Three very different breweries today including one of those I miss the most. And a bit of a weirdo new one. Most of the breweries founded in the 1970s were very much inspired by CAMRA. But not all of them. Was that a brave move of foolhardy?
King & Barnes
Horsham,
West Sussex.
Founded: 1850
Closed: 2000
Tied houses: 59
There some really good breweries in the South of England back in the 1970s. With distinctive, full-flavoured beers. King & Barnes was one of the very best. Their small tied estate was mostly in Horsham and the villages around it. In the 1990’s they introduced an excellent selection of bottle-conditioned beers. I was heartbroken when Hall & Woodhouse bought and closed them. One of my all-time favourite breweries.
| beer | style | format | OG | description |
| Pale Ale | Pale Ale | draught | 1034.9 | well hopped and fully flavoured |
| XX | Mild | draught | 1031.8 | medium sweet Dark Mild |
| XXXX | Old Ale | draught | 1047.5 | winter only |
| Pale Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | with some of the Bitter's flavour | |
| Festive | Pale Ale | bottled | strong Pale Ale | |
| Golding Ale | Barley Wine | bottled | with the smack of hops | |
| Brown Ale | Brown Ale | bottled | medium sweet | |
| Sussex Wealdman | Brown Ale | bottled | strong Brown Ale | |
| J.K. Sweet Stout | Stout | bottled |
Lees
Middleton Junction,
Greater Manchester.
Founded: 1828
Closed: still open
Tied houses: 150
Manchester was lucky in having several independent breweries. Which in addition to offering choice, had the bonus of keeping beer prices low. Lees produced solid cask beers, in the Northwestern style. They were one of the few brewers still making both Mild and Best Mild. As well as a strong, dark cask Ale, Moonraker. I had their beers plenty of times at festivals, but I can’t remember having them in Manchester, as they didn’t seem to have any pubs in the city centre. At least, not any that I could find.
| beer | style | format | OG | description |
| Bitter | Pale Ale | draught | 1038 | well hopped |
| Mild | Mild | draught | 1031 | Light Mild |
| Best Mild | Mild | draught | 1035 | medium sweet Dark Mild |
| Moonraker | Barley Wine | draught | 1074 | dark and sweet |
| Bitter | Pale Ale | keg | A strong keg Bitter with some character | |
| Best Mild | Mild | keg | Dark Mild | |
| Gold Medal | Lager | keg | 1033.7 | |
| Light Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | ||
| Export Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | A strong Pale Ale brewed at export gravity and only available in Wales | |
| Strong Ale | Barley Wine | bottled | High gravity | |
| Brown Ale | Brown Ale | bottled | medium sweet | |
| Archer Stout | Stout | bottled | Sweet Stout | |
| Tulip Lager | Lager | bottled | bottled version of the keg Lager | |
| Edelbrau | Lager | bottled | high-gravity Lager |
Litchborough
Litchborough,
Northamptonshire.
Founded: 1974
Closed: 1984
Tied houses: none
One of the earliest new breweries. But rather out of step, in that they concentrated on keg beer rather than cask. Given that they only lasted ten years, that may not have been the wisest of strategies. I can’t remember ever trying their beer.
| beer | style | format | OG | description |
| Northamptonshire Bitter | Pale Ale | draught | 1037.5 | hoppy |
Posts
5 comments:
When I came to Manchester in the 1980s I heard great things about Boddington's (actually well past their glory days by that point) but could never find a pub serving their beer. Once, on an unfamiliar bus route, I spotted a frankly rather dodgy-looking pub displaying what seemed to be the familiar bee/barrel emblem; as we got closer I was relieved to see that it was actually JW Lees' (less familiar) gate/barrel emblem.
Which was the only time I ever saw a Lees' pub.
(Well, I say 'ever' - they're all over the place now. But up to the late 90s they were like hen's teeth in central/south Manchester.)
John Willie Lees had one famous pub in central Manchester, the Rembrandt. It was on the canal bank, a little bit of Amsterdam in Manchester. I went in there once, enjoyed a pint of Lees Bitter and went on my way, not realising at the time that it was a well known gay pub.
Weren't Lees beers slightly cheaper than other beers in Manchester? I think there was a tied house near the University campus on the way towards Rusholme where you could get a very cheap pint.
I think the villain of the piece in the closure of King and Barnes was Shepherd Neame, who were after the pubs. They got hold of the sleeping partners (you'll remember this technique from Vaux, and Morrells) and told them their shares were worth lots if K&B were taken over. Hall and Woodhouse beat them in the resulting auction. Bill King who ran it was forced out but brewed himself in a small way for some years.
King & Barnes was glorious beer. I remember a session with a student friend about 1974 at the Plough at Ifield where we ended up push-starting the vicar's car for him. Somewhere I have an ancient unopened bottle of Goldings. One day perhaps.
Lees of course are still going, though I haven't tasted the beer lately.
Simply because the name caught me eye.....I grew up in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Two of the adjoining towns were Warrington and Warminster. You can guess where we got the names.
Post a Comment