Beer Guide to the 1970s (part forty-four)

Slight mistake in the last post in this series. I started the Big Six with Bass Charrington. Where, obviously, I should have kicked off with Allied. Apologies for that.

Alleid was probably my favourite of the Big Six. Mostly on account of Tetley, whose Mild I loved. And because they didn't mess their pubs around like most of the other big brewers. Leaving the multiroom layout in most of their pubs.

Allied Breweries
With just seven breweries, the production of Allied Breweries was very concentrated. Meaning that they didn’t have many breweries to close. Unlike some of the other national brewers.


Alloa
Alloa,
Scotland.
Founded:    1810
Closed:    1998
Tied houses:    

The former Arrols Brewery. Came under the control of Allsopp in 1931. Fully taken over by Ind Coope & Allsopp in 1951. Operated as a Lager-only plant in the 1970s.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Skol	Lager	keg	1033.2

Ansell
Birmingham,
West Midlands.
Founded:    1838
Closed:    1981
Tied houses:    1,800

A rather troubled brewery in the 1970s, it was closed after a series of strikes. The Bitter wasn’t great, but I had a really soft spot for their Mild.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Aston Ale	Pale Ale	draught	1045	well-hopped, slightly sweet
Mild	Mild	draught	1035.5	dark
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1037	pleasant and sweet
Kingpin Keg	Pale Ale	keg	1034

Ind Coope (Burton)
Burton-on-Trent,
Staffordshire.
Founded:    1740
Closed:    still open (sort of)
Tied houses:    

Originally the brewery of Samuel Allsopp, after running into financial difficulties in the runup to WW I, it struggled along for a while before merging with Ind Coope in 1934. In the 1970s, the brewery was best-known for keg Double Diamond and later cask Burton Ale. Which, ironically, was the same as the bottled version of Double Diamond.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1037	light
Burton Ale	Pale Ale	draught	1047.5	sweetish and malty
Double Diamond	Pale Ale	keg	1037.6
Super Draught	Mild	keg	1031.1
Long Life Keg	Pale Ale	keg	1043
Superdraught Bitter	Pale Ale	keg	1036.4
Double Diamond	Pale Ale	bottled	1047.2
Light Ale	Pale Ale	bottled	1031.4
Long Life	Pale Ale	bottled	1039.8
Nightcap Stout	Stout	bottled	1034.7
Arctic Barley Wine	Barley Wine	bottled	1078.6
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled	1032