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14-02-2024, 22:20
Visit the Paul Bailey's Beer Blog site (https://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2024/02/old-family-brewers-of-britain-part.html)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcFpWqBpgzxLeFEdzJod4E-r3b5NBjzenLSE4MfwbptP9_AkdFCkZEst2pzIXmIFlGaIEyduA kuF5hPocErl9drCbApff5aZBOUL_r8DprXfrGbc3VR4PHBqMBD jPho1092uATBbH0L4u9NJ006HBg5P-_PBSKUo0jYkjeo6kqWVKi5X2hjlDZ7NmrYA/w254-h400/Ben%20Truman%201666.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcFpWqBpgzxLeFEdzJod4E-r3b5NBjzenLSE4MfwbptP9_AkdFCkZEst2pzIXmIFlGaIEyduA kuF5hPocErl9drCbApff5aZBOUL_r8DprXfrGbc3VR4PHBqMBD jPho1092uATBbH0L4u9NJ006HBg5P-_PBSKUo0jYkjeo6kqWVKi5X2hjlDZ7NmrYA/s1023/Ben%20Truman%201666.jpg)Without looking back through the archives, I’m not quitesure which number we’ve reached in the occasional series that takes a look backat the Old Family Brewers of Britain, but I’m guessing the forthcoming articleis No. 12. As with Fremlin’s of Maidstone, East London brewers, Truman’s maywell have started as a family enterprise, but just over 200 years from thefounding of the latter company, it had grown to become the largest brewery inthe world.Truman's Brewery had its roots in the east-end of Londonand could trace its history back to the 17th Century. Established in1666, as the Black Eagle Brewery, on a plot of land next to Brick Lane inSpitalfields the company grew steadily under the management of Benjamin Truman.During the 18th Century the company enjoyed a period of rapidexpansion, driven by an almost insatiable demand for the beer known as porter, andbecome one of the largest brewers in London.
I am old enough to remember Truman’s Brewery, and firstbecame aware of the company and its beers, during a school trip to London, for avisit to the Geological Museum in South Kensington. This would have beensometime around 1972-73. Like many sixth formers, we thought we were terriblygrown up, so the idea of sneaking off for a pint or two seemed a good idea. Somewhere close to the museum, we found a pub andit belonged to Truman’s. This was not a brewery I was familiar with at the timebecause whilst the company owned many pubs in the capital, and also quite a fewin north Kent, there were no Truman’s pubs in the east of the county where Igrew up and went to school.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4680eQYfPnEVDZ2ArFKv090D-x1Y9TLs-KIwdy2a5QbWPi6qDkHuAMEibFaxbDgmdcrXdTf7zqfXidgVjbY vNj9euxyeCCgXG9IdFHOeyXAkVWJ2wxK_UAFg7mmaEvqahFPcB bbJAmg4mQWHPiZd7JofJtiOdC01JxvENbyv6lCxAIUKT5QQ8Vc XPog/w296-h400/Stables_at_Truman_Brewery_(West_Face_-_01).jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4680eQYfPnEVDZ2ArFKv090D-x1Y9TLs-KIwdy2a5QbWPi6qDkHuAMEibFaxbDgmdcrXdTf7zqfXidgVjbY vNj9euxyeCCgXG9IdFHOeyXAkVWJ2wxK_UAFg7mmaEvqahFPcB bbJAmg4mQWHPiZd7JofJtiOdC01JxvENbyv6lCxAIUKT5QQ8Vc XPog/s600/Stables_at_Truman_Brewery_(West_Face_-_01).jpg)
Although I can’t remember its name, I can still picture thepub because it was cosy and comfortable. It was around this time that Truman’sre-branded themselves, dropping the historic “Hanbury & Buxton” part of their titleand becoming plain Truman’s. They also dropped the historic Eagle logo, basedon the Black Eagle Brewery. Instead, the company made great play of their yearof foundation, and 1666 appeared everywhere. Multi-coloured stripes appearedright round the outside of many pubs, along with a new stylised logo which wasmeant to represent a sheaf of barley.For an impressionable teenager in love with modernity, thiswas cool and obviously the way forward, so I was highly impressed with what Ifound in this South Kensington pub. I liked the fact that it was carpetedthroughout, and the fact the carpet was embellished with the new-look Truman’slogo. I also liked the fact that the pub was low-lit, in a fashionable andmodern sort of way. (I was only 17 atthe time!).
