It was the brew Singo built - but the Bluetongue beer brand John Singleton marketed across the country so successfully has been killed off by global brewer SABMiller.

With it has gone the $120 million brewery at Warnervale on the central coast, the second-biggest brewery in the state, which was opened in 2010.

Shattered: Bluetongue employees leaving the Warnervale brewery on Thursday. Credit:Simone De Peak

On Thursday morning, 64 staff were told by Carlton & United Breweries they would lose their jobs by the end of the year and the equipment at the old Bluetongue brewery would be moved to CUB's Yatala brewery in Queensland.

Devastated staff were sent home for the afternoon and offered counselling by the company. A spokesman for CUB blamed ''over capacity'' for the closure.