Nearly 10 years after Swan Draught was last brewed in Western Australia, production is returning to the state.

Kirin-owned Lion has confirmed that it would be brewing Swan Draught kegs out of Little Creatures Fremantle.

The move is reportedly due to major supply chain challenges faced by all businesses looking to distribute to WA, as currently Swan Draught is brewed out of the Toohey’s Brewery in Sydney, making it a long journey to WA.

Global freight challenges have impacted businesses across the brewing and other industries, but Western Australia has been particularly hard hit with supply chain issues which led to further panic buying earlier in the year.

To manage the additional capacity, Little Creatures has bought on extra staff and a shift will be added to the brewing schedule. Industry estimates suggest that the Little Creatures Brewery in Fremantle has capacity of around 10 million litres annually.

Packaged Swan and Emu Export – another nostalgic favourite with Western Australians – will remain at Tooheys Brewery in Sydney.

Lion WA Sales Director, Jamie Ryan, said that the move will help a number of areas of the business.

“Swan Draught kegs are now proudly being brewed locally here in Western Australia for the first time since 2013 – a big win in terms of freshness for our loyal WA Swan Draught customers and drinkers,” Ryan said.

“Our WA brewers have undertaken a rigorous brewing emulation process to ensure absolute consistency in terms of taste and the team are very proud to be back brewing Swan Draught here in WA.”

Lion announced the closure of the Swan Brewery at Canning Vale in Western Australia in 2012.

Following that move Swan Draught and fellow WA brand Emu were brewed at Tooheys Brewery and West End Brewery in Adelaide before its eventual closure in 2021.

Lion said at the time that the Swan Brewery had been “substantially below full capacity for some time”. 80 people were made redundant.