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOpnWktehNT3_s_qPodW4VuhGr0Nq36rlCfacDJ__yQx RV6GXBq7QLckj6vfY9Cq3CjaIXDyeWiV47JnwpG_Ke6-7tn-jlRS_aTstkAkZtYLGfRso0u0IK2a_itXEr4s_CsXrIT1utWoNM LLsqe1e-jzm5LXZu9whF8bQgGva75df-HlZSWTiuP7KQn18/w400-h265/Ben%20Truman%20Ashford.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOpnWktehNT3_s_qPodW4VuhGr0Nq36rlCfacDJ__yQx RV6GXBq7QLckj6vfY9Cq3CjaIXDyeWiV47JnwpG_Ke6-7tn-jlRS_aTstkAkZtYLGfRso0u0IK2a_itXEr4s_CsXrIT1utWoNM LLsqe1e-jzm5LXZu9whF8bQgGva75df-HlZSWTiuP7KQn18/s512/Ben%20Truman%20Ashford.jpg)
I mentioned earlier that Truman beers were not available inEast Kent, but not long after that school trip, the company arrived in Ashfordwith a bang. The town was unfortunate to have been designated a London“over-spill” town, and several new housing estates sprang up on the outskirtsof what had once been a very pleasant Kentish market town. The largest of these estates was called Stanhope, anddespite the best intentions of the town planners, it turned out to be a rather unpleasantconcrete jungle. Back in the 70’s, it was considered essential for estates likethese to have their own local pub; and this is where Truman’s stepped in. Abrand-new pub called the Ben Truman was constructed, right in the centre of theestate; the idea being it would act like a hub and draw the community together,In reality, it wasn’t exactly a place for the faint-hearted. The Ben Truman hassubsequently been demolished and the estate largely re-built and re-modelled.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiIWPY-wWzvYi03GTnMOGnmQfgyPUh8VrYh6J0niwESvWk2zjyfGVHpi_-5USDoVIw9FF4CK0ceFDkwEKWtFYfbLFTTOZ3oxHmSL6Sy-n50qIea8tiQ8yD-2fU-53lPwb9h0GsKOHNTAa7fnbD3AMRqTwywJaU6JWVLUFw7hoIlF7 pbtcl5YoX0g6Ph8/w400-h260/320px-Truman_Colour_Ad.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiIWPY-wWzvYi03GTnMOGnmQfgyPUh8VrYh6J0niwESvWk2zjyfGVHpi_-5USDoVIw9FF4CK0ceFDkwEKWtFYfbLFTTOZ3oxHmSL6Sy-n50qIea8tiQ8yD-2fU-53lPwb9h0GsKOHNTAa7fnbD3AMRqTwywJaU6JWVLUFw7hoIlF7 pbtcl5YoX0g6Ph8/s320/320px-Truman_Colour_Ad.jpg)
Returning to the Truman’s story, the company continued togrow into the 19th Century, as manifested by the expansion of thebrewery and the enlargement of the company’s pub estate, helped by the purchasein 1873, of Philips Brewery in Burton. For a while, Truman’s became the largestbrewery in the world, but as the 20th Century progressed, Truman'shad to come to terms with the deprivations of two world wars, competition from cheapimports and the consolidation, through mergers and takeovers, of some of the biggestnames in British brewing.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYayd4sgJCtiZBIiJp52RnZSKkY-ExqY8XuwLwDHJLVoboAdMn0wEuhZxe4m5-QT7FhQBKPL44LVKUs2P6yK6m3FC6v3FfjXUw5NocL8ZFJO80qz thCd08CrgXMSf_VSrsUvicCWBGYai7Hpah8oAB-5EOwyzIbz6HPkEJRcjB97ZU__K51i3INdE9V8Y/w400-h300/Trumans%20pub.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYayd4sgJCtiZBIiJp52RnZSKkY-ExqY8XuwLwDHJLVoboAdMn0wEuhZxe4m5-QT7FhQBKPL44LVKUs2P6yK6m3FC6v3FfjXUw5NocL8ZFJO80qz thCd08CrgXMSf_VSrsUvicCWBGYai7Hpah8oAB-5EOwyzIbz6HPkEJRcjB97ZU__K51i3INdE9V8Y/s768/Trumans%20pub.jpg)
