Western Australia's thirst for beer has always required a steady supply of malt, much of which was produced in Northbridge for almost 100 years.

The story of how the large red brick warehouse and malt silos came to be on Palmerston Street starts with a young Perth brewer and businessman named David Harwood.

The Union Maltings plant in 1935. ( Supplied: State Library of Victoria )

Mr Harwood was a prominent citizen in Perth.

In his lifetime he held the position of chief brewer for Swan Breweries, and he was also a Perth city councillor and chairman of the Perth Roads Board.

"David Harwood bought the Stanley Brewery in 1877 and ran it until 1882, when he sold it on," Richard Offen from Heritage Perth told 720 ABC Perth.

"He also bought this block of land on the corner of Palmerston and Stuart streets."

In the late 1890s Mr Harwood founded a new brewery in West Perth, and in 1903 set up the Perth Pneumatic Malting Company on his Palmerston Street land.

"Malt is basically germinated cereal grains, usually barley, which has been dried by a process known as malting, and the product is used in the production of beer and whisky," Mr Offen explained.

"With the growth of the brewing industry in Perth during the first gold rush, there was demand for specialised malting.

"Lots of the early breweries did it themselves, but as beer production went up it became a more specialised process.

"It seems to have been an extremely profitable concern for Harwood."

Tragedy strikes Harwood family

In 1906, the original malting building was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in what Mr Harwood described at the time as "the most complete and up-to-date establishment erected".

In 1907, Mr Harwood's brewery also moved to the Palmerston Street site. Then, in 1910, tragedy struck.

A man inspecting a malt vat in 1971. ( Supplied: State Library of Western Australia )

"There was a dreadful accident in the brewery, when David's brother Sam, the brewery's engineer, was very bad scalded," Mr Offen said.

"While attending to the vat, a steam pipe burst. Sadly, Sam died of his injuries two weeks later."

From that point forward the business appeared to decline, and in 1917 it was taken over by the Union Brewery of Kalgoorlie.

In 1928, it was sold again to AO Barrett, who made a deal with Swan Breweries to cease brewing and concentrate on malt production.

Plant buildings now on heritage register

"By the late 1940s a fourth malt house and a third kiln were completed, signalling an increase in demand and production," Mr Offen said.

The building on Palmerston Street in 1954. ( Supplied: State Library of Western Australia )

"Between 1972 and 1981, what was called a flexi-malt plant was constructed here.

"This operated alongside the slower, traditional plant, but provided a much faster process for making the malt.

"Then in 1986 the property was purchased by a Victorian malting company, and in the late 1990s malting ceased and the company vacated the site."

In the early 2000s the site was redeveloped into more than 100 apartments and townhouses using some of the original plant buildings, which are now listed on the state heritage register.

"It was one of the earlier adaptive re-uses of an old building here in Perth and a lovely reminder of having a beer," Mr Offen said.