Beer Guide to the 1970s (part twenty-one)

I hope you're not getting too bored with this 1970s brewery stuff yet. Three Midlands breweries today. None of them too far from where I grew up. Yet I only drank beer from one of them at the time. For a variety of reasons.

Marstons I drank quite a bit after the Old Kings Arms opened in Newark. I particularly remember Owd Roger and the effect it had on unwary drinkers. We had to pretty much carry Mogg out after he drank four pints of it.


Mansfield
Mansfield,
Nottinghamshire.

Founded:    1855
Closed:            2001
Tied houses:    180

Mansfield was a bit of an oddity in being a regional brewery which produced no cask beer, instead concentrating on bright beer. Despite growing up in Nottinghamshire, I can’t remember ever seeing one of their tied houses. Their pubs were mostly in the Northwest of the county. I never drank their beer until the 1980s, when they reintroduced cask. Bought by Wolverhampton & Dudley in 1999 and closed a couple of years later.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught		well hopped
Mild	Mild	draught		Dark Mild
Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Strong Ale	Strong Ale	bottled		pale in colour
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled

Marston
Burton,
Staffordshire.

Founded:    1834
Closed:            still open
Tied houses:    800

One of the largest independent brewers, Marston’s tied estate was spread over large parts of the country, stretching as far as the Lake District in the North, Hampshire in the South and Wales in the West. They didn’t tend to dominate in any region so didn’t tend to piss off drinkers. Pedigree was a great example of a Burton Pale Ale, with a distinct Burton “snatch”. While Owd Roger was one of the strongest beers sold on draught. Currently owned by Carlsberg.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Draught BB (Burton Bitter)	Pale Ale	draught	1037	quite well hopped
Pedigree	Pale Ale	draught	1043	perhaps a little sweeter
Mild	Mild	draught	1032	dark and medium sweet
Merrie Monk	Mild	draught	1043	Pedigree with caramel
Owd Roger	Old Ale	draught	1080	Originally only sold on draught at the Royal Standard of England, which had brewed it when it was a homebrew pub.
Burton Keg	Pale Ale	keg
Keg Mild	Mild	keg	1032	the Mild kegged
Light Ale	Pale Ale	bottled
Pedigree Best Burton Ale	Pale Ale	bottled		stronger
Low Cal.	Pale Ale	bottled		low-calorie, high gravity
Owd Roger	Old Ale	bottled
Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		medium sweet
Mello Stout	Stout	bottled		Sweet Stout

Melbourns
Stamford,
Lincolnshire.

Founded:    1816
Closed:            1974
Tied houses:    32

A small brewery whose beers I just missed out on trying. They gave up brewing when their equipment became too knackered to continue. They carried for a while as a pub company, selling beer from Sam Smiths. They eventually sold up to Cameron in 1984. The brewery is now a museum.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught		well flavoured, well hopped from the wood
Mild	Mild	draught		Dark Mild, medium sweet, full bodied
Melbourn Keg	Pale Ale	keg		the Bitter matured, chilled and filtered
Melbourn Keg Brown	Mild	keg		medium sweet Mild specially brewed to be chilled and filtered
IPA	IPA	bottled
Doublet	Pale Ale	bottled		"export quality" i.e. strong
Dinner Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		similar to the draught Mild
Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled		a stronger Brown Ale
Double Stout	Stout	bottled		Sweet Stout