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29-10-2015, 07:07
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I’ve been thinking more about branding. When did it really start? When did it become popular? What was its purpose?

I can identify two types of branding. The first is generic. Toby is a good example. A brand applied not to a specific beer, but to a whole range. This seems to have been the most common type early doors. It’s still around today, for example Hyde’s Anvil Ales.

Branding individual beers, by giving them their own name, is the second type. Beers used to have generic names. Though these weren’t always the same inside and outside the brewery gates. X Ale/Mild is a good example. As is PA/Bitter or KK/Burton. Or be named by place of origin: London Porter, Edinburgh Ale, Dublin Porter.

Did I mention that I collect the details from 19th-century price lists? My spreadsheet has about 4,500 beers extracted from them. The first named beer in the set is “Velvet” brewed in 1856 by Bircham & Sons of Reepham, Norfolk. But between then and 1890, I’ve very few examples. This is the full set:



Early branded beers


Year
Brewery
Town
Beer


1856
Bircham & Sons
Reepham, Norfolk
Velvet


1875
Mew Langton
Newport, IOW
No. 1 Royal Osborne Ale (as supplied to her majesty)


1875
Mew Langton
Newport, IOW
Guinea Pale Ale


1881
Lewis & Ridley
Leamington
Gem Sparkling Dinner Ale


1888
Watkins & Son's
Hereford
Golden Sunlight Ale


1888
Watkins & Son's
Hereford
Sunflower India Pale Ale


1890
Nottigham Brewery
Nottingham
Golden Ray Ale


1890
Cook Brothers
Colchester
Jubilee Pale Ale


1892
Wm. Whitmarsh & Co.
Sheffield
Hallamshire Export quality


1892
Lucas, Blackwell & Arkwright
Leamington
Gem Light Sparkling Dinner Ale


1892
Daniell & Sons
Colchester
John Bull Bitter Ale


1893
Hull Brewery
Hull
Champagne Bitter


1893
Major Lucas & Co
Northampton
VA Victoria Ale


1897
William Stones
Sheffield
Samson Extra Strong


1897
William Stones
Sheffield
Sparkling Light Bitter Beer


1897
Ash & Co
London
Light Tonic Dinner Ale


1897
Ash & Co
London
Canterbury Ale


1897
Ash & Co
London
Gold Medal Ale


1898
Waltham Bros.
London
The Half Guinea Ale


1898
Mew Langton
Newport, IOW
O.P.A. Osborne Pale Ale (as supplied to Her Majesty's Household)


1902
Brook's Cubley Brook Brwry
Sheffield
Wearncliffe Extra Strong Mild


1907
Benskins
Watford
Primrose Ale


1908
Walker & Homfray
Salford
Comet Ale


1925
Barclay Perkins
London
Red Label Stout


1930
Richard Clarke
Stockport
BB Crystal PAle Ale


1930
Hull Brewery
Hull
Anchor Ale


1930
Benskins
Watford
Jubilee Ale


1930
Benskins
Watford
Colne Spring Ale


1931
Hammerton
London
V.C. Ale


Sources:


Various brewery price lists



What’s interesting - or perhaps rather, totally predictable – is that naming beers seems to start taking off around the same time as bottled beer, in the 1890’s. And indeed the majority of the beers in the table above were bottled. At a time when pump-clips didn’t exist, branding a draught beer wasn’t easy. Whereas with bottles, you had a colourful label to tempt drinkers.

Flipping forward to the fifties, let’s see who was a branding fan.

Leading the pack by quite a distance is Flowers, with 16 branded beers. Not much of a shock, as I know Bernard Dixon, the man in charge at Flowers, was a big fan of naming beers. Here’s the set:



Flowers branded beers in 1954


Brewery
Beer
Type


Flower & Sons
Green Label
Bottled


Flower & Sons
Original Bitter
Draught


Flower & Sons
Shakespeare Ale
Bottled Beer


Flowers Breweries
Anchor
Brown Ale


Flowers Breweries
Brewmaster
Bottled


Flowers Breweries
Little Imp
Bottled


Flowers Breweries
Sable
Bottled


Flowers Breweries
Green Ribbon
Bottled


Flowers Breweries
Kelly's Eye
Bottled


Flowers Breweries
Luton
Light Ale


Flowers Breweries
Lutorian
Bottled


Flowers Breweries
Old Gold
Bottled


Flowers Breweries
Poacher
Bottled


Flowers Breweries
Stingo
Bottled


Flowers Breweries
Dragon's Blood
Old English Ale


Flowers Breweries
Ravensburg
Bottled


Source:


Brewery Manual 1953-1954, pages 382 - 394.



Not sure why they haven’t identified Poacher as the Brown Ale it was. Nor Sable as a Stout. Stingo, obviously, was a Strong Ale. And I’m pretty sure Lutorian should be Lutonian.

Fascinating that some are branded Flower & Sons and others Flowers Breweries. The former are beers from the original Flowers brewery in Stratford-upon-Avon, the latter from J.W. Green in Luton. Flower & Sons, despite being relatively modest in size, had built up a good reputation for some of their beers well outside their core area. Original Bitter, in particular, made inroads outside their tied estate. Doubtless the strong branding of Flowers was why the J.W. Green name was ditched, despite being the senior partner in the new firm.

More branding to come.

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