The 1960's, in particular, proved to be very turbulent yearsfor the British brewing industry, but sensing the mood, Truman’s restructuredthe entire business, closed their Burton brewery, rationalised their pub estateand invested heavily in improving the Brick Lane site. These measures had thedesired effect as profits grew by a third in the last four years of the decade,and Truman's emerged as the last major independent brewery left in the capital. This happy situation failed to continue into the nextdecade, because in 1971 Truman's became the centre of a bidding war betweenhotels group Grand Metropolitan and Watney Mann. Grand Metropolitan eventuallywon and then immediately turned its attention to Watney Mann. After taking overWatney Mann, Grand Metropolitan merged the company with Truman's, and from thenon, the company’s fortunes declined rapidly.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ekGPXARIdk_IfdWF47df_pCoW-NSZwRF79C_o9Pj9Cjg3iKlzWv3r3BE20UI8fvENuGKMXKbeVqH YKaPqpccCpNQs2mfQMcnXuHL13p0uf-KwSYOw-LJnBvFzoXPGZJaaM_Tg56omYzVtC7vJS73HSp9piGC2sJ3q2QO eINwvLcd1K4GYHOBQnlpmwM/w266-h320/199px-Truman_Labels.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ekGPXARIdk_IfdWF47df_pCoW-NSZwRF79C_o9Pj9Cjg3iKlzWv3r3BE20UI8fvENuGKMXKbeVqH YKaPqpccCpNQs2mfQMcnXuHL13p0uf-KwSYOw-LJnBvFzoXPGZJaaM_Tg56omYzVtC7vJS73HSp9piGC2sJ3q2QO eINwvLcd1K4GYHOBQnlpmwM/s239/199px-Truman_Labels.jpg)
Grand Metropolitan made many changes to the company,including amending the name to Truman, creating a new brand, switching theirdraught beer from cask to keg, and reformulating the beer recipes. Thesedecisions proved detrimental to the company, and when the pendulum swung backthe other way, in favour of cask (Real Ale), with breweries falling overthemselves to either promote existing cask brands or bring back long dead ones,Truman’s found themselves left behind.Realising their mistakes, cask was gradually re-introduced, initiallywith Truman Tap Bitter, dispensed by the controversial “County Air Pump”; a devicewhich came very close to splitting CAMRA. A few years later, Truman’s re-enteredthe cask ale market properly, with a range of well-regarded cask beers, whichincluded a biter, best bitter, a strong ale and even a mild. To complete thepicture, the Truman’s Eagle also made a comeback. Unfortunately, it was toolittle and too late, and despite the quality of the new cask beers, the damagehas already been done. Sadly, the closure of the brewery was announced in 1989.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0otMIzRH4HVXI0VK56TfQqsjVkTeFNj5-8EMdmAG4H9MFjd_bzYvcI3Yfx_F0DJEKexvoHsPpahOn9uBSHa nb3fvMF3SGjwEVsEftx4etVxTWpJceZt-NfSn0rN6xZ0hyr0Fw9bJlhTyOUHSRYazUyXoL7nOsdn1Ux0rhy phenhyphenSqM19bl7a_io2AeuAKqa2M/w400-h265/Truman%20bottles.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0otMIzRH4HVXI0VK56TfQqsjVkTeFNj5-8EMdmAG4H9MFjd_bzYvcI3Yfx_F0DJEKexvoHsPpahOn9uBSHa nb3fvMF3SGjwEVsEftx4etVxTWpJceZt-NfSn0rN6xZ0hyr0Fw9bJlhTyOUHSRYazUyXoL7nOsdn1Ux0rhy phenhyphenSqM19bl7a_io2AeuAKqa2M/s425/Truman%20bottles.jpg)
In 2010, two beer enthusiasts James Morgan, andMichael-George Hemus, purchased the Truman’s name from Scottish & Newcastle –the owners of the brand at the time. They then began the lengthy and difficult undertakingof re-establishing this highly respected London brewery. Unfortunately, despitesome early successes the process ran into difficulties, caused partly by the COVIDpandemic and subsequent lock-down. As far as I can make out, the undertaking is stillunfolding, but whatever the case, it remains outside the scope of this article,particularly as we are looking at the original Truman Brewery, rather than itsmodern-day successors. For the curious, this excellent article by Des de Moor, (https://desdemoor.co.uk/trumans-beer/)contains all the gory details.
