Beer Birthday: Adrian Tierney-Jones

July 19, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of English beer writer Adrian Tierney-Jones. Adrian’s written several beer books, and writes online at Called to the Bar. I first got to know him when he was the editor for 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die, to which I contributed around two-dozen entries. I’ve also seen Adrian at events in London and Belgium since then, and he’s a great person to share a pint with. Join me in wishing Adrian a very happy birthday.

DSCN1896 — In Leuven for the Brussels Beer Challenge a few years ago: Adrian, with fellow Brits Tim Hampson, Tim Webb and Pete Brown.

me-and-adrian — Me and Adrian having a beer and a chat in Belgium in 2014.

Brussels 2015, from left: Me, Stephen Beaumont, Pete Brown, Yuri Katunin and Adrian.

Visiting Brassiere De La Senne in Brussels with a group after Brussels Beer Challenge judging..

[Note: first and third photos purloined from Facebook.]

Historic Beer Birthday: Peter Austin

July 18, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Peter Austin (July 18, 1921-January 1, 2014). He “was a British brewer. He founded Ringwood Brewery and was a co-founder and first chairman of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA). He built some 140 new breweries in the UK and 16 other countries.”

This overview is from his Wikipedia page:

Peter Austin was born in Edmonton, London on 18 July 1921. He went to Highgate School, followed by the British merchant navy training ship HMS Conway. His father worked for the brewing equipment supplier Pontifex, and his great-uncle had run a brewery in Christchurch.
Austin founded Ringwood Brewery in 1978. In 1979, David Bruce started his first Firkin Brewery brewpub in Elephant and Castle, London; Austin oversaw his choice of equipment and the design for its small basement brewery.
Austin was the prime mover in establishing the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) in 1980, and its first chairman. Under his leadership, SIBA campaigned for 20 years, without the support of any other body, for a progressive beer duty system (smaller breweries to pay less tax on their products) to be introduced in the UK. Such a system was finally adopted by the then Chancellor Gordon Brown in 2002.
By the time that Austin had retired from Ringwood Brewery, he had assisted in helping start 40 new UK breweries in a decade. After that, he worked internationally, in the US, France, China, Nigeria, and Russia, among others, building some 140 new breweries in 17 countries.
In the US alone, 74 new breweries were built, all using his brewing system. He taught Alan Pugsley brewing, and he went on to found Shipyard Brewing Company in 1994, and later take over Sea Dog Brewing Company.

Peter only recently passed away. Here’s his obituary in the Guardian, written by Roger Protz:

One rain-swept day in 1978 I went to Ringwood in Hampshire to meet Peter Austin and encounter a new concept in beer making: a micro-brewery. At that time brewing was dominated by six giant national brewers who were converting their pubs to keg beers and taking over and closing many of the remaining independent breweries.
It seemed unlikely that Peter Austin’s tiny plant in a former bakery would dent the power of the Big Six nationals. But Ringwood Brewery proved to be a catalyst. Camra – the Campaign for Real Ale – had been launched in 1971, its membership had soared and its beer festivals were packed.
Rebellion was in the air and Peter Austin, who has died aged 92, was ready to meet the challenge. When he eventually retired from Ringwood he helped set up some 40 new breweries in Britain over 10 years at a rate of one every three months. He then toured the world, repeating the exercise in countries as diverse as China, France, Nigeria, Russia and the United States. In total he built some 140 breweries in 17 countries.
Peter Austin was born in Edmonton, north London, and educated in Highgate and on the Merchant Navy training ship HMS Conway. His family was closely involved in the brewing industry. A great uncle ran a brewery in Christchurch while his father worked for Pontifex, a major supplier of brewing equipment. As a result of the Hampshire connection, his first love was boats not beer and he sailed in Poole Harbour during school holidays. He joined P&O from the Conway but contracted TB and had to be invalided home from Australia.
He was not fit enough to fight in World War Two and moved into brewing. He did his “pupillage” or apprenticeship at Friary, Holroyd & Healy in Guildford, worked briefly at Morrells in Oxford and joined the Hull Brewery in 1945, where he became head brewer. He left in 1975 following a takeover by Northern Dairies.
He moved to Hampshire, bought a boat and took visitors on fishing expeditions. But the brewing bug had bit deep. In 1977 he accepted an invitation from Monty Python’s Terry Jones and Guardian writer Richard Boston – both passionate believers in the concept of small is beautiful – to build a tiny brewery in a former cattle byre at Penrhos Court in Herefordshire. He was back in brewing and a year later opened Ringwood. With business partner David Welsh, he produced Ringwood Best Bitter, Fortyniner and XXXX Porter. The strong ale Old Thumper put Ringwood and micro-brewing on the map when it won the Champion Beer of Britain award from Camra in 1988. Peter was the first chairman of the Small Independent Brewers’ Association (Siba), now the Society of Independent Brewers, which became a powerful lobbying voice for the sector.
In 1986 Peter and David Welsh moved from the original site in Ringwood into bigger buildings in the town that had once housed Tunks Brewery. Ringwood was now a substantial business, producing 80 barrels a week for pubs throughout the south and south-west. Peter sold his share to David Welsh and became a consultant, adviser and builder to aspiring brewers in Britain and then worldwide.
His biggest impact was undoubtedly in the United States where 74 breweries were built using his brewing system. Alan Pugsley learnt the brewing skills with Peter at Ringwood (pictured above with Peter) and emigrated to the U.S. where he helped set up the D L Geary Brewing Company in Portland, Maine, in1986, one of the first new-wave American micros. Pugsley opened his own Shipyard brewery in Portland in 1992 and Peter gave him permission to brew Old Thumper under license. He supplied a sample of the Ringwood yeast culture for authenticity. A new brewery using Peter Austin’s system will open this month at the Four Mile Pub in Victoria, British Columbia — a fitting memorial.
Peter Austin married twice. His first wife, Joan, died in 1972 and he married Zena, who pre-deceased him. He had five children, Roland, Jane, Henry (who died in 1992) Jeremy and Sarah, and two step-children, Philip and Leah.
His impact on good beer is immeasurable. There are more than 2,000 craft breweries in the U.S., 1,200 in Britain, 150 in Australia, 70 in New Zealand and a growing number in Italy. Beer drinkers have never had greater choice – and much of that is due to Peter Austin. Alan Pugsley at Shipyard in Maine says: “He was an inspiration” and Terry Jones hails him as “the grandfather of micro-brewing”.

