Nostalgia Corner or what happened to British Brewing since 1972?

[oldboots]

Wittenden's recent mention of Frank Ballie's Beer Drinkers Companion and the 88 breweries sent me scurrying for my copy to check out who the 88 breweries were and thinking about what happened to them was interesting, the 88 didn't include the “Big Six” who were very much still with us in 1972.
Some of Frank's comments in his introduction are quite interesting too in the light of later developments, he complains about a lack of information about beer in pubs, “...it would be helpful to know the gravity of the beer...” reminding me that we never spoke about ABV in those days just Original Gravity or OG, apart the fact that ABV is now an almost obligatory statement. He also has a word about tasters, “the occasional landlord has been known to offer a sip of his draught and keg beers to a stranger before he makes the vital decision – a splendid act of public relations which should not be necessary” (on the basis that a proper description would be sufficient). He ends the introduction “this book has been compiled, and it is dedicated to the many beer drinkers who would like to find, know about and drink some of the wonderful beers still left to us before it is too late.”

For the curious here's Frank's list of 88 breweries plus the Big Six, and what happened to them (I think), the 35 still going are in bold, feel free to add to it or correct any mistakes;

Adnams
Ann St (Channel Islands) - closed
J Arkell (Swindon)
LC Arkell Donnington Brewery (now owned by one of the Swindon family)
G Bateman
Daniel Batham
Beard – sold to King & Barnes (also gone)
Boddingtons – fell to Whitbread
Border – bought and closed by Marstons
Brains
Brakspear – brand sold to Marstons, brewery sold for development
Matthew Brown - sold to Scottish & Newcastle
Buckleys – bought by Crown (ex South Wales Clubs) now merged with Brains
Burt (IOW) – closed but a similar named micro brewery company now exists
Burtonwood – no cask ale
Camerons
Carlisle State Management Scheme sold to Jennings, Theakstons (brewery only), Greenall, and Courage
Castletown (IOM) - closed
Cook (Halstead Essex) - closed
Darley – closed by Vaux
Davenports – closed by Greenall Whitley
Devenish - closed
Dudgeon – renamed Belhaven, bought by Greene King
Eldridge Pope – Closed, partly merged with Burtonwood, became pubco
Elgood
Everards
Felinfoel
Fullers
Gales – bought by Fullers
Gibbs Mew - closed
Grey (Chelmsford) – sold
Greenall Whitley – became a pubco then sold its pubs to S&N now it's basically De Vere Hotels
Greene King
Guernsey Brewery - closed
Hall & Woodhouse
Hardy & Hanson – closed by Greene King
Hartleys – bought by Robinsons & closed, the brewery is used as a depot.
Harvey
Higson – closed by Whitbread, Cains brew in the old brewery.
Holdens
J Holt
Home – bought by S&N
Hook Norton
T Hoskins - closed
Hull - closed
Hydes
Jennings – bought by Marstons
JPS (Brierley Hill) – closed was this known as Simpkiss?
King & Barnes – bought and closed by Hall & Woodhouse
J W Lees
Maclay - closed
McMullen
Mansfield – bought by Marstons via W&D
Marstons
Melbourn (Stamford) – closed 1974 reopened 1994, now owned by Sam Smith
Mitchells of Lancaster – Bought by Thwaites
Morland – bought and closed by Greene King
Morrells – closed
Northern Clubs Federation – sold to S&N
Okell (IOM)
Oldham – sold to Boddingtons and closed
Paines - closed
Palmer
Randalls (Jersey) – closed? Now St Saviour?
Randalls (Guernsey)
Ridley – closed by Greene King
Robinsons
Ruddles – sold to Watneys then Grolsch then who knows, ending up with Greene King
St Austell
Selby (Middlesbrough) – closed
Shepherd Neame
Shipstones – closed by Greenall Whitley
Samuel Smith
South Wales Clubs – became Crown, then Crown-Buckley, now merged with Brains
Timothy Taylor
Theakston – sold to Matthew Brown, then taken over by S&N, then bought back by the Theakston family.
Thwaites
Tollemache & Cobbold – a tale of woe then bought by Ridleys then closed by Greene King
Truman – merged with Watney Mann (Grand Metropolitan Ltd) and closed
Vaux – closed, brewery demolished, pubs dispersed
Wadworth
Ward (Sheffield) Closed by Vaux
Wells – merged with Youngs
Wolverhampton & Dudley – absorbed by Marstons
Workington – bought by Matthew Brown who were bought by S&N
Yates and Jackson – closed
Yorkshire Clubs – closed
Youngs – merged with Wells
There are also a couple of subsiduary breweries: Greene King in Biggleswade and Thomas Ushers in Edinburgh (part of Vaux).

He also mentions five working home brew houses, all are still with us;

All Nations
Blue Anchor
Mrs Pardoes Old Swan
Three Tuns
Traquair House – bottles only
The Britannia Inn in Loughborough had just closed.

Finally the Big Six plus Guinness

Allied (Ind Coope, Ansells, Tetley) - part of InBev-AB
Bass Charrington - part of Coors
Courage - breweries went to S&N as ScotCo, pubs eventually to Enterprise, Punch etc via Inntrepreneur
(Guinness)
Scottish & Newcastle – part of Heinekin
Watney Mann - dismembered
Whitbread – now a leisure company (Premier Inns, Costa Coffee, Beefeater, Brewers Fayre etc)

[aleandhearty]

A real trip down memory lane. Of those that have disappeared, I certainly remember enjoying beers from Burtonwood (when it was cask) Hartleys, Mitchells and Vaux over the years. Yorkshire Clubs was a new one on me - could you tell me a little more about them?