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https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcFpWqBpgzxLeFEdzJod4E-r3b5NBjzenLSE4MfwbptP9_AkdFCkZEst2pzIXmIFlGaIEyduA kuF5hPocErl9drCbApff5aZBOUL_r8DprXfrGbc3VR4PHBqMBD jPho1092uATBbH0L4u9NJ006HBg5P-_PBSKUo0jYkjeo6kqWVKi5X2hjlDZ7NmrYA/w254-h400/Ben%20Truman%201666.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcFpWqBpgzxLeFEdzJod4E-r3b5NBjzenLSE4MfwbptP9_AkdFCkZEst2pzIXmIFlGaIEyduA kuF5hPocErl9drCbApff5aZBOUL_r8DprXfrGbc3VR4PHBqMBD jPho1092uATBbH0L4u9NJ006HBg5P-_PBSKUo0jYkjeo6kqWVKi5X2hjlDZ7NmrYA/s1023/Ben%20Truman%201666.jpg)Without looking back through the archives, I’m not quitesure which number we’ve reached in the occasional series that takes a look backat the Old Family Brewers of Britain, but I’m guessing the forthcoming articleis No. 12. As with Fremlin’s of Maidstone, East London brewers, Truman’s maywell have started as a family enterprise, but just over 200 years from thefounding of the latter company, it had grown to become the largest brewery inthe world.Truman's Brewery had its roots in the east-end of Londonand could trace its history back to the 17th Century. Established in1666, as the Black Eagle Brewery, on a plot of land next to Brick Lane inSpitalfields the company grew steadily under the management of Benjamin Truman.During the 18th Century the company enjoyed a period of rapidexpansion, driven by an almost insatiable demand for the beer known as porter, andbecome one of the largest brewers in London.
I am old enough to remember Truman’s Brewery, and firstbecame aware of the company and its beers, during a school trip to London, for avisit to the Geological Museum in South Kensington. This would have beensometime around 1972-73. Like many sixth formers, we thought we were terriblygrown up, so the idea of sneaking off for a pint or two seemed a good idea. Somewhere close to the museum, we found a pub andit belonged to Truman’s. This was not a brewery I was familiar with at the timebecause whilst the company owned many pubs in the capital, and also quite a fewin north Kent, there were no Truman’s pubs in the east of the county where Igrew up and went to school.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4680eQYfPnEVDZ2ArFKv090D-x1Y9TLs-KIwdy2a5QbWPi6qDkHuAMEibFaxbDgmdcrXdTf7zqfXidgVjbY vNj9euxyeCCgXG9IdFHOeyXAkVWJ2wxK_UAFg7mmaEvqahFPcB bbJAmg4mQWHPiZd7JofJtiOdC01JxvENbyv6lCxAIUKT5QQ8Vc XPog/w296-h400/Stables_at_Truman_Brewery_(West_Face_-_01).jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4680eQYfPnEVDZ2ArFKv090D-x1Y9TLs-KIwdy2a5QbWPi6qDkHuAMEibFaxbDgmdcrXdTf7zqfXidgVjbY vNj9euxyeCCgXG9IdFHOeyXAkVWJ2wxK_UAFg7mmaEvqahFPcB bbJAmg4mQWHPiZd7JofJtiOdC01JxvENbyv6lCxAIUKT5QQ8Vc XPog/s600/Stables_at_Truman_Brewery_(West_Face_-_01).jpg)
Although I can’t remember its name, I can still picture thepub because it was cosy and comfortable. It was around this time that Truman’sre-branded themselves, dropping the historic “Hanbury & Buxton” part of their titleand becoming plain Truman’s. They also dropped the historic Eagle logo, basedon the Black Eagle Brewery. Instead, the company made great play of their yearof foundation, and 1666 appeared everywhere. Multi-coloured stripes appearedright round the outside of many pubs, along with a new stylised logo which wasmeant to represent a sheaf of barley.For an impressionable teenager in love with modernity, thiswas cool and obviously the way forward, so I was highly impressed with what Ifound in this South Kensington pub. I liked the fact that it was carpetedthroughout, and the fact the carpet was embellished with the new-look Truman’slogo. I also liked the fact that the pub was low-lit, in a fashionable andmodern sort of way. (I was only 17 atthe time!).
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOpnWktehNT3_s_qPodW4VuhGr0Nq36rlCfacDJ__yQx RV6GXBq7QLckj6vfY9Cq3CjaIXDyeWiV47JnwpG_Ke6-7tn-jlRS_aTstkAkZtYLGfRso0u0IK2a_itXEr4s_CsXrIT1utWoNM LLsqe1e-jzm5LXZu9whF8bQgGva75df-HlZSWTiuP7KQn18/w400-h265/Ben%20Truman%20Ashford.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOpnWktehNT3_s_qPodW4VuhGr0Nq36rlCfacDJ__yQx RV6GXBq7QLckj6vfY9Cq3CjaIXDyeWiV47JnwpG_Ke6-7tn-jlRS_aTstkAkZtYLGfRso0u0IK2a_itXEr4s_CsXrIT1utWoNM LLsqe1e-jzm5LXZu9whF8bQgGva75df-HlZSWTiuP7KQn18/s512/Ben%20Truman%20Ashford.jpg)
I mentioned earlier that Truman beers were not available inEast Kent, but not long after that school trip, the company arrived in Ashfordwith a bang. The town was unfortunate to have been designated a London“over-spill” town, and several new housing estates sprang up on the outskirtsof what had once been a very pleasant Kentish market town. The largest of these estates was called Stanhope, anddespite the best intentions of the town planners, it turned out to be a rather unpleasantconcrete jungle. Back in the 70’s, it was considered essential for estates likethese to have their own local pub; and this is where Truman’s stepped in. Abrand-new pub called the Ben Truman was constructed, right in the centre of theestate; the idea being it would act like a hub and draw the community together,In reality, it wasn’t exactly a place for the faint-hearted. The Ben Truman hassubsequently been demolished and the estate largely re-built and re-modelled.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiIWPY-wWzvYi03GTnMOGnmQfgyPUh8VrYh6J0niwESvWk2zjyfGVHpi_-5USDoVIw9FF4CK0ceFDkwEKWtFYfbLFTTOZ3oxHmSL6Sy-n50qIea8tiQ8yD-2fU-53lPwb9h0GsKOHNTAa7fnbD3AMRqTwywJaU6JWVLUFw7hoIlF7 pbtcl5YoX0g6Ph8/w400-h260/320px-Truman_Colour_Ad.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiIWPY-wWzvYi03GTnMOGnmQfgyPUh8VrYh6J0niwESvWk2zjyfGVHpi_-5USDoVIw9FF4CK0ceFDkwEKWtFYfbLFTTOZ3oxHmSL6Sy-n50qIea8tiQ8yD-2fU-53lPwb9h0GsKOHNTAa7fnbD3AMRqTwywJaU6JWVLUFw7hoIlF7 pbtcl5YoX0g6Ph8/s320/320px-Truman_Colour_Ad.jpg)
Returning to the Truman’s story, the company continued togrow into the 19th Century, as manifested by the expansion of thebrewery and the enlargement of the company’s pub estate, helped by the purchasein 1873, of Philips Brewery in Burton. For a while, Truman’s became the largestbrewery in the world, but as the 20th Century progressed, Truman'shad to come to terms with the deprivations of two world wars, competition from cheapimports and the consolidation, through mergers and takeovers, of some of the biggestnames in British brewing.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYayd4sgJCtiZBIiJp52RnZSKkY-ExqY8XuwLwDHJLVoboAdMn0wEuhZxe4m5-QT7FhQBKPL44LVKUs2P6yK6m3FC6v3FfjXUw5NocL8ZFJO80qz thCd08CrgXMSf_VSrsUvicCWBGYai7Hpah8oAB-5EOwyzIbz6HPkEJRcjB97ZU__K51i3INdE9V8Y/w400-h300/Trumans%20pub.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYayd4sgJCtiZBIiJp52RnZSKkY-ExqY8XuwLwDHJLVoboAdMn0wEuhZxe4m5-QT7FhQBKPL44LVKUs2P6yK6m3FC6v3FfjXUw5NocL8ZFJO80qz thCd08CrgXMSf_VSrsUvicCWBGYai7Hpah8oAB-5EOwyzIbz6HPkEJRcjB97ZU__K51i3INdE9V8Y/s768/Trumans%20pub.jpg)