This tribute to his mentor is from Pugsley’s Brewing Projects International:

In 1978 Peter Austin opened Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire, England, presenting a new concept in beer making: a microbrewery. At that time in the UK brewing was dominated by six giant national brewers who were converting their pubs from cask conditioned beers ( real ale) to bland filtered keg beers and taking over and closing many of the remaining independent breweries.
It seemed unlikely that Peter Austin’s tiny plant in a former bakery would dent the power of the Big Six nationals. But Ringwood Brewery proved to be a catalyst. CAMRA – the Campaign for Real Ale – had been launched in 1971, its membership had soared and its beer festivals were packed.
Rebellion was in the air and Peter Austin was ready to meet the challenge. When he eventually retired from Ringwood he had helped set up some 40 new breweries in Britain over 10 years at a rate of one every three months. He then toured the world, repeating the exercise in countries as diverse as China, France, Belgium, Nigeria, South Africa, Russia, Canada and the United States. In total he and his consulting company built some 140 breweries in 17 countries.
Peter Austin was born in Edmonton, north London, and educated in Highgate and on the Merchant Navy training ship HMS Conway. His family was closely involved in the brewing industry. A great uncle ran a brewery in Christchurch while his father worked for Pontifex, a major supplier of brewing equipment. As a result of the Hampshire connection, his first love was boats not beer and he sailed in Poole Harbour during school holidays. He joined P&O from the Conway but contracted TB and had to be invalided home from Australia.
He was not fit enough to fight in World War Two and moved into brewing. He did his “pupillage” or apprenticeship at Friary, Holroyd & Healy in Guildford, worked briefly at Morrells in Oxford and joined the Hull Brewery in 1945, where he became head brewer. He left in 1975 following a takeover by Northern Dairies.
He moved to Hampshire, bought a boat and took visitors on fishing expeditions. But the brewing bug had bit deep. In 1977 he accepted an invitation from Monty Python’s Terry Jones and Guardian writer Richard Boston – both passionate believers in the concept of small is beautiful – to build a tiny brewery in a former cattle byre at Penrhos Court in Herefordshire. He was back in brewing and a year later opened Ringwood. With business partner David Welsh, he produced Ringwood Best Bitter, Fortyniner and XXXX Porter. The strong ale Old Thumper put Ringwood and microbrewing on the map when it won the Champion Beer of Britain award from CAMRA in 1988. Peter was the first chairman of the Small Independent Brewers’ Association (SIBA), now the Society of Independent Brewers, which became a powerful lobbying voice for the sector.
In 1986 Peter and David Welsh moved from the original site in Minty’s Yard, Ringwood into bigger buildings in the town that had once housed Tunks Brewery. Ringwood was now a substantial business, producing over 80 barrels a week for pubs throughout the south and south-west. In 1990 Peter sold his shares to David Welsh but continued consulting to aspiring brewers in Britain and worldwide.
His biggest impact was undoubtedly in the United States where over 75 breweries have been built using the Original Peter Austin Brick Kettle Brewing System. Alan Pugsley learnt the brewing skills with Peter at Ringwood and emigrated to the U.S. where he helped set up the D L Geary Brewing Company in Portland, Maine, in 1986, one of the first new-wave American micros. In 1994 Shipyard Brewing Company was opened in Portland, Maine where Ringwood Brewery gave Alan Pugsley permission to brew Peter Austin’s Old Thumper recipe under licence. Peters legacy is truly alive and well in North America particularly the North East corridor.
Peter Austin passed away January 1, 2014 at the age of 92. Peter was a master brewer, Alan Pugsley’s mentor and dear friend. He was a great man, a great brewer, and an inspiration to all whom he touched. His legacy will continue on through the many beers and brewers he inspired around the world. His impact on good beer is immeasurable. There are more than 2,500 craft breweries in the U.S., 1,200 in Britain, 150 in Australia, 70 in New Zealand and a growing number in Italy. Beer drinkers have never had greater choice – and much of that is due to Peter Austin.

