It's another three Whitbread breweries. Only one of which produced cask beer in the 1970s. And only one of which is still open.
The one which is still brewing is another of the new large breweries erected in the 1970s. Though, unlike Luton and Runcorn, this one wasn't a disaster. Which is why it's still open. I've no idea what it brewed in the 1970s. Probably Trophy, Tankard and Heineken.
Wateringbury was a weird one. I'm not sure that the beers it brewed ever showed up in the UK market. It probably brewed Pale Ale and Extra Stout for the Belgian market.
Wethered was one of the really good breweries Whitbread owned. They brewed a full range of cask in the 1970s, but in the 1980s increasingly concentrated in the Bitter, which became fairly common in Whitbread's London pubs. Then they shut the brewery and produced a much inferior version in Cheltenham.
Wateringbury
Wateringbury,
Kent.
Founded: 1821
Closed: 1982
Tied houses:
Bought 1927. Originally Frederick Leney. No cask. Mostly export beer.
Wethered
Marlow
Founded: 1790
Closed: 1988
Tied houses: 714
Bought in 1969. Their beers were excellent. So, of course, Whitbread closed them.
| beer | style | format | OG | description |
| SPA | Pale Ale | draught | 1041.6 | well-hopped |
| Trophy | Pale Ale | draught | 1036.6 | well-balanced |
| Dark Mild | Mild | draught | 1030.6 | pleasant |
| Winter Royal | Strong Ale | draught | 1056.8 | full-bodied |
Whitbread West Pennines
Samlesbury,
Lancashire.
Founded: 1972
Closed: still open
Tied houses:
A large, new brewery. That didn’t brew cask.
The above is an excerpt from my latest book, "Keg!".
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7 comments:
Found by googling 'wateringbury brewery' https://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php/200_Years_of_Brewing_at_Wateringbury
Onto the x's, y's, and z's?
I had a couple of bottles of Whitbread Pale Ale in Belgium in 1980, and very nice it was. I'd no idea I was drinking beer from Wateringbury, in fact I had no idea that the brewery even existed at all until now.
The Whitbread Belgium trade was long established by the time Michael Jackson’s World Guide to Beer, was written and published.
Oscar
Wateringbury brewed Gold Label as well according to that link!
When Magor, in Wales, was built they transferred Boddingtons production there so it was no longer an English beer. They also did Stella Artois.
With the arrival of Budweiser it strikes me that Magor and Salmesbury have become clones of each other brewing Stella and Bud, with Boddingtons moved back to Salmesbury.
And that delicious Guinness Special Export (not the Foreign Export) brewed specially for the Belgian market - bliss.
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