Lost Breweries

[Clint]

Druncan...if you have permission to dig in an old racecourse get yourself a metal detector....that place will be full of coins... including gold and silver ..

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

Wards in Sheffield, Ecclesall Rd, turned into apartments/flats.

*sob* Wards, a favourite pint in my native Sheffield. Beautiful quaffable malty working mans ale. Thanks, Vaux.

 

[prog99]

Started drinking in the mid 90s, so breweries in scotland were increasing in number. Now there are many good ones thankfully. I do miss Maclays though, their heavy at least was an excellent beer iirc. I also miss pre-2000-ish Deuchars IPA, while it is still around now it's nowhere near as good as it once was

You used to be able to get deuchars bottle conditioned and even then it was rare.

 

[foxy]

Home Brewery Nottingham
I make a mild which is supposedly a clone of Home Brewery Mild. Graham Wheeler's I believe.

 

[jceg316]

Vaux was a major brewery based in the North East of England and were Sunderland A.F.C. main sponsors when I first got into football. They closed down in 97/98 ish. I was too young to try any of their beers.

Some of the brewers/management set up Maxim brewery and have the rights to a few of the recipes, and about a year ago a craft brewery popped up using the Vaux name.

My dad used to work there, he loved it. He's an engineer and wrote process control systems. Before working there he didn't like beer, thinking it was all gassy lager, but he thought their beer was amazing. Apparently the CEO had a bunch of taps in his office and whenever someone would visit they could help themselves to as much beer as they could. My dad, though he loved the beer, was not a big drinker, and whenever he went to see the CEO the guy would get irritated my dad wasn't drinking.

I've seen Maxim brewery but not been able to get any of their beers, are they any good?

 

[MickDundee]

Not strictly a brewery as such, but I've just remembered the Firkin pubs. Most, if not all, had their own breweries on site. Dog Bolter is the beer I can remember but I'm sure they did a few others.

They sponsored Dundee Football Club in the late 90s, and a couple of others I think. They did have a couple of breweries as well IIRC.

I’m surprised I appear to be quite knowledgeable about pubs/breweries that closed before I reached drinking age - it’s all because of football sponsorship.

EDIT - I just googled them, they had brewery in their name but didn’t actually operate any breweries. They were owned by Punch Taverns.

 

[foxy]

These books I have list hundreds of breweries between them, a lot of which most on this forum would never have heard of.

 

[MickDundee]

I've seen Maxim brewery but not been able to get any of their beers, are they any good?

I’ve only ever had their Swedish Blonde at my local beer festival 4 or 5 years ago.

Other than for the football (when my dad and I are driving 4hrs each way so don’t have a drink), we don’t really have reason to be down that way since my uncle died so haven’t gone looking for their beers. We told the kids we’ll go back to Beamish “when this is all over” so
I’ll maybe try to work in a beer buying trip.

 

[Druncan]

Federation was Gateshead.

Actually Newcastle by the central station! until it moved to Dunston in a purpose built fantastic high tech brewery. LCL lager designed by their lead chemist. (can't remember his name,,,,,) I used to drag weights and measuring equipment around following my boss. Great times. Butterknowle (Sue and John Constable) did Conciliation awesome beers from a cute little early micro brewery the kit went to Darwin and Brewlab.

 

[froggi]

From my home town of Sheffield the sad loss of both Stones and Wards breweries

 

[Druncan]

@Clint It was ages ago when I worked at the 'Graphy' Newburn. The waste area was getting landscaped. JCB boys started finding clay pipes and bottles. Then went fookin mental as the 'finds' were collectable, after that diggers and boys with shovels digging holes all over it looked like the Somme. Then management kicked off and tried to stop it, but, we kept on digging on the sly. All long gone now,,, Newburn Riverside park. Box Social Brewery nearby though!

 

[MmmBeer]

Not strictly a brewery as such, but I've just remembered the Firkin pubs. Most, if not all, had their own breweries on site. Dog Bolter is the beer I can remember but I'm sure they did a few others.