And here’s one more tribute from the Salisbury Journal:

THE founder of Ringwood brewery Peter Austin – widely credited with saving the microbrewery movement in the UK as well as introducing it to America and popularising it worldwide – has died aged 92.
Mr Austin set up the famed brewery in 1978, aged 57. He came from a brewing family; his great-uncle was a brewer in Christchurch and his father worked for Pontifex, which was the leading brewing engineering firm in the country.
After school Mr Austin joined the sail training ship HMS Conway and subsequently went to sea with P&O. He was invalided out in 1938 and convalesced before going to Friary Meux Brewery in Guildford to study.
In 1944 he worked at Morrells in Oxford and in 1945 he went as third brewer to the Hull Brewery, where he stayed for 30 years, eventually becoming head brewer.
But in 1975, disillusioned with the direction of the company after it was taken over by Northern Dairies, he left 30 years of brewing, bought a boat and ran sea-angling trips on the south coast.
Mr Austin was approached by Monty Python star Terry Jones and The Guardian beer columnist Richard Boston, who were looking for help setting up a small brewery with Martin Griffiths, the owner of a medieval manor called Penrhos Court and he leaped at the chance to return to brewing.
The Penrhos Brewery was established and this inspired Mr Austin to launch Ringwood Brewery, starting with small premises in the old station yard.
Business partner David Welsh previously described Mr Austin as “a slave to the mash tun”, often checking his brews in the early hours.
He told The Grist magazine in 1995: “One very hot summer night he went down (to the brewery) in his dressing gown and had to take this off to skim the yeast. There was a knock at the door and it turned out to be the local bobby who was confronted by Peter in his underpants, wielding a yeast scoop. ‘You’re probably wondering what I’m doing officer’, he said. ‘I didn’t like to ask, sir’,” came the reply.”
In 1982 Mr Austin hired Alan Pugsley to train to brew and work with him on brewery start-ups.
They installed more than 120 breweries in 17 countries, including Siberia, China, Nigeria and South Africa. The equipment for the Siberian brewery was lost in the Russian railway system for two years before finally turning up in Dudinka.
Mr Austin also helped found the UK’s small brewers association SIBA in 1980.
Keith Bott of Titanic Brewery in Staffordshire, the current SIBA chairman, told Camra magazine: “Peter Austin was the godfather of the microbrewing revolution in the UK.”
In 1986 Mr Austin moved the brewery to its current location, and retired two years later, aged 67. On July 12, 2007, it was announced that Ringwood had been purchased by Marston’s Plc for £19.2million.
Mr Austin’s son Jeremy said: “The family are proud of dad, who was very modest about all that he had achieved.
“Peter was a determined and colourful character who made an impression on all. He was bright and amusing right up until the end and his family and friends will miss him deeply.”

Historic Beer Birthday: Glenn Payne

July 18, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today would have been the 71st birthday of Glenn Payne, an Englishman who wore many beer hats, but unfortunately passed away several years ago. I first met Glenn many moons ago when he was the beer buyer for Safeway in the UK. Since then, we’d judged together many times at both GABF and the World Beer Cup, and once at the Great British Beer Festival, too. He’s been involved with Meantime Brewing among too many projects for me to keep track of, and he’s been a great ambassador for British beer but, perhaps more importantly, for American beer in Great Britain. Join me in drinking a toast to Glenn’s memory. Cheers, mate.

With Chris and Cheryl Black, owners of the Falling Rock, Mark Dorber, formerly the publican of the White Horse in London (and now owner of the Anchor) and Glenn Payne at the Brewers Reception at Wynkoop during GABF Week in 2007.

Glenn Payne and Melissa Cole, from the UK — Glenn, with Melissa Cole, at GABF in 2009.

Glenn Payne & Greg Koch — Glenn with Greg Koch, from Stone Brewing, also at GABF in 2009.

wbc08-29 — Glenn accepting a World Beer Cup award on behalf of a British brewery who couldn’t be there in 2008.

Historic Beer Birthday: John Oland

July 14, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of John James Dunn Oland (July 14, 1819-October 28, 1870). He most likely not be remembered had it not been for his talented wife, Susannah Woodhouse Culverwell Oland, who was a brewer and responsible for the October Ale that launched what would become Moosehead Breweries. John was born in Somerset England and married Susannah in Bristol, in 1842. Oland tried a variety of jobs, all of them unsuccessful, and even filed bankruptcy in 1844. Hoping to turn his fortune, he emigrated to Canada in 1862, and his wife and family followed in 1865. The family settled in Nova Scotia, and in 1867 Susannah’s October Ale won her enough renown that friends encouraged her to make it on a commercial scale.

