The Goat’s Head Inn was one of the earliest licensed premises in the Adelaide Hills region, built in the township of Macclesfield, approximately 30 kilometres south of Adelaide. The settlement had been established only a few years earlier, part of a special survey purchased by George Davenport, an English banker and philanthropist. To honour the town’s founder, the hotel was renamed the Davenport Arms in 1846. In December 1846, James Hackett took over as publican of the Davenport Arms and, recognising the growing demand for locally brewed beer, constructed a brewery next door in 1849. At that time, small country breweries were beginning to appear across South Australia, producing fresh ale for nearby towns and farming communities, where imported English beer was both expensive and hard to obtain. Hackett operated both the hotel and brewery for several years before leasing them to a succession of tenants. One of these was William Miller, who became the subject of one of the region’s more tragic brewing accidents. In 1853, while overseeing a brewing batch, Miller fell into a vat of boiling wort. His wife managed to pull him out, but the severe burns proved fatal, and he died from his injuries several days later, a grim reminder of the dangers faced by early brewers in an age before industrial safety standards. Later that same year, the property was sold to Samuel Coleman, who ran the brewery with modest success. Coleman brewed on site for a decade before handing over operations to his son John Coleman in 1861. The younger Coleman kept the brewery running for only a short time, and in 1865 he offered it for sale. In 1868, the brewery was purchased by Henry Lewis, who had previously leased the premises in the early 1850s. Lewis renamed the business Lewis & Co. and quickly established a strong reputation for his beers. His bottled ales became well-known throughout the colony, culminating in a prestigious award at the 1873 London International Exhibition, where his ale was recognised for its quality and consistency, an impressive achievement for a brewer from a small South Australian township. Lewis sold the brewery in 1877 to a partnership of James Bryan, Albert Landseer, and William Dunk. The trio expanded and modernised the facilities, renaming the business The Stag Brewery, a name likely inspired by the popularity of English-style branding common in the brewing trade at the time. Despite their efforts, the partnership lasted only three years before the business changed hands again, this time purchased by Benjamin and Henry Conigrave, who renamed it once more, this time to the Southern Cross Brewery. Under the Conigrave brothers, the brewery reached a new peak. Their beers were distributed widely across the state and won numerous awards at exhibitions throughout Australia, earning the Macclesfield brewery a strong reputation for excellence. However, in 1884, the brothers sold the business to James Mott, who operated it for only two years before handing management to his son Henry Mott and Mr. Wade, with Guildford Gray employed as the head brewer. Their tenure proved brief; within months, the brewery was sold again to brothers William and Gustav Danker. The Danker brothers struggled to maintain profitability amid increasing competition from larger city breweries. Facing financial difficulties, they were eventually forced to sell the property, bringing an end to independent brewing in Macclesfield. In 1888, the brewery was acquired by the Adelaide-based firm Wigg & Son, operated by Messrs. Wigg, Beevor, and Clare. The company already owned the former Kent Town Brewery and began producing beer there under the name Macclesfield Brewery, using the Macclesfield site as a secondary operation managed by William Danker. However, brewing in the township soon ceased, and the original brewery buildings were converted into a dairy and butter factory, marking the end of nearly four decades of local brewing. Meanwhile, the Kent Town operation continued to trade under the Macclesfield Brewing & Malting Co. Ltd., established in 1889. The company adopted the emu as its logo, symbolising strength and endurance, and continued to market its beers under the familiar Macclesfield name. In 1892, to avoid confusion, the company rebranded once more as the Adelaide Malting & Brewing Co. Ltd., though the beers themselves continued to be sold as Macclesfield Ales and Stouts. The brewery’s products were highly regarded, particularly its rich, dark stouts, which won 21 gold medals at the Adelaide Wine Show over several years, a remarkable record for a medium-sized brewery competing against much larger concerns such as the South Australian Brewing Company. Despite its achievements, the company could not withstand the pressures of a consolidating industry and a growing temperance movement. By 1915, the Adelaide Malting & Brewing Co. entered voluntary liquidation, ending the long lineage of breweries that had begun more than seventy years earlier with James Hackett’s small brewhouse beside the Davenport Arms Hotel in Macclesfield.