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 |
Posts
6 comments:
Wonder what did Tetley mild taste like?
Oscar
Nectar.
Nectar of life such is mild.
Oscar
I was surprised while drinking in the taproom of an extremely trendy Birmingham microbrewery to have an old lad tell me that Ansell's Mild had been his favourite beer ever.
I usually drank Tetley's bitter, but if I was having a session in a Tetley's pub I would start off with a couple of pints of mild for the sake of variety. Nothing else on offer, Skol, Arctic Lite (Shite), keg DD, was likely to tempt me. Imperial was good but I rarely got to Middlesbrough so that was out.
The mild was recognisably from the same brewery as the bitter. It had the Tetley taste, rather as all Taylor's beers had that signature Taylors flavour.
It was not dark for a mild, a mid brown, similar colour to Banks's mild. Which I didn't like nearly as much, for all its reputation.
With a lot of the great beers from this era it was hard to put a finger on what made them so good. How could a 3.2% beer be so satisfying? There was nothing that really stood out, just a beautiful balance and an elusive quality that had you chasing it all night long.
Chris that makes sense more ruby than dark brown or black.
Oscar
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