The 1960's, in particular, proved to be very turbulent yearsfor the British brewing industry, but sensing the mood, Truman’s restructuredthe entire business, closed their Burton brewery, rationalised their pub estateand invested heavily in improving the Brick Lane site. These measures had thedesired effect as profits grew by a third in the last four years of the decade,and Truman's emerged as the last major independent brewery left in the capital. This happy situation failed to continue into the nextdecade, because in 1971 Truman's became the centre of a bidding war betweenhotels group Grand Metropolitan and Watney Mann. Grand Metropolitan eventuallywon and then immediately turned its attention to Watney Mann. After taking overWatney Mann, Grand Metropolitan merged the company with Truman's, and from thenon, the company’s fortunes declined rapidly.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ekGPXARIdk_IfdWF47df_pCoW-NSZwRF79C_o9Pj9Cjg3iKlzWv3r3BE20UI8fvENuGKMXKbeVqH YKaPqpccCpNQs2mfQMcnXuHL13p0uf-KwSYOw-LJnBvFzoXPGZJaaM_Tg56omYzVtC7vJS73HSp9piGC2sJ3q2QO eINwvLcd1K4GYHOBQnlpmwM/w266-h320/199px-Truman_Labels.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ekGPXARIdk_IfdWF47df_pCoW-NSZwRF79C_o9Pj9Cjg3iKlzWv3r3BE20UI8fvENuGKMXKbeVqH YKaPqpccCpNQs2mfQMcnXuHL13p0uf-KwSYOw-LJnBvFzoXPGZJaaM_Tg56omYzVtC7vJS73HSp9piGC2sJ3q2QO eINwvLcd1K4GYHOBQnlpmwM/s239/199px-Truman_Labels.jpg)
Grand Metropolitan made many changes to the company,including amending the name to Truman, creating a new brand, switching theirdraught beer from cask to keg, and reformulating the beer recipes. Thesedecisions proved detrimental to the company, and when the pendulum swung backthe other way, in favour of cask (Real Ale), with breweries falling overthemselves to either promote existing cask brands or bring back long dead ones,Truman’s found themselves left behind.Realising their mistakes, cask was gradually re-introduced, initiallywith Truman Tap Bitter, dispensed by the controversial “County Air Pump”; a devicewhich came very close to splitting CAMRA. A few years later, Truman’s re-enteredthe cask ale market properly, with a range of well-regarded cask beers, whichincluded a biter, best bitter, a strong ale and even a mild. To complete thepicture, the Truman’s Eagle also made a comeback. Unfortunately, it was toolittle and too late, and despite the quality of the new cask beers, the damagehas already been done. Sadly, the closure of the brewery was announced in 1989.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0otMIzRH4HVXI0VK56TfQqsjVkTeFNj5-8EMdmAG4H9MFjd_bzYvcI3Yfx_F0DJEKexvoHsPpahOn9uBSHa nb3fvMF3SGjwEVsEftx4etVxTWpJceZt-NfSn0rN6xZ0hyr0Fw9bJlhTyOUHSRYazUyXoL7nOsdn1Ux0rhy phenhyphenSqM19bl7a_io2AeuAKqa2M/w400-h265/Truman%20bottles.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0otMIzRH4HVXI0VK56TfQqsjVkTeFNj5-8EMdmAG4H9MFjd_bzYvcI3Yfx_F0DJEKexvoHsPpahOn9uBSHa nb3fvMF3SGjwEVsEftx4etVxTWpJceZt-NfSn0rN6xZ0hyr0Fw9bJlhTyOUHSRYazUyXoL7nOsdn1Ux0rhy phenhyphenSqM19bl7a_io2AeuAKqa2M/s425/Truman%20bottles.jpg)
In 2010, two beer enthusiasts James Morgan, andMichael-George Hemus, purchased the Truman’s name from Scottish & Newcastle –the owners of the brand at the time. They then began the lengthy and difficult undertakingof re-establishing this highly respected London brewery. Unfortunately, despitesome early successes the process ran into difficulties, caused partly by the COVIDpandemic and subsequent lock-down. As far as I can make out, the undertaking is stillunfolding, but whatever the case, it remains outside the scope of this article,particularly as we are looking at the original Truman Brewery, rather than itsmodern-day successors. For the curious, this excellent article by Des de Moor, (https://desdemoor.co.uk/trumans-beer/)contains all the gory details.
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