So they opened the Turtle Grove Brewery, named for the area where it was situated in Halifax Harbour. Because of the prevailing gender inequality of the era, the business was incorporated with John as the manager, but despite having no official ownership, Susannah oversaw all aspects of running the business. Three years later, John died in a riding accident, although the death certificate lists “liver complaint” as the cause of death.

After his death, Susannah lost control of the brewery, which was renamed the Army & Navy Brewery, but continued to work there. After eight years, she bought the brewery and renamed it S. Oland, Sons and Company, and trained her sons to take over, but she continued to work at the brewery until her death in 1885. The brewery is still owned by the Oland family. You can read the rest of the brewery’s story at the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Historic Beer Birthday: William Everard

July 13, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of William Everard (July 13, 1821-December 28, 1892). Everard co-founded what would become known as the Everards Brewery, which is still a going concern today, and is still run by an Everard, who is fifth generation from William.

Here is William Everard’s short biography from the brewery website:

William Everard was born on 13th July 1821 in a country where the Industrial Revolution was still in its infancy, and farming remained the largest single occupation. William married Mary Ann Bilson on27th March 1847, they had three children- one of which was Thomas William who would eventually continue his fathers work at the brewery.
On the fifth October 1849, William entered into partnership with Thomas Hull, a local maltster. They leased the existing brewery of Messrs Wilmot and Co. on Southgate Street, Leicester. The brewery became well established during William’s forty two years in charge.
As a successful and responsible Victorian citizen, William took public service seriously and devoted a larage amount of time to several public bodies. He joined the Leicester Highways Board on its constituition, and served for twenty years as its chairman. He was an energetic supporter of the Conservative Party, arranging meetings and political gatherings at his house, eventually becoming chairman of the Harborough Division.
Continuing to operate his farm as well as run his business, William also became prominent in local agricultural affairs as a member of the Chamber of Agriculture and Leicestershire Agricultural Society, founded in 1833.

New_Everards_brewery_Southgate_St_Leicester_showing_steam_traction_engines_1875 (1) — The brewery, around 1875.

And here’s the basic brewery history from Wikipedia:

The company began as Hull and Everard in 1849 when William Everard, a farmer from Narborough Wood House and brewer Thomas Hull leased the Southgate Street Brewery of Wilmot and Co from the retiring proprietors. Although Hull continued as a maltster, Everard was the driving force behind the business which he managed until his death in 1892.

The business expanded as the company progressively acquired outlets, with over 100 pubs by the late 1880s. In 1875 the company moved to a new state of the art tower brewery designed by William’s nephew architect John Breedon Everard. The brewery, on the corner of Southgate St and Castle St extracted very pure water from wells 300 feet deep beneath the premises and steam engines played a significant part in the mechanisation.

After the death of William, control passed to his son Thomas. The historic centre of the UK brewing industry remained some 40 miles away at Burton-upon-Trent, which by the 1890s produced one tenth of Britain’s beer. Everard’s leased the Bridge Brewery on Umplett Green island in 1895 but its 10,000 barrels per year capacity proved insufficient. It was replaced with the newer Trent brewery in Dale St which became available after going into liquidation in 1898. The Southgate brewery remained the distribution centre to the Leicestershire pubs with beer arriving by rail from Burton. The Trent brewery was purchased outright in 1901. It was renamed the Tiger Brewery around 1970.

At some point their Tiger Best Bitter became their flagship beer, and I remember really enjoying during my first CAMRA festival in the early 1990s. It was a regional festival in Peterborough, which happened to be going on in later summer at the end of my wife’s summer semester at the University of Durham. So we took the train up to Peterborough from London to attend the festival, and it was great fun. I had many fine beer that night, but for whatever reason I clearly recall liking this one.

Beer Birthday: Pete Brown

July 12, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the 57th birthday of Pete Brown, author of Shakespeare’s Pub and Hops and Glory, along with much else. Pete was also the winner of the UK Beer Writer of the Year in 2010. I had a chance to meet and spend some time with Pete before and at GBBF in 2009, and several times since then, including a few years ago when he stayed with me for a few days while visiting the West Coast. He’s a kindred spirit, especially when it comes to neo-prohibitionist shenanigans, and writes one of the most engaging beer blogs out there. Join me in wishing Pete a very happy birthday.

During a visit to Russian River Brewery a few years back.

Pete with Steve Parkes at a British Beer Writers event before GBBF a few years ago.

Pete and me at GBBF in 2009.

One night in Copenhagen, clockwise from bottom left: Martyn Cornell, Jeff Alworth, Evan Rail, me, Stephen Beaumont, Pete, Stan Hieronymus and Ron Pattinson.

At the end of a quick trip to Copenhagen: Pete, with Ron Pattinson, Jeff Bell, Stephen Beaumont and Stan Hieronymus.

Historic Beer Birthday: Michael Thomas Bass Jr.

