Thursday, 21 November 2024

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part twenty-three)

Another intriguing trio of 1970s breweries today. All quite different, both in terms of scale and location.

By far the largest was Federation. Which, in terms of outlets served, was up there with the biggest regional brewers. And, given that clubs were generally larger than pubs, might have had the most output of any of them. They were the last of the club breweries to close.

Oldham, probably on account of its limited geographical distribution, tended to get forgotten about. I can't remember it having a reputation one way or the other, good or bad. Unusually for brewers in the Manchester area, it didn't produce that much cask, Which might also explain the lack of attention from CAMRA.

While to try Okell's beers, you needed to visit the Isle of Man. Which enttailed a fair amount of effort.


Northern Clubs Federation
Newcastle,
Tyne & Wear.

Founded:    1919
Closed:            2010
Tied houses:    900 clubs (not owned)

One of the club breweries founded in the aftermath of WW I. They were notable for being the only brewer to publish the gravity of their beers. Mostly supplying clubs, the beer was usually in tank form. I never got to try it myself. They sold most beer in the Norttheast, but also supplied clubs in Lancashire, Yorkshire and, weirdly, Coventry and Cornwall. A new brewery was built South of the Tyne in Dunston in 1980. Scottish & Newcastle bought them in 2004. They were shut by Heineken in 2010.

beer style format OG description
Federation Pale Ale Pale Ale tank 1032 well-flavoured
Federation Special Ale Pale Ale tank 1041 well-flavoured
Federation Pale Ale Pale Ale keg   well-flavoured
Federation Special Ale Pale Ale keg   well-flavoured
Special Ale Pale Ale bottled 1041  
Export Pale Ale bottled 1046  
Light Brown Ale Brown Ale bottled 1032  
Strong Brown Ale Brown Ale bottled 1047  
Sweet Stout Stout bottled 1044  



Okell
Douglas,
Isle of Man.

Founded:    1850
Closed:            still open
Tied houses:    80

The larger of the two Isle of Man breweries, Okell had tied houses spread across the whole island. I can’t remember their beers ever making it to the mainland. And never tried then myself, not having visited the Isle of Man. It merged with Castletown, the other local brewer, in 1986, forming Isle of Man Breweries.

beer style format OG description
Bitter Pale Ale draught 1035.9 good hopping rate
Mild Mild draught 1035.2 Dark Mild
Falcon Keg Bitter Pale Ale keg    
Falcon Pale Ale Pale Ale bottled    
Falcon Nut Brown Ale Brown Ale bottled   medium sweet
Falcon No. 1 Strong Ale Barley Wine bottled    



Oldham
Oldham,
Greater Manchester.

Founded:    1868
Closed:            1988
Tied houses:    100

Oldham was one of the smaller regional brewers in the Manchester area. Most of their pubs were either in Oldham itself or a few miles from it. With a couple in neighbouring towns. Quite a lot of the beer was sold in tank form and only about 25% selling cask. I can’t remember seeing the beer at beer festivals. I only ever drank it on a daytrip to Oldham with my mate Simon. I thought they were perfectly OK beers. Purchased by Boddingon in 1982 and closed a few years later.

beer style format OG description
Bitter Pale Ale draught 1037.2 well hopped
Mild Mild draught 1031.7 medium sweet Dark Mild
Bitter Pale Ale keg 1037.2  
Mild Mild keg 1031.7  
Rheingold Lager keg 1035  
Pale Ale Pale Ale bottled    
Brown Ale Brown Ale bottled    
Old Tom Old Ale bottled   strong and dark
Oldham Stout Stout bottled   medium sweet

 

12 comments:

Matt said...

I'm pretty sure I saw an Okells beer in one of the Liverpool city centre pubs we used to go to after union meetings there about twenty years ago.

Bribie G said...

Clubs fed spesh was a good tank beer, and was lighter in colour than the equivalent S&N Exhibition. Great session beer. The ordinary was always referred to as "Scotch" whilst being a pale colour.

Anonymous said...

Scottish & Newcastle were known as the Jocks and the Geordies in some CAMRA circles, after the comic strip in the Dandy.

Chris Pickles said...

Early 1970's, in my student days (Durham) the mountaineering club used to put on a coach every fortnight to the Lake District. On the return journey, we would stop at the Barnard Castle W.M.C. for about an hour, when we would knock back as much Fed Ordinary as we could, at 11p a pint it was the cheapest beer going, and better than most. Most beers were in the 14 to 16p range.

Anonymous said...

Plus one for Okells beers in Liverpool - The Swan on Wood Street and also at a few beer festivals I'm almost certain.

bigLurch Habercom said...

"They were shut by Heineken in 2010" - I can imagine that board meeting - "What do you mean it needs looking after once it gets to the club before we can sell it. Cant we just hook it up to the pump and flog it"

Anonymous said...

Have clubs undergone te same struggles as pubs in tecent years?

Ed said...

Yes, there are Okells pubs in Liverpool, or at least ones owned by the same parent company Heron and Brearley. And the Oldham brewery kit went to Timothy Taylor's, who also use the Oldham yeast.

Bribie G said...

Miraculously I just dredged something up from my memory banks from sixty years ago! At a mate's 18th birthday party, his brother worked at Fed and had a cask delivered. Stainless steel, brother had already tapped it for us and we just served it on gravity.
Towards the end some hop fragments were coming through, at the time my Dad was a home brewer and I was able to confirm that this was normal, not rat shit or something. Clearly cask hopped. I'd guess they did some casks for smaller orders etc, so some brewing skills had remained despite most of the beer being tanked.

Anonymous said...

A lot of parish clubs run by the church have closed yes - the snooker room, big room with bingo and acts, and resident organ players didn't really keep up with the times.

Anonymous said...

Wikipedia tells me Okells have five pubs on the mainland - 'Beers are available on the Isle of Man and in the UK. Okells have five UK pubs:
Thomas Rigby's, Liverpool
The Fly In The Loaf, Liverpool
The Lady of Mann, Liverpool,
Bear and Billet, Chester
The Academy, Aberystwyth, Wales'

Anonymous said...

And Wikipedia says Okells brew 'Aile - a smoked Porter, voted Europe's best Smoked Beer in the 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 World Beer Awards', five different regular cask ales, four seasonals, and nine occasionals, including Aile. Who'd have thought?