorough believer in local industry. I am certain he will not rest satisfied until he has a locally grown article in use, and he as good as said that if he was spared, it would be in the by no means distant future that he would erect a malting house. It is to be hoped that his intention will be carried on. Barley grows excellently well here, and the industry, if now established would give considerable employment, as there is a large demand for malt among the diverse breweries in the provinces, the proprietors of which would no doubt be glad enough to draw their supplies from home, instead of having to go to the expense and loss attendant upon importation from the South Island. Descending to the ground floor an inspection of the boiler, a 10 h.p. multitubular, was made. Here again Mr Ellis is compelled, much against his will, to use imported coal in place of wood from our bush districts. The railway freight however, stands in the way of the wood industry, and upon the score of economy alone coal is consumed. However, Mr Ellis, who is the most patriotic of men, has determined to give the Westport coal a trial. It is a little dearer than Newcastle, but decidedly better for steaming purposes, and Mr Ellis declares if he can “[…] in” at all the New Zealand article will have the preference. The boiler, of course, supplies all the steam required upon the premises, and is fitted with one of Hancock’s patent inspirators, which feeds the boiler with hot water upon the suction principle. On the other side of the building is another engine which pumps the [….] to the top story. There [….] the cellar to inspect, and a nice cool place it appeared to be. Even here labor saving appliances are to be found in the shape of self-acting “toppers.” A “topper,” it may be explained, is a kind of syphon which replenishes the overflow from the casks while the beer is “working.” By this means no night work is required, and the proprietor and his staff can sleep in happy consciousness that the “topper” is performing its duty with unfailing regularity. Of the contents of the cellar nothing need be said, beyond the fact that they are generally appreciated. The clients of St. Aubyn are to be found from Napier down the country side to Pahiatua and the business is growing. We are glad of it, for we left the brewery with the firm impression that Mr Ellis deserves the success he has achieved. No expense has been spared to render the establishment complete and no improvement is passed over if it can be shown the its adoption will either cheapen the cost of production or improve the quality of the product. Mr Ellis has reason to be proud of his establishment and with the aid of his two sons and Messrs Hansen, Smith and Ender, who constitute the staff and who display interest in the welfare of the concern, continued prosperity must be assured.

24 Dec 1887

ST AUBYN WINERY
AERATED WATER AND CORDIAL MANUFACTORY,
The Plant, in this Factory, is of the best and most approved principal, there is nothing but the best Material, and under the supervision of skilled labour which places the proprietor in a position […]