By Benjamin Millar
One of Footscray’s favourite founding fathers is being immortalised with his own brew.
Hop Nation brewery is teaming up with the Footscray Historical Society to release a new beer paying tribute to James Cuming, one of the area’s most important late 19th century figures.
Dubbed ‘The Patron’, the mid-strenth session ale will be launched next week to coincide with the Society’s 50-year Jubilee celebration.
Hop Nation co-owner Sam Hambour said the idea was to create a beer that resonated with the proud history of the area.
“We ended up basing it on a character called James Cuming,” he said.
“A patron is someone who used to take care of the community and get involved in the area – he hung around and helped out at a time where a lot of the guys who made money in the area would move out to a wealthier area.”
Cuming founded Cuming, Smith and Company, one of Australia’s first producers of fertilisers.
He donated to almost every charitable institution in Footscray and Yarraville, as well as serving as chairman of Footscray Court, president of Footscray Football Club and mayor when Footscray was proclaimed a city in 1891.
Mr Hambour said the collaboration had been a great way to learn more about the area’s history and characters such as Cuming.
The riverside Footscray warehouse housing the Hop Nation brewery is itself steeped in history,
dating back to the 1880s when it was a whale fat factory.
The Patron will be launched at the brewery on October 13 and served at the Footscray Historical Society’s Jubilee celebrations on October 21.
“We are going to set up a stall for the Historical Society at the launch and we are sponsoring the jubilee,” Mr Hambour said.
