Beer Guide to the 1970s (part eleven)

It's been a while since the last instalment. I've still loads more, though. Nice to slip some 1970s nostalgia in with all the boring trip reports.

Today's trio are all, sadly, no longer with us. With a few exceptions, the passing of any brewery is a reason for sadness. They were around for very differing lengths of time. From almost 250 years to just five.


Gale
Horndean,
Hampshire.
Founded:    1847
Closed:            2005
Tied houses:    102

A brewery with a good reputation for its beers, but with little in the way of investment. When they sold up to Fullers in 2005, the brewery was totally knackered and required a complete rebuild. A shame, because they brewed some interesting beers. Partly because of the unlined wooden fermenters. Source of all the weird stuff in Prize Old Ale.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1037
HSB Best Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1051	moderately hopped and sweetish
Light Mild	Mild	draught	1030	lightly hopped
Dark Mild	Mild	draught	1031	thin and rare
XXXXX	Old Ale	draught	1045	winter; dark and sweet
Gale's Keg	Pale Ale	keg		full-flavoured for keg
Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Champion Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Tudor Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Prize Old Ale	Old Ale	bottled	1095	matured for a minimum of 18 months in cask and bottle
Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		medium sweet
Nourishing Stout	Stout	bottled		sweet

Gibbs Mew
Salisbury,
Wiltshire.
Founded:    1750
Closed:            1997
Tied houses:    55

This was a bit of an odd brewery. Despite being quite small, Gibbs Mew enthusiastically embraced keg and, for a while, I believe they brewed no cask beer. Which didn’t exactly endear them to CAMRA. They brought back cask, but it was only available in a few of their pubs. I’m sure that I tried their beer at festivals. Didn’t leave much of an impression, though. Their tied estate was spread around Wiltshire and reached as far as the Isle of Wight.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Premium Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1039	malty
Bishop's Tipple	Barley Wine	draught	1066	full bodied
Special PA	Pale Ale	keg
Blue Keg	Pale Ale	keg	1034.7	stronger
Anchor Keg	Pale Ale	keg	1040.6	strongest
Super Mild	Mild	keg		sweet Dark Mild
Light Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Sarum Special	Pale Ale	bottled		high-gravity Pale Ale
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled
Extra Stout	Stout	bottled		medium sweet

Godson
Old Ford,
London.
Founded:    1977
Closed:            1982
Tied houses:    0

One of the earliest new breweries which, sadly, wasn’t around for very long. Not sure that I ever came across their beer. 

beer	style	format	OG	description
Anchor Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1042	hoppy
Black Horse	Pale Ale	draught	1048	unusual and malty