I remember going to the Goose & Firkin on Friday nights, back in the late 80's. Great place, always packed to the rafters, pianist or guitarist leading the crowds in a singalong.............and the Dog Bolter. When it opened in 1979, it was the only brewpub in the UK and Time Out awarded it the accolade 'best atmosphere in London'. Still got my Firkin t shirt somewhere, not that it would fit now.

 

[terrym]

*sob* Wards, a favourite pint in my native Sheffield. Beautiful quaffable malty working mans ale. Thanks, Vaux.

When I was a student at Sheffield Uni many years ago my pint of choice was Tennants Queens bitter, in The Raven at the top end of Fitzwilliam St. I also started brewing in a group at the same time and Tennants brewers were only too happy to supply us with yeast. However Exchange Brewery and the pub closed years ago.

 

[obscure]

View attachment 26439
These books I have list hundreds of breweries between them, a lot of which most on this forum would never have heard of.

I don’t doubt it, one of the great tragedies of the various waves of consolidation and closures is the loss of a huge number of regional breweries. While some may have being mediocre, we have undoubtedly lost a lot of good beers (Speaking to anyone from my parents gener seems to confirm that while some regional breweries may be great it wasn’t great when every pub in an area was owned by one brewery and had no obligation to serve anything but their own often mediocre beer). One of the best things about travelling in the UK is how much the beer changes by region which means it wasmkind of depressing when I went to University in Leicester was the beer was almost identical to back in Oxfordshire as Greene King had bought out the regional breweries on both South Oxfordshire and Leicester meaning a hell of a lot of Greene King pubs.

I do like a lot of the new wave of small breweries that have being established but it seems to be that they focus heavily on American style IPAs etc. which while I enjoy (I wouldn’t want to be in a world where the choice was confined to Bitter, Best Bitter or Mild) I also don’t particularly want my choice to be confined to IPA, Double IPA or sour.

 

[kelper]

I do like a lot of the new wave of small breweries that have being established but it seems to be that they focus heavily on American style IPAs etc. which while I enjoy (I wouldn’t want to be in a world where the choice was confined to Bitter, Best Bitter or Mild) I also don’t particularly want my choice to be confined to IPA, Double IPA or sour.

So true!

 

[foxy]

A few of the pics out of the books.

Bass employees returning from a trip to Blackpool each employee was given 2/6 d to spend and a full days pay I imagine it would have been a six day weeks in those times.
It took 12 trainloads to transport them all.

Cheap beer in them days

 

[RichardM]

I’ve only ever had their Swedish Blonde at my local beer festival 4 or 5 years ago.

Other than for the football (when my dad and I are driving 4hrs each way so don’t have a drink), we don’t really have reason to be down that way since my uncle died so haven’t gone looking for their beers. We told the kids we’ll go back to Beamish “when this is all over” so
I’ll maybe try to work in a beer buying trip.

My son and I go to away matches on the supporters club coach and make a point of seeking out a good pub serving local beers before the game. It's often better than the football. The temptation is to stay in the pub all afternoon.

 

[MickDundee]

My son and I go to away matches on the supporters club coach and make a point of seeking out a good pub serving local beers before the game. It's often better than the football. The temptation is to stay in the pub all afternoon.

One of the downfalls of being a Sunderland supporter in Dundee is there aren’t many supporters coaches, and those there are leave from Edinburgh anyway which still means having to travel first.

I’ve been down on a coach once but not with my dad. A friend of a friend’s football team were going down with their U10s side and they had a few spare seats so my friend and I took 2. Coach was running late though so we had to make do with a quick one in the ground before kick off.

 

[parpot]

In previous lives I have had pubs which in Nottingham was Shipstones and in Lincolnshire sold Wards & Vaux ales. Nottingham it was in the late 60's into the 70's and Lincolnshire is was mid 80's into mid 90's. Tough times in the pub trade what with drink driving and the Police getting really serious over licensing hours.

 

[Galena]

M&B
Hardy Hansons (Kimberley Brewery)
Mansfield Ales