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Historic Beer Birthday: Francis Showering

July 10, 2025 By Jay Brooks

babycham
Today is the birthday of Francis Showering (July 10, 1912-September 5, 1995). Showering was an English brewer. His family company, Showerings, invented Babycham, a light, sparkling perry, launched in 1953 and originally marketed as “genuine champagne perry”.

Mr-Showering-1

Here’s Showering’s obituary from The Independent in 1995:

Francis Showering was a remarkable man who achieved extraordinary success in the drinks industry over many years. He was still in harness as chairman of the drinks company Brothers Drinks at the time of his death, aged 83.

Born at Shepton Mallet, in Somerset, in 1912, Francis Showering was one of four brothers whose first employment at an early age was with their parents, who were innkeepers in Shepton Mallet, brewing beer and cider to their own requirements and for sale to other licensed houses in the district. Business was highly competitive. As a small concern they were overshadowed by the regional and national brewers and were also unable to sell their ciders against the national brands. During the Second World War they kept the business going in spite of shortage of raw materials and somehow built up a delivery fleet of mainly elderly vehicles which were sustained by an innovative transport department.

After the war they again suffered the frustration of lacking outlets for their products, and Francis Showering, by then managing director, turned to Perry as a potential for breaking into the brewer-dominated licensed trade. Sparkling Champagne Perry in baby bottles became the brand Babycham, and in due course became the drinks industry’s marketing success of the century.

babycham-coaster-3

First, however, it had to be established as a quality product and Showering excelled in the meticulous supervision of the production process to give an attractive sparkling drink well packaged and with a long shelf-life. Marketing and customer service received his equally uncompromising attention, with the result that, after extensive testing in local markets, Babycham was launched nationally in the early 1950s and became a cult drink for women in pubs and clubs. With the sprightly little Bambi deer symbol, Babycham glasses and cocktail cherry, this was exactly the drink that millions of women were waiting for. The simple slogan “I’d love a Babycham” said it all, and they loved it enough to consume over 4 billion bottles in the next 30 years.

The Showerings offered shares to the public in 1959. The issue was over- subscribed. Not only did it increase the wealth of the family but the creation of a public company gave Francis Showering and his brothers the means of acquiring other companies in the drinks industry. William Gaymer, Vine Products, Whiteways, and Britvic fruit juices were among those acquisitions, and the largest came in 1966 with the takeover, after a considerable battle, of Harvey’s of Bristol which brought with it world-wide interests in wines and spirits.

babycham-coaster-2

In 1968 Allied Breweries, already much involved in the drinks industry apart from brewing, made an agreed bid for Showerings Vine Products and Whiteways Ltd of pounds 108m. Thus the original shareholders in the Showerings company were rewarded yet again, and Francis Showering could take all credit for that.

Initially, the marriage was not an easy one. The different cultures of the two groups had to be reconciled and that took several years, but in no way inhibited the continued growth of the combined company. Showering’s nephew Keith Showering (later Sir Keith) became chairman in 1975. After seven years in office he died suddenly in 1982, when Francis became vice- chairman and continued to support the company in every possible way.

Francis Showering was a man of great determination and strength of character. The success of Babycham entitled him to have uncompromising views on the production and marketing of drinks generally, and the activities of the group in particular, and he could be relied upon to make those views known. Yet he was also a good listener, and when convinced of the loyalty of his colleagues gave it back in full measure.

babycham-coaster-1

He was also generous to the extreme. His loyalty and generosity to Shepton Mallet are evident in the modern development of the town centre, at his own expense. One of his great pleasures was entertaining at his house on the Beaulieu River, and aboard his motor cruiser Silver Cavalier, which gave him further opportunities to pursue perfection in maintenance and navigation.

Showering was appointed CBE in 1982; it was a reflection of his work for the community in West Country agriculture and at Shepton Mallet as well as his success in building a whole business structure on that little bottle of Babycham.

Sir Keith Showering had two daughters and four sons. In his closing years, through the formation with these four great-nephews of a new drinks company, Brothers Drinks, which he chaired, Francis Showering saw and encouraged, the possibility of an experience for them such as he and his brothers had had, and so much enjoyed.

Showerings
From left; Ralph and Keith Showering, R. N. Coate, Herbert, Francis and Arthur Showering, at the time of the ‘merger’ of the two cider makers.

This is a short history of Babycham from his Wikipedia page:

In the 1940s, the company developed a process to produce perry — a form of cider made from fermented pear juice – and created a low-alcohol sparking drink that was christened Babycham. The new drink was marketed mainly at young women, and sold in small bottles to be served in a champagne saucer – “the genuine champagne perry sparkling in its own glamorous glass”. After disputes with French champagne produces, including a court case in 1978, H P Bulmer Ltd v J Bollinger SA which held that marketing of a similar sparkling cider was not confusing, the reference to champagne was eventually prohibited by EU rules on protected designation of origin.

The drink became very popular, with its advertising slogan “I’d love a Babycham” and logo of a small deer. To serve the burgeoning demand, the company bought pear orchards across the West Midlands, and planted new pear orchards in Somerset. Output in Shepton Mallet reached 108,000 bottles an hour in 1966, and new plants were opened in Ireland and Belgium.

babycham-advert

Babycham

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: Cider, Great Britain, UK

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”.

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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.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: England, Great Britain, UK

Beer Birthday: Martyn Cornell

June 16, 2025 By Jay Brooks

zythophile
Today would have been the 73rd birthday of Martyn Cornell, but unfortunately he passed away suddenly earlier this month. Martyn was an English beer writer who wrote online at the Zythophile. Martyn was one of my favorite brewing historians. His scholarship, research and skill are second to none. I had the pleasure of meeting him and sharing a few pints during a trip to Burton-on-Trent a few years ago, where we met up in London before taking the train north to Marston’s. And we’ve seen ran into each other a few times since then, including in Copenhagen. Join me in drinking a toast to Martyn today.

Me and Martyn, sharing a pint at London’s Perseverance in 2008.
Martyn with Firestone Walker’s Matt Brynildson, at St. Pancras Station, also in 2008.
copenhagen
Martyn with a gaggle of beer writers a few years in Copenhagen.

Filed Under: Birthdays Tagged With: UK

Beer Birthday: David Walker

May 20, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the 61st birthday of David Walker, co-founder of Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Originally from Great Britain, David married co-founder Adam Firestone’s sister, and moved to California. The two brothers-in-law began homebrewing on the family’s winery property and decided to start a brewery business together in 1996. I first met David over ten years ago and I carried his beer at BevMo from the beginning. But I’ve gotten to know him better in the last few years and he’s become one of my favorite people in the industry. Join me in wishing David a very happy birthday.

Rich Norgrove and Brian Hunt with David at my 60th birthday party a few years ago.
Vinnie Cilurzo, David,, Matt Brynildson, and his wife, David’s wife, and Natalie Cilurzo at the 2018 Firestone Walker Invitational.
Travis Smith and Mike Sardina, both from Societe Brewing of San Diego, with David at the Firestone Walker Invitational in 2016.
In 2014, I was in Belgium to judge the Brussels Beer Challenge and walking the streets of Brussels late at night randomly ran into David and his wife taking some Firestone Walker employees on a trip to Belgium.
In 2017 on a family vacation to Santa Barbara we made a quick detour to visit Firestone Walker’s Barrelworks and happily discovered that David was there and was able to show us around.
Matt Brynildson, Jamie Smith, and David at A Night Of Ales Beer Dinner at the Toronado in 2009.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: California, Great Britain, UK

Beer Birthday: Steve Parkes

April 21, 2025 By Jay Brooks

american-brewers-guild-wh
Today is the 65th birthday of Steve Parkes. Steve owns and runs the American Brewers Guild, which trains brewers. I’ve known Steve for a number of years now and he’s one of my favorite Brits in the industry. I had the pleasure of writing a profile of him for Beer Advocate magazine a few years ago, from which I learned the following. Steve studied brewing sciences at Heriot-Wyatt University in Edinburgh and worked at several small UK breweries before moving to Maryland to open British Brewing (later known as Oxford Brewing). He then moved to California and created Red Nectar for Humboldt Brewing, which is also where he caught the teaching bug. Eventually buying the ABG school in 1999, several years ago making the leap to running the school full-time. In 2009, Steve was awarded the Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing by the Brewers Association at CBC in Boston. Steve said at the time. “It’s gratifying when someone notices what you’re been doing every day. It just feels tremendous, like standing on the shoulder of giants. The willingness to share is the best part of this industry. I love being part of a working community that thinks like that. It makes you a better person.” Join me in wishing Steve a very happy birthday.

Pete Brown and Steve Parkes
Pete Brown and Steve at the GBBF in 2009.

parkes-cantillon
Steve at Cantillon in Brussels.

parkes-rodenbach
Enjoying a Rodenbach.

parkes-chicken
Words fail me. Happy birthday Steve. [Note: Last three Photos Purloined from Facebook.]

Filed Under: Birthdays Tagged With: Education, UK, Vermont

Beer Birