Only one of these three is still open. Though another still operates as a pub company. All are slightly obscure, not being very well known in the 197s. Mostly for geographical reasons. Their beers didn't stray far from home. And their tied estates were all pretty small: around 20 pubs.
Paine
St. Neots,
Cambridgeshire.
Founded: 1833
Closed: 1987
Tied houses: 24
A small brewery a little north of London, Paine’s tied estate was mostly in St. Neots and the surrounding villages. They were never a great favourite of CAMRA, possibly because only half of their pubs sold cask. I have vague memories of visiting one of their pubs off the A1. But I can’t recall anything about their beer. Though I'm sure that I did try them a least once.
| beer | style | format | OG | description |
| XXX Bitter | Pale Ale | draught | 1037 | light Bitter with a pleasant flavour. |
| EG | Pale Ale | draught | 1048 | malty and slightly sweet |
| Special Mild | Mild | draught | 1032 | sweet |
| Pale Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | ||
| Extra Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | strong and well hopped | |
| Gold Medal Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | the Bitter bottled, but stronger and sweeter | |
| Brown Ale | Brown Ale | bottled | medium sweet |
Randall (Jersey)
St, Hellier,
Jersey.
Founded: 1823
Closed: 1992
Tied houses: 20
The Jersey Randall got little attention from CAMRA as they were keg only. They had a small tied estate but most of their trade was free. At the end of the decade, they reintroduced cask beer in the form of Randall’s Real Ale, at Bitter at 1042. They ceased brewing in the early 1990s. Still operating as a pub company.
| beer | style | format | OG | description |
| Island Draught Beer | Pale Ale | keg | naturally conditioned , unpasteurised and well hopped. Characteristics of traditional draught rather than keg. | |
| Grunhalle Lager | Lager | keg | conceived by Randall | |
| Boxer Pale Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | matured for a month, high hop rate | |
| Nut Brown Ale | Brown Ale | bottled | sweetish | |
| Grunhalle Lager | Lager | bottled |
Randall (Guernsey)
St. Peter Port,
Guernsey.
Founded: 1868
Closed: still open
Tied houses: 17
How confusing was it that there were two breweries called Randall in the Channel Islands? At least they were on different islands. In contrast to the Jersey Randall, Guernsey’s version sold cask beer in most of its pubs. As their beers never made it to the mainland, I never got to taste them.
| beer | style | format | OG | description |
| Bobby Best Bitter | Pale Ale | draught | 1044 | distinctive |
| Bobby Mild | Mild | draught | 1035 | dark and thin |
| Bobby Keg Bitter | Pale Ale | keg | high gravity | |
| Bobbi IPA Red Top | Pale Ale | bottled | similar to Keg Bitter but with more hops | |
| Bobby Ale | Mild | bottled | bottled XX | |
| Stout | Stout | bottled | medium sweet |
"When I visited Guernsey a few years ago I had some very fine bottled beers from Randall’s", I wrote in my blog in 2005. I *vaguely* remember the beer being malty but dry in a sub-Harvey's kind of way, but vaguely is the operative word; it was the late 90s & I wasn't taking notes back then. I do remember that I only saw it in bottles - tall pint bottles, like old-style milk bottles.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, what I actually wrote in my blog was "bottled beers from Randall’s, they of the Nick Hancock advert" - which is wrong, as the ad was for the Jersey Randall's ("brewed since 1823"). Easy mistake!
Phil were they like the current Guinness, McArdles amd Smithwicks pint bottles https://nutsaboutwine.ie/product/guinness-original-extra-stout-568ml/?
DeleteOscar
Interesting to see another 1970’s keg pale ale come close to cask in character.
DeleteInteresting to see instead of a brown ale Randall of Guernsey sold their branded mild as mild in a bottle.
As for not getting to try them, Guernsey is close to the north of France, might be an interesting trip.
Oscar
'Look, let's drop the Bobby name for the stout, ok?'
ReplyDeleteOscar - yes, very similar shape (as far as I remember).
ReplyDeleteThe old shape looked like this http://beerfoodtravel.blogspot.com/2023/09/100-years-of-irish-brewing-in-50_22.html
DeleteKillarney brewing use similar bottles
https://www.craftbeersdelivered.com/Killarney-Brewing-Company
It's not all that unusual for different branches of a family to be in the same business. Just in brewing there’s the Jacobsens of Copenhagen, the Smiths of Tadcaster, the Rittmayers of Hallerndorf, off the top of my head. In the old days, when you did the same job as your father and grandfather, it must have been very common.
ReplyDelete