July 6, 2025 By Jay Brooks

bass
Today is the birthday of Michael Thomas Bass (July 6, 1799-April 29, 1884). He was the grandson of Bass Brewery founder William Bass. Michael Thomas Bass Jr. took over control of the company in 1827, and “under his leadership, the Bass Brewery became the largest brewery in the world and the best known brand of beer in England.” Bass was also a member of parliament, representing Derby “in the House of Commons as a member of the Liberal Party between 1848 and 1883 where he was an effective advocate for the brewing industry.”

Here’s a biography, from the Local History of Burton upon Trent:

Bass was born in Burton upon Trent in 1799, the son of Michael Thomas Bass (senior) who had expanded the Bass brewery founded by his father William Bass in 1777 and made it a major exporter to Russia. His mother, Sarah Hoskins, was the daughter of Abraham Hoskins, a prominent lawyer of Burton.
Bass attended the grammar school in Burton upon Trent and finished his schooling in Nottingham. At the age of 18, he joined the family business as an apprentice when business was not going well because the Napoleonic Wars had disrupted trade with Russia. However, the sales of India Pale Ale in India and southeast Asia were taking off by the 1820s.
Bass took over control of the company in 1827 and continued the export focus on Asia. By 1832-33, the company was exporting 5,000 barrels of beer representing 40% of its output in that year
The coming of the railway to Burton upon Trent in 1839 helped the growth of the business by reducing transport costs. The company had four agents in the 1830s in London, Liverpool, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham. By the 1880s, this had grown to 21 in the United Kingdom and another in Paris. The export trade was supplied by the agencies in London and Liverpool.
Under Bass’s leadership, company production and sales had grown enormously. Production of ale had grown to 340,000 barrels in 1860 and to almost a million barrels in the late 1870s. By 1881, the company had three breweries and 26 malthouses covering 145 acres (0.59 km2) in Burton upon Trent. The company was Britain’s biggest brewery and was one of its best known companies.
Bass was first elected as the member for Derby in 1848 and served until 1883. His obituary in the Brewers Journal stated that he was known more “in the House of Commons for his regular attendance than for any feats of oratory.” He focussed on being a national advocate for the brewing industry against efforts by nonconformists within the Liberal Party to legislate against alcohol.
Bass was an orthodox Liberal supporting free trade, low taxes and improving living standards for the working class. He promoted legislation to abolish imprisonment for small debtors. His legislation against organ grinders on the grounds that they were street nuisances was less successful.
He was known as a philanthropist both in Burton upon Trent and Derby. His obituarists claimed that his contributions totalled £80,000 and that he had given Derby a new library, School of Art, recreation ground, and swimming baths.
Bass represented Derby until the final years of his life. William Ewart Gladstone offered Bass a peerage which he declined preferring to stay in the House of Commons.

And here’s his entry from Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, published in 1882:

M-T-Bass-hoc-bio

And here’s another biography, this one from the Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900.

