Looking though the number of breweries that have disappeared, it's depressing to see how many really good ones have been lost. It demonstrates just how random the process of closures have been. Mostlly having nothing to do with the quality of the beer. Or even how well the company was run. Often, the owners just wanted to sell up and get their money. With little regard for how that might affect their employees and customers.
Hall & Woodhouse
Blandford Forum,
Dorset.
Founded: 1777
Closed: still open
Tied houses: 250
A medium-sized brewery in the Southwest of England. In addition to Dorset, there were tied houses in Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. I haven’t drunk their beer since the bastards bought and closed King & Barnes.
| beer | style | format | OG | description |
| Bitter | Pale Ale | draught | 1031 | well hopped and of a pleasant distinctive character. Often called locally the "Boy's Bitter" |
| Best Bitter | Pale Ale | draught | 1041 | similar but of a higher gravity, less bitter and more body |
| Mild | Mild | draught | Dark Mild | |
| Badger Bright | Pale Ale | keg | the Bitter in keg form | |
| Forum Keg | Pale Ale | keg | 1035.1 | Best Bitter in keg form |
| Brock Lager | Lager | keg | 1033 | |
| Badger Light Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | 1030.5 | |
| Forum Pale Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | 1041 | high gravity Pale Ale of 'export' quality |
| Badger XXXX Old English Ale | Old Ale | bottled | a strong, dark Old Ale | |
| Stingo Barley Wine | Barley Wine | bottled | ||
| Badger Stout | Stout | bottled | medium sweet | |
| Badger John Brown | Brown Ale | bottled | 1034 | sweeter and of higher gravity |
| Brock Lager | Lager | bottled | 1033 | bottled keg Lager |
Hardy & Hanson
Kimberley,
Nottinghamshire.
Founded: 1832
Closed: 2011
Tied houses: 230
The smallest of the three independent Nottingham brewers. Their tied houses could be found in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. I didn’t get to drink their beer very often, because they didn’t have many pubs in the centre of Nottingham. The Mild I didn’t care for too much because it was too sweet. Bought by Greene King in 2006 and closed a few years later.
| beer | style | format | OG | description |
| Best Bitter | Pale Ale | draught | 1038.6 | A well hopped beer with a bitter, malty flavour |
| Best Mild | Mild | draught | 1035.4 | Dark Mild |
| PMA | Mild | draught | 1035.6 | Light Mild, rare |
| KK | Pale Ale | keg | A keg beer with some of the Bitter flavour and with a smoother and less well-defined palate | |
| Guinea Gold | Pale Ale | bottled | Light Ale | |
| Starlight IPA | IPA | bottled | a stronger Pale Ale | |
| Old Kim | Old Ale | bottled | ||
| Special Brown Ale | Brown Ale | bottled | medium sweet nut Brown Ale | |
| Blackamoor Stout | Stout | bottled | Sweet Stout |
Hartley
Ulverston,
Cumbria.
Founded: 1755
Closed: 1991
Tied houses: 56
A small brewery in the scenic Lake District. Which is where their tied houses were mostly located. Their bottled beers were supplied by Whitbread. I had the chance to try their beers on a holiday to the Lakes in 1976 and they were excellent. They were bought by Robinsons in 1982 and continued to brew for a few years.
| beer | style | format | OG | description |
| Bitter | Pale Ale | draught | 1032 | well-balanced |
| XB | Pale Ale | draught | 1041 | well hopped strong Bitter |
| Mild | Mild | draught | 1032 | Dark and well hopped. Not too sweet. |
On the now discontinued tours of Robinson's brewery in Stockport, the best bit for me was looking into the open fermenting vessels, one of which always had Hartleys beer in it (there were also usually a couple with a cryptic sign on them as they were being contract brewed for others which it was fun to try to guess the identity of). You regularly see Hartleys on the bar of Robinson's pubs in the Stockport area as well as the ones they acquired from them in the Lake District (their tied estate outside Greater Manchester consists of places where the family traditionally went on holiday, hence the predominance of their pubs on Anglesey too). Don't think I've ever drunk Hartleys, and not sure what older Cumbrian drinkers make of the Stockport-brewed version of it.
ReplyDeleteMild was avaialble in the Coppers Tavern in Burton on Trent, a welcome change as normally anything belew 4.2% was considered a low Alchol beer in Burton. and it was straight out the cask.
ReplyDeleteForgot to say H and h kimberley Mild that was
ReplyDeleteRe Hall & Woodhouse - mediocre brewer. I was also sad when they messed up King & Barnes - Quality Brewer. However, if it had not been them, someone else probably would have. H&W only really brew one beer of much merit, in my mind - and that's Tangle Foot. Which when found in cask, and kept properly, is a decent - if a tad on the sweet side - quaffable beer
ReplyDeleteKimberley Ales were a regular feature of visits to my brother's in Derbyshire. It wasn't a knock your socks off kind of beer but it was always pleasant. They had a pub in Tideswell where I had a very pleasant lunchtime/afternoon on Kimberley mild and bitter - 3 pints of each as I recall. There was a pizza involved as well.
ReplyDeleteHartleys was always a highlight of visits to the southern lakes, complemented by Jennings in the north. The Golden Rule in Ambleside was a popular Hartleys pub with hikers.
Used to drink Tangle Foot in my local in Hertfordshire. It wasn't well kept and had a washing up liquid head, but it was drinkable. Fursty Ferret was quite nice in bottles, never saw it on draught but apparently it's available like that these days.
ReplyDeleteHarleys XB for me was the best beer to be found on draught in the Lakes, particularly in The Golden Rule. It was never the same when brewed by Robinson's.
ReplyDeletehttps://homebrewheritage.blogspot.com/2020/09/httpsdrive.html is a link to Hartley's last ever brew in Ulverston.