Friday 13 September 2024

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part four)

I hope you're enjoying this series of posts. Because there are an awful lot of them to come.

One thing that's struck me as I've been going through the breweries is how many regional breweries closed in the 1980s. And how many of the really small breweries are still open. I suppose brewers owning fewer than 20 pubs weren't the most attractive takeover targets. Not being public companies probably helped some.

We're still on the letter "B".

Belhaven
Dunbar,
Lothian.
Founded:    1719
Closed:            still open
Tied houses:    25

One of a handful of surviving independent Scottish breweries in the 1979s, Belhaven is the only one to still survive. They brewed the classic three Scottish Pale Ale type of 60/-, 70/- and 80/-. And pretty good examples of the styles they were, too. Theirs was one of the few 60/- still available in cask form.

beer style format OG description
60/- Light Pale Ale draught 1031 dark and fruity
70/- Heavy Pale Ale draught 1036 well balanced
80/- Export Pale Ale draught 1042 distinctive
Strong Alle Strong Alle draught 1070 Scotch Alle
Pale Ale Pale Ale bottled    
Export Pale Ale Pale Ale bottled    
Strong Ale Strong Ale bottled 1070  
No. 1 Stout Stout bottled   medium sweet
Dunbar Sweet Stout Stout bottled    
Trinidad Stout Stout bottled   dryish; exported to Anguilla, Jamaica, St. Kitts, Tahiti and Trinidad



Brakspear

Henley-on-Thames,
Oxfordshire.
Founded:    1779
Closed:            2002
Tied houses:    130

A much-loved brewery, which was located in a quaint riverside town. Their tied estate was mostly in the town of Henley itself and the surrounding villages. Their beers had a well-deserved reputation for quality. They were amongst my favourite southern beers.

beer style format OG description
Pale Ale Pale Ale draught 1035 well hopped
Special Bitter Ale Pale Ale draught 1043 slightly sweet
XXX Mild Mild draught 1031 thin and hoppy Dark Mild
XXXX Old Ale draught 1043  
Beehive Keg Pale Ale keg   filtered but unpasteurised
Light Ale Pale Ale bottled    
Pale Ale Pale Ale bottled    
Henley Strong Ale Strong Ale bottled    
Brown Ale Brown Ale bottled    
Henley Lager Lager bottled    



Matthew Brown
Blackburn,
Lancashire.
Founded:    1830
Closed:            1991
Tied houses:    600

A major regional brewery in the Northwest, Matthew Brown’s tied estate was spread across all of Lancashire and most of Cumbria. Outside of this area, their beers only really turned up at beer festivals. They were genuinely regional, despite their size. I found their beer pretty decent and really well conditioned in the cask. It was bought by Scottish & Newcastle in 1987 and closed a few years later.

beer style format OG description
Bitter Pale Ale draught 1036 well balanced and malty
Mild Mild draught 1031 dark and nutty
Keg Bitter Pale Ale keg 1039  
Lion Lager Lager keg 1037.2  
Light Ale Pale Ale bottled    
Crystal Pale Ale bottled   A stronger Light Ale
Export IPA IPA bottled   A strong Light Ale
Kings Ale Barley Wine bottled    
Brown Ale Brown Ale bottled   The Dark Mild bottled
Lion Stout Stout bottled   medium sweet
Lion Lager Lager bottled    


 

6 comments:

Matt said...

I used to regularly enjoy Brakspear's bottle conditioned beers, Triple and Oxford Gold, which were widely available in supermarkets round here fifteen to twenty years ago. I think they were bottled by Fuller's after the Henley brewery shut and brewing moved elsewhere. Then Marston's took over and decided to turn them into unremarkable and much inferior filtered bottles, and I lost interest in them after that.

Anonymous said...

Ah well, I've got the back 9 of the alphabet to look forward to in my retirement I guess.

Anonymous said...

Sad to hear of the demise of Brakspears.

Grayson said...

I'm visiting Dunbar and the brewery here in a few weeks, I'm incredibly excited. I only rarely get the "Scottish Ale" in bottles and cans near me in the US. Really happy to try it from the source.

Rob Sterowski said...

Don't expect too much from Dunbar. I have never been anywhere else where it was more difficult to find the local beer. However there is one decent pub, the Volunteers, and the brewery tour is the main attraction.

Chris Pickles said...

Matthew Brown's Lion Ales supplied the pub adjacent the camp site in Horton in Ribblesdale which fuelled (or provided sustenance after) many an attempt on the Three Peaks walk over Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.