[Brewguru]

I think St Austall Should be in bold, unless the current brewery is a "phoenixed" version of the previous incarnation.

Amazing to see how much consolidation has occurred, yet beers still survive even though they are brewed no where near where they once were, too many!

[Wittenden]

A real trip down memory lane. Of those that have disappeared, I certainly remember enjoying beers from Burtonwood (when it was cask) Hartleys, Mitchells and Vaux over the years. Yorkshire Clubs was a new one on me - could you tell me a little more about them?

Yorkshire Clubs Brewery was based at Huntington on the outskirts of York, and run on similar lines to tne Nortern Clubs brewery, which I think took it over and closed it down. My heavily annotated copy of Baillie indicates that I had tried at least some of their beers, probably at one of the early Great British Beer Fests, though I cant really claim to remember them, unfortunately. Frank said the bitters were "all well-flavoured with a high hopping rate".

[Bucking Fastard]

Good work ob,brought back happy memories.To answer one of your queries the JPS in Brierley Hill does indeed refer to the J P Simpkiss brewery,I used to drink in the brewery tap and enjoy their fine ales,usually on a crawl that included Batham's Bull and Bladder and Doris Pardoe's.Closed in 85 i think.

[aleandhearty]

Yorkshire Clubs Brewery was based at Huntington on the outskirts of York.....Frank said the bitters were "all well-flavoured with a high hopping rate".

Thanks for that. They sounded like my sort of beers!

[oldboots]

I think St Austall Should be in bold, unless the current brewery is a "phoenixed" version of the previous incarnation.

Amazing to see how much consolidation has occurred, yet beers still survive even though they are brewed no where near where they once were, too many!

Indeed St Austell should be in bold and now is, yet another senior moment I fear. Don't get me started on beers brewed away from their original brewery.

Good work ob,brought back happy memories.To answer one of your queries the JPS in Brierley Hill does indeed refer to the J P Simpkiss brewery,I used to drink in the brewery tap and enjoy their fine ales,usually on a crawl that included Batham's Bull and Bladder and Doris Pardoe's.Closed in 85 i think.

I thought so, thanks BF, I didn't think it was anything to do with fags:. What a superb pub crawl - I've done two out of the three on a one night pub crawl.

A real trip down memory lane. Of those that have disappeared, I certainly remember enjoying beers from Burtonwood (when it was cask) Hartleys, Mitchells and Vaux over the years. Yorkshire Clubs was a new one on me - could you tell me a little more about them?

A new one on me too until I looked in the book. In common with the other clubs breweries the York Clubs Brewery was started after WW1 by a club who thought the brewers were ripping them off (1924), as the name suggests this one was formed by the York branch of the CIU. They originally rented a defunct brewery (R Cattle of Pocklington) , eventually building their new brewery at Huntington in 1933, I must go and see if there's anything left one day soon. They amalgamated with the Leeds & District Clubs Brewery and changed the name to Yorkshire Clubs Brewery in 1939. The trading area was all over Yorkshire except the Cleveland area, plus bits of Lancs, Derbys, Notts and Lincs, Frank says supplies have now (1972) commenced to the Midlands. In addition to the 6X, 4X and light bitter, Wittenden described they did a dark MILD, best MILD and four bottled beers. They were taken over by the Northern Clubs Federation Brewery Ltd in 1973.

[NickDavies]

CAMRA's 1975 'Beer in London' - probably the first London real ale guide ever done, lists the following:

Bass Charrington
Brakspear (in three pubs)
Courage
Fuller
Greene King (in just two pubs)
Ind Coope (but real ale in "only a few houses")
Marston (one pub)
McMullen
Ruddle
Sam Smith ("about half a dozen pubs")
Shepherd Neame
Theakston (two pubs)
Whitbread
Young

That was it, that was the choice in London in those days. Even then Martons and GK had ambitions. There's probably more choice in a small market town now than there was in a conurbation of seven million 35 years ago. The difference is that now you get much the same choice in the next market town you arrive in, and the one after that. Then, you got whatever the local hooch was, and if you didn't like it you could have Guinness. There's much to be said either way. It would be strange but somehow wonderful now to arrive in a strange town and find a whole range of new beers to try; and CAMRA's LocAle inititiave is doing something to keep up that tradition. But the fact that you can get something you like just about anywhere is a vast improvment on days gone by. I say just about anywhere: to find that the only pub in the remote village you're staying in has been gastrified and that the one handpump in use has a London bleedin Pride clip on it does sap the will to live; back to the Guinness.

[Oggwyn Trench]

Strange no mention of the Wem Ales Brewery (also known as Shrewsbury and Wem), founded 1870 closed by Greenalls 1988 , it was the major Shropshire brewer for years after the Wrekin Brewery closed , it was bloody awfull though

[oldboots]

Strange no mention of the Wem Ales Brewery (also known as Shrewsbury and Wem), founded 1870 closed by Greenalls 1988 , it was the major Shropshire brewer for years after the Wrekin Brewery closed , it was bloody awfull though

Frank Ballie doesn't list it, maybe he just lumped it with Greenalls although he splits Greene King in Biggleswade out from the Bury brewery entry. I know it was still brewing in 1980 although GW bought it in 1951