Beer Guide to the 1970s (part fifteen)

Three very different breweries from the 1970s today.

In the second half of the decade, for the first time in 50 years (since the clubs breweries immediately after WW I), new breweries began to spring up. And, by the end of the decade, the centuries-long decline in brewery numbers was reversed. They were a combination of production breweries and brewpubs. The latter had a habit of using malt extract, something I really couldn’t stand. Reminding me of poor-quality homebrew. 

Those founded by professional brewers tended to produce better beer. Though, generally, the quality was variable. Probably, at least in part, due to cobbled-together brewhouses that were prone to infection.

Many new brewers didn't last long, packing in after just a couple of years. With most of the trade tied up, finding outlets was difficult. Especially as almost all produced only cask beer. Some invested in their own tied houses. Which was a good way of finding outlets. If you had the cash.

Heavitree is an example of a brewer who switched to being a pub company. How long did they last, I wonder?

And Harveys is, well, Harveys. And still going strong.


Harvey
Lewes,
East Sussex.
Founded:    1790
Closed:            still open
Tied houses:    24

A small, much revered brewery located just a little north of Brighton. As time has progressed and other southern brewers have either closed or made their beers more bland, Harvey’s beers have stood out more and more. I’ve always had a lot of time for their beers.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1033	nutty flavoured
Best Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1040	stronger and a little sweeter
Mild	Mild	draught	1030	A pleasant dry Dark Mild
XXXX	Old Ale	draught	1041	strong dark Ale
Elizabethan Ale	Barley Wine	draught	1090	strong and satisfying
Keg Bitter	Pale Ale	keg		Best Bitter in keg form
IPA	IPA	bottled
Blue Label	Pale Ale	bottled		A stronger Pale Ale
Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		medium sweet
Exhibition Brown	Brown Ale	bottled		stronger than Nut Brown
Sweet Stout	Stout	bottled
Elizabethan Ale	Barley Wine	bottled	1090

Hawthorne
Gloucester,
Gloucestershire.
Founded:    1978
Closed:            1982
Tied houses:    1

An early new brewery, which opened in the Norfolk House Hotel. They didn’t stick around for long. I doubt very much that I ever came across their beer. If I’m honest, I mostly avoided new breweries in the 1970s as the beer was often crap.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Extra Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1038
Special Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1042
Hastings Bitter	Old Ale	draught	1066

Heavitree
Exeter,
Devon.
Founded:    1790
Closed:            1970
Tied houses:    135

Despite exiting brewing in 1970, Heavitree continued to run their tied estate, being supplied beer by Whitbread.