Brains is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its SA beer, brewed to mark Cardiff hosting the British Empire and Commonwealth Games from July 18 to 26, 1958.
The event shaped the future of what is now the Commonwealth Games. The proud Welsh nation celebrated the success of the games with a pint of SA, which was featured in ads across the city that urged people to ‘say SA after the Games’!
Sixty years later, SA remains Brains’ most famous pint, so to celebrate the old ads have been revived on the frontage of some of Cardiff’s most famous pubs — The City Arms, The Old Arcade and Yard Bar & Kitchen in the Brewery Quarter, the site of Brains’ Old Brewery in St Mary Street.
It was at The Old Brewery where W E Rhys (better known as Bill) — great grandson of Brains’ co-founder, S A Brain, and former head brewer and chairman of the company — brewed the first pint of SA.
Brains remains family owned and Bill’s son and current chairman, John Rhys, is celebrating his 60th birthday this year too, and said: “I like to think that SA was first brewed to celebrate my birth in 1958, but my father never confirmed or denied that!
“Either way, I am incredibly proud of our 136-year old company and our 60-year old flagship beer, which is as good today as it has ever been.”
‘Skull Attack’
Despite its relative mid-strength ABV of 4.2%, SA became known by many as ‘Skull Attack’. The current chairman said: “The Skull Attack nickname dates back to a time when mainstream beers were a lot lower in ABV than they are now, closer to 3% than 4%.
“I suspect that customers coming down to Cardiff for a rugby match drank SA in the same quantity that they drank their regular pint — and maybe even a bit more as they got a little carried away on the day!
So, because SA was a bit stronger than the beer they were used to, they often ended up with a sore head the next morning!”
To mark the 60th anniversary of SA and the Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Brains ran a sustained programme of activity. This included a look back at some of SA’s most iconic ads over the years, as well as celebrating the famous old beer in Brains pubs and its role as a firm favourite at home — including great recipes with a unique SA twist!
As part of this, the city centre pubs that were pulling the first pints of Brains SA to celebrate the games 60 years ago, revived the celebration by hosting ‘After the Games… say SA’ parties last month. A selection of other Brains pubs also held events, some live music featuring famous Welsh singers, as well as 1950s-themed fancy dress parties.
John Rhys said: “I’m honoured to share my 60th birthday with our iconic pint. As we say, it wouldn’t be Wales — or a proper 60th celebration! — without SA.”