BASS, MICHAEL THOMAS (1799–1884), brewer, was born on 6 July 1799. He was the son of M. T. Bass and grandson of William Bass, both of whom carried on extensive brewing establishments at Burton-on-Trent.
Bass was educated first at the grammar school, Burton-on-Trent, and afterwards at Nottingham. On leaving school he joined his father in business and acted as a traveller. The opening up of the Trent and Mersey Canal gave the first great impetus to the trade of the Burton breweries, and the firm of Messrs. Bass did not fail to utilise this and other developments of modern enterprise.
Bass’s first official connection with the county of Derby was as an officer in the old Derbyshire yeomanry cavalry, in which capacity he assisted in quelling the local riots which occurred before the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832. He speedily acquired an important position in the county, partly from the extensive ramifications of his business, and partly from the interest he took in public affairs, and in 1848 he was requested to come forward as a candidate for Derby in the liberal interest. The sitting members had been unseated for bribery, and in the election which followed Bass was returned at the head of the poll. For the borough of Derby he continued to sit uninterruptedly until his retirement in 1883. Bass was a liberal. He was assiduous in the attention he gave to his parliamentary duties, but was not a frequent speaker.
His personal character gained him the esteem of opponents and friends. He exhibited a lively concern in all questions bearing upon the welfare of the working classes, and in 1866 he requested Professor Leone Levi to institute a wide and methodical inquiry into the earnings of the working classes throughout the kingdom. Bass brought in a bill by which householders might require street musicians to quit the neighbourhood of their houses. A letter of thanks was j addressed to him by a number of the most distinguished authors and artists in London, including Carlyle, Tennyson, Charles Dickens, J. E. Millais, Francis Grant (president of the Royal Academy), and others. Bass also took an active part in abolishing imprisonment for debt, but his popularity at Derby suffered a temporary check by reason of his opposition to the Ground Game Act. The constituency, however, never swerved from its allegiance, although between the time when he was first elected and the last occasion when he was returned to parliament the number of electors had increased tenfold.
An interesting statement, compiled under authority, shows that the foundation of the business of the Burton breweries was laid in 1777 by one William Bass. Fifty years later Bass & Co. still confined their trade in bitter beer to India. In 1827 they began to open up a trade in this country, but no great strides were made until the year (1851) of the Great Exhibition. From this date their reputation began to spread over the metropolis and throughout England. In 1880 the firm did as much business in three days as it was accustomed to do in twelve months fifty years before. It appears that in the year 1878 they paid for carriage alone to the railway and canal companies and other carriers the sum of 180,102l. Messrs. Bass’s ale stores near St. Pancras Station cover three floors, each two acres in extent, and each containing 30,000 barrels of 36 gallons of ale. The firm possess other extensive stores, as well as the breweries at Burton, which are of enormous extent and employ a staff of three thousand persons. In 1882 the average annual amount of the business was assessed at 2,400,000l., and the yearly amount paid in malt-tax and license duty was 286,000l. A calculation made in 1871 demonstrated that the yearly revenue derived from beer and British and foreign wines and spirits amounted to about twenty-eight millions sterling, being more than a third of the whole revenue, and towards this amount Messrs. Bass contributed upwards of 780l. per day.’ A further compilation showed that ‘the stock of casks necessary to carry on the business consisted of 46,901 butts, 159,608 hogsheads, 139,753 barrels, and 197,597 kilderkins, or in all 543,859 casks. The yearly issue of Bass’s labels amounts to more than one hundred millions.’
When the agitation arose amongst railway servants in 1870 for a reduction in their oppressive hours of labour, Bass was their most powerful friend. By his instrumentality an agent was despatched throughout the country to gather information and organise plans for relieving the condition of railway servants and removing the grounds of their complaints. The facts made known led to the establishment of the Railway Servants’ Orphanage at Derby.
The new church of St. Paul’s, at Burton, was built and endowed by Bass. He also raised a smaller church near his residence, Rangemore, a chapel-of-ease, Sunday schools, and an institute and reading-rooms for the use of the working classes of Burton. The entire cost of his benefactions to St. Paul’s parish in that town has been placed at not less than 100,000l. In addition to this, and to private charities almost innumerable, he presented the town of Derby with a large recreation ground and public swimming baths, at a cost of 12,000l., as well as a free library involving an outlay of 25,000l., and an art gallery upon which many thousands of pounds were expended.
Bass died at Rangemore Hall on 29 April 1884. He was extremely simple in his tastes and habits. He refused all offers of social distinction, declining a baronetcy and a peerage which were offered him by successive governments. As a mark of the general esteem, however, in which he was held, a baronetcy was conferred (during his own lifetime) upon his eldest son, Sir Michael Arthur Bass, M.P. for East Staffordshire.

Historic Beer Birthday: James Anderton

June 26, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of James Anderton (June 26, 1830-December 28, 1905). Anderton was born in Lancashire, England (some accounts say Streetbridge, Royston, while others say Haslingden), but came to America with his parents when he was 26 and made his way to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He worked as a miner for several years, before shifting to the hotel business. In 1869, he started the Spring Water Brewery. After modest success, he built a larger brewery, renaming it the Anderton Brewery, which continued in business until closed by prohibition.

james-anderton

Here’s a summary of James and his Anderton Brewery from Lawrence County Memoirs:

James Anderton (1830-1905), born in England, came to the United States in 1856 and eventually made his way to Beaver Falls. Along with his brother Jonathan Anderton he founded the Spring Water Brewery Company in 1869. The company, located next to the railroad station at 24th Street (and Ninth Avenue), was reorganized and modernized in about 1891 as the Anderton Brewery Company. James Anderton’s son William H. Anderton later took over management of the firm and it was merged in 1905 to become part of the Pittsburgh-based Independent Brewery Company (1905-1933). The local facility was closed in 1920 (like many other breweries) with the enactment of nationwide prohibition.

anderton-brewery-2

While I could find only a couple of photographs of the brewery, and only one of Anderton himself, there are a number of biographies detailing his life. For example, here’s another one from “Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania,” published in 1899.

