Extinct breweries and not really missed.

[Al 10000]

Another not really missed is Brickwoods, who had a stranglehold on Portsmouth and surrounding area, but it got worse because it was bought by Whitbreads who closed it down eventually & sold the land for housing or some office blocks

I have never drank Brickwoods beers,but my Dad who was in the Royal Navy for a good number of years said it was the worst beer he had ever had.

[Crossste]

From my neck of the woods, it has to be Samuel Webster's of Halifax. The thought of Green Label and Pennine Bitter still make me shudder. It will be interesting to hear Crosste's view, particularly as an ex-licensee in the area, but of the big three Yorkshire bitters it was always Tetleys first, John Smiths second and Websters a very poor third. The fact it was rated behind JS tells you something. A quick bit of research on Wikipedia quoted the 1990 GBG's view: 'Weak flavour(ed), reminiscent of a poor quality home brew - worty, bland, cloying, with a dirty finish on the tongue'

When we took our pub in Ossett, W. Yorkshire in about 89-90 it was with a little bit of apprehension going into what i considered a Tetley stronghold with a Thwaites (from of all places Lancashire) tied house, although it had been Thwaites for 4-5 years prior to us taking over. My mind was soon put at rest by many of the locals who had fell out with Tetleys saying it was not a patch on what it used to be like. In fact i had a couple of Tetleys dray lad who used to drink in mine despite a Tetley house being a couple of hundred yard down the road. I was quite surprised what a poor reputation it had got and i had to agree with them when visiting other pubs on darts night and the like.

Agree with the comment on Webby's. We used to get quite a lot of it on this side of the hump, mainly in the clubs. Milnrow Working Mans and Milnrow Cricket Club both used to sell it. One brew iirc called Super Sam seems to stick in my mind as being an insipid offering. Cold, very weak, sugared tea spring to mind.

I suppose living on the Lancs/Yorks border we ended up with the worst of both worlds. Webby's from Yorkshire and Greenhalls from Cheshire.

Thinking back to the 70s-80s around this neck of the woods we also had to contend with JW Lees, which at the time was like drinking something from the Devils urinal, as well as Webby,s & Greenhalls although i am pleased to say JWL has recovered to brew a reasonable drop now.

Its not been all glamour being a drinking man. Makes me wonder why i stuck with it sometimes.

[ROBCamra]

. One brew iirc called Super Sam seems to stick in my mind as being an insipid offering. Cold, very weak, sugared tea spring to mind.

It was crap, then they renamed it Websters Green Label and it didn't get any better.

[Aqualung]

Another not really missed is Brickwoods, who had a stranglehold on Portsmouth and surrounding area, but it got worse because it was bought by Whitbreads who closed it down eventually & sold the land for housing or some office blocks

I remember drinking Brickwood's Best back in the seventies when I believe it was Whitbread and thinking it was OK, a bit similar to Gale's HSB. It would have been in a GBG listed pub which may have made a difference.

[oldboots]

I remember drinking Brickwood's Best back in the seventies when I believe it was Whitbread and thinking it was OK, a bit similar to Gale's HSB. It would have been in a GBG listed pub which may have made a difference.

I'd agree with that, Brickwoods Best was a decent beer, it was around the same strength as Directors and HSB but not as sweet (or good) as the Gales. Whitbread renamed it Pompey Royal in 1977 and it never tasted as good afterwards.

[london calling]

i only drank Brickwoods beer once. that was in Boscome in the glorious summer of 1976.it made a change from the stranglehold that Whitbreads had on the pubs in that area.

[london calling]

Ben Trumans was a brewery i didnt miss when it was gone.i was probably all keg when i drank it in the 70,s in London but can still remember my heart sinking when we went into a pub for the night only to find this was my only choice.Never really liked Youngs beers that much either so dont miss them.

[NickDavies]

Ben Trumans was a brewery i didnt miss when it was gone.i was probably all keg when i drank it in the 70,s in London but can still remember my heart sinking when we went into a pub for the night only to find this was my only choice.Never really liked Youngs beers that much either so dont miss them.

Oh yes, Ben. God it was disgusting stuff. "You can taste the hops in Ben Truman" so the ad went; "you can taste the slops..." went everyone else. When Watney's saw the light a few years on (or at least realised they had to do something to detoxify their image) a couple of real ales emerged: 'green' and 'red' from the colours of the pump clips though I can't for the life of me remember their real names. They didn't seem so bad at the time but then the beer scene in London still left much room for improvement for many years to come.

[Aqualung]

Oh yes, Ben. God it was disgusting stuff. "You can taste the hops in Ben Truman" so the ad went; "you can taste the slops..." went everyone else. When Watney's saw the light a few years on (or at least realised they had to do something to detoxify their image) a couple of real ales emerged: 'green' and 'red' from the colours of the pump clips though I can't for the life of me remember their real names. They didn't seem so bad at the time but then the beer scene in London still left much room for improvement for many years to come.

I seem to recall they also did a mild and an Old/Winter ale. By Grand Met/Grotny's standards these were all decent beers and IMHO stood up well against the independent breweries (micros were still not that common then). I remember going to The Viper near Mill Green in Essex when it was a totally unspoilt Truman's country pub (the only one I can recall) and the cask Truman's beers being in very fine form.

[Wittenden]

Yes, Truman's and Watneys had been ground into the dirt by the time I started drinking them-I missed the Truman's real ales, and Watneys "Fined Bitter" wasn't much to write home about,though a welcome gesture. Of course it came at about the same time as Ind Coope's Burton Ale, which was a good, perhaps great, beer.Funnily enough, my father, who liked his beer and was in London in the late 20s and early 30s, always said that Watneys brewed decent beers.