Because this set contains rather more survivors than the others. Why? Because they were already big international brands. You’ll be wondering which they are. I count seven: Amstel, Carling Black Label, Heineken, Graham’s Golden Lager (now called Skol), Pilsner Urquell, Carlsberg and Tuborg. Though, as you may have noticed many of these are just the name of the brewery rather than a real brand name.
Most of the British-brewed examples come from Lager pioneers, brewers that had a dedicated Lager brew house or only brewed Lager: Ind Coope, Red Tower and Wrexham Lager Brewery. This is an interesting point in the history of British Lager. When it was about to move from being a niche product to a mainstream one. A few years later at the end of the 1950’s many regional brewers started to market their own Lagers, though how many of them were actually bottom-fermented and lagered is anyone’s guess.
Oddly enough, Lager has come full circle. The Lagers from regional brewers have mostly disappeared, replaced either by national brands such as Carling or international brands like Carlsberg and Heineken. So very much like the early 1950’s. Isn’t that a strange turn of events?
| Branded Lager in 1953 | ||
| Brewery | Brand | Type |
| Amstel | Amstel | Lager |
| Anglo-Dutch Brewers (Distributors) | Golden Tree | Lager |
| Brading Breweries Ltd., Canada | Cincinnati Cream | Lager |
| Canadian Breweries (International) | Carling's Black Label | Lager |
| Castletown Brewery Ltd. | Anchor | Lager |
| Dyer Meakin Breweries | Golden Eagle | Lager |
| Heineken | Heineken's | Lager |
| Ind Coope & Allsopp | Graham's Golden Lager | Lager |
| Ind Coope & Allsopp | Jacob's Lager | Lager |
| Pilsner Breweries | Pilsner Urquell | Lager |
| Red Tower Lager Brewery | Red Tower | Lager |
| South Australian Brewery | Regal | Lager |
| Wurzburger Hofbrau, Bavaria | Wurzburger Hofbrau | Lager |
| Charles C. R. Walker (Export) | Wyvern Brand | Lager Beer |
| Carlsberg Byggerierne | Carlsberg | Lager Beers |
| Backus & Johnston's Brewery | Maltina | Lager Stout |
| Tuborg Breweries | Tuborg | Pilsener |
| Wrexham Lager Beer | Ace of Clubs | Pilsener |
| Bryggeriet Stjerhen | Danish Star | Danish Pilsner |
| Source: | ||
| Brewery Manual 1953-1954, pages 382 - 394. | ||
Only odds and sods left. Those next, then.
Any sense why US lagers weren't on the list but Canadian ones were? Was it protectionism? Lack of interest by Budweiser et al? Maybe mass market Canadians were a lot better back then? (though today they're pretty comparable.)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteCarling is there because Eddie Taylor was already moving into the UK market, primarily through that beer. Which may already have been brewed in the UK. Not sure when that started. No idea about the other one, unless it was another Taylor brand. He owned several breweries in Cananda. Though there are brands from bits of the British Empire in Africa in the original list.