James Anderton, the father of William Henry, was born in Streetbridge, Royston, Lancastershire, England, June 26, 1830. He worked for eighteen years in the mines in his native place, beginning at the early age of eight years. In his youth he had no educational advantages whatever, his only mental training being a night school organized by himself and his fellow miners, known as the “Youth’s Seminary.” There the boys taught each other, being too poor to afford an experienced teacher. The school organized by these lads has grown into a famous institution of learning, and is now known as the Literary Institute of Oldham, England.
James Anderton accompanied his parents to America when twenty-six years of age, worked in the mines at Fallston, until 1866, and then removed to New Brighton, Pennsylvania. He continued to follow this occupation at the latter place until March, 1868, when he removed to Beaver Falls, purchased his present residence, and engaged in the hotel business. The following year (1869), he went into the brewing business in a small frame building, situated quite near the elegant structure in which he at present officiates. The first brewing was made November 30, of the same year, and consisted of only nine barrels. In 1875, Mr. Anderton built the old part of the present structure, and with a much increased capacity, he continued to brew ale and porter until 1895, when he built a large brick addition, with all the modern improvements, and began brewing beer. The Anderton Brewery is now one of the most complete up-to-date breweries in Pennsylvania, and has a capacity of 30,000 barrels per year. There are many larger breweries in the Keystone State, but none more complete.
While, still in his native land, James Anderton was united in marriage with Betty Green-wood, a daughter of Joseph and Mary Greenwood. This event took place in 1852, and their union is blessed with five children, viz.: Jonathan; Mary G.; William H.; William H., second ; and Sarah A. Jonathan was born June 2, 1853; he is vice president of the Anderton Brewing Company. He wedded Margaret Hart, a daughter of Hilton and Ann Hart, and their home is made happy by the presence of four sons: James, Hilton, Jonathan, Jr., and William H. Mary G. was born February 1, 1858. She became the wife of C. W. Rohrkaste, who is now superintendent of the Anderton Brewery. They have three children: James A.; Mary A.; and Florence E. William H., the third child, died at the tender age of five years, and the same name was given to the next child. William H., the fourth child, is the subject of this brief sketch. Sarah A., the fifth child, was born October 14, 1869, and died in early childhood, aged three years.
James Anderton is a fine illustration of a self-made man, which in a great measure is due to his progressiveness, reliability and integrity. He ranks among the most esteemed citizens of Beaver Falls, and takes an active interest in fraternal organizations, being a member of Lone Rock Lodge, K. of P.; Valley Echo Lodge, I. O. O. F.; Mechanics Lodge, A. O. U. W.; and Beaver Valley Lodge, F. & A. M., of which he has been treasurer for the past nineteen years. He was one of the organizers and original stockholders of the Union Drawn Steel Co., and is one of the stockholders of the People’s Water Co., of Beaver Falls. In his religious convictions, the elder Mr. Anderton is an Episcopalian, of which denomination he and his family are members. Politically, he is a stanch Democrat, but could never be persuaded to seek or accept public office.

anderton-brewery-1899
The Anderton Brewing Co. was located in Beaver Falls, between 23rd and 24th streets near the railroad tracks. The local owners would sell their company in 1905, but the brewery remained in Beaver Falls producing beer until 1922.

Here’s another biography from the “Book of Biographies.”

Nonpareil-Beer-Labels-Independent-Brewing-Co-of-Pittsburgh-Anderton-Brewery

The year Anderton died, the brewery merged into the Pittsburgh entity known as Independent Brewing Co., a conglomerate of breweries formed by the merger of fifteen Pittsburgh and the surrounding area breweries in 1905. But James’ son William continued in a management role with the brewery until it was closed by prohibition.

Historic Beer Birthday: John Courage Jr.

June 26, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of John Courage Jr. (June 26, 1788-March 1854). He was the son of John Courage, who founded the Courage Brewery in London in 1787, when he bought a brew house in Horselydown, Bermondsey, London. Junior was born in Southwark, in the London Borough of Southwark, although at least one account states he was born in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, in Scotland. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any images of the man himself. When his father died, he was only ten, so the brewery’s manager, John Donaldson, ran the brewery in exchange for a share of the profits. Junior started working at the brewery when he was 16, and seven years later, in 1811, he became a partner in the firm.

This short account of Junior is from Courage & Co.:

The Founder’s son, the second John, entered the Brewery in 1804 aged 16, becoming a partner in 1811. He married Susan Hawes, the daughter of a Norfolk brewer Sidney Hawes in 1823. A copy of an article about Susan’s mother, Elizabeth Hawes (neé Porson) survives in family records. The article states “that Elizabeth was born in 1756, was a servant and a woman of strong natural sense and moral qualities and at night used to sit up in bed reading from the light of a candle volumes of the Universal Magazine. She took in dressmaking and always said she would rise in the world”.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 50406862212_69e518872b_b.jpg — The Anchor Brewhouse, the location of the original Courage Brewery.

And this is from Geni, a genealogy website:

John Courage (1788-1854) was the only son and eldest child of John Courage (1761-1797), founder of the Courage Brewery, and his wife Harriet.
John Courage senior died in 1797 when his son was only nine or ten years old. Harriet died a year later. On her death, the managing clerk, John Donaldson, took over the running of the Brewery and for a short while the firm was renamed Courage and Donadson.
John Courage junior entered the Brewery in 1804 aged 16, becoming a partner in 1811. In 1851 the business reverted back to solely Courage ownership.
In 1852, a partnership was formed within the Courage family between John (junior – the 2nd) and two of his sons, John (the 3rd) and Robert. On John the 2nd’s death in 1854, John the 3rd took into partnership his brother Edward in 1856 and Henry in 1866.
The Courage Brewery became a limited liability company in 1888.

Historic Beer Birthday: William Lassell

June 18, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of William Lassell (June 18, 1799–October 5, 1880). He made great contributions to astronomy throughout his life, but that “hobby” was funded by the fortune he made at his Liverpool brewery. He was initially trained as a merchant, and in 1825 started an apparently successful brewery, and one account states that he “married a widow of a wealthy Liverpool brewer gaining at the same time financial independence.” That may have given him the idea. Perhaps because his life was overshadowed by his astronomical pursuits, there’s very little about his brewery I could find, although I believe it was known as Lassell & Sharman Ltd.

Here’s his basic biography from his Wikipedia page:

William Lassell was born in Bolton, Lancashire, a town west of Manchester. He was educated first in Bolton then at Rochdale Academy. After the death of his father, he was apprenticed from 1814 to 1821 to a merchant in Liverpool. He then made his fortune as a beer brewer, which enabled him to indulge his interest in astronomy. He built an observatory at his house “Starfield” in West Derby, a suburb of Liverpool. There he had a 24-inch (610 mm) reflector telescope, for which he pioneered the use of an equatorial mount for easy tracking of objects as the Earth rotates. He ground and polished the mirror himself, using equipment he constructed. The observatory was later (1854) moved further out of Liverpool, to Bradstone.
In 1846 Lassell discovered Triton, the largest moon of Neptune, just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle. In 1848 he independently co-discovered Hyperion, a moon of Saturn. In 1851 he discovered Ariel and Umbriel, two moons of Uranus.
When Queen Victoria visited Liverpool in 1851, Lassell was the only local she specifically requested to meet.
In 1855, he built a 48-inch (1,200 mm) telescope, which he installed in Malta because of the observing conditions that were better than in often-overcast England. On his return to the UK after several years in Malta he moved to Maidenhead and operated his 24-inch (610 mm) telescope in an observatory there. The 48-inch telescope was dismantled and was eventually scrapped.
Lassell was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS) from 1839, won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1849, and served as its president for two years starting in 1870. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1849 and won their Royal Medal in 1858. Lassel was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL). He was furthermore elected an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (HonFRSE) and of the Society of Sciences of Upsala, and received an honorary LL.D. degree from the University of Cambridge in 1874.
Lassell died in Maidenhead in 1880. Upon his death, he left a fortune of £80,000 (roughly equivalent to £7,200,000 in 2015). His telescope was presented to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.
The crater Lassell on the Moon, a crater on Mars, the asteroid 2636 Lassell and a ring of Neptune are named in his honour.

This account of Lassell is from A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteen Century, by Agnes M. Clerke, published in 1885:

Within seventeen days of its identification with the Berlin achromatic, Neptune was found to be attended by a satellite. This discovery was the first notable performance of the celebrated two-foot reflector[224] erected by Mr. Lassell at his suggestively named residence of Starfield, near Liverpool. William Lassell was a brewer by profession, but by inclination an astronomer. Born at Bolton in Lancashire, June 18, 1799, he closed a life of eminent usefulness to science, October 5, 1818, thus spanning with his well-spent years four-fifths of the momentous period which we have undertaken to traverse. At the age of twenty-one, being without the means to purchase, he undertook to construct telescopes, and naturally turned his attention to the reflecting sort, as favouring amateur efforts by the comparative simplicity of its structure. His native ingenuity was remarkable, and was developed by the hourly exigencies of his successive enterprises. Their uniform success encouraged him to enlarge his aims, and in 1844 he visited Birr Castle for the purpose of inspecting the machine used in polishing the giant speculum of Parsonstown. In the construction of his new instrument, however, he eventually discarded the model there obtained, and worked on a method of his own, assisted by the supreme mechanical skill of James Nasmyth. The result was a Newtonian of exquisite definition, with an aperture of two, and a focal length of twenty feet, provided by a novel artifice with the equatoreal mounting, previously regarded as available only for refractors.
This beautiful instrument afforded to its maker, October 10, 1846, a cursory view of a Neptunian attendant. But the planet was then approaching the sun, and it was not until the following July that the observation could be verified, which it was completely, first by Lassell himself, and somewhat later by Otto Stuve and Bond of Cambridge (U.S.). When it is considered that this remote object shines by reflecting sunlight reduced by distance to 1/900th of the intensity with which it illuminates our moon, the fact of its visibility, even in the most perfect telescopes, is a somewhat surprising one. It can only, indeed, be accounted for by attributing to it dimensions very considerable for a body of the secondary order. It shares with the moons of Uranus the peculiarity of retrograde motion; that is to say, its revolutions, running counter to the grand current of movement in the solar system, are performed from east to west, in a plane inclined at an angle of 35 deg. to that of the ecliptic. Their swiftness serves to measure the mass of the globe round which they are performed. For while our moon takes twenty-seven days and nearly eight hours to complete its circuit of the earth, the satellite of Neptune, at a distance not greatly inferior, sweeps round its primary in five days and twenty-one hours, showing (according to a very simple principle of computation) that it is urged by a force seventeen times greater than the terrestrial pull upon the lunar orb. Combining this result with those of Professor Barnard’s and Dr. See’s recent measurements of the small telescopic disc of this farthest known planet, it is found that while in “mass” Neptune equals seventeen, in “bulk” it is equivalent to forty-nine earths. This is as much as to say that it is composed of relatively very light materials, or more probably of materials distended by internal heat, as yet unwasted by radiation into space, to about five times the volume they would occupy in the interior of our globe. The fact, at any rate, is fairly well ascertained, that the average density of Neptune is about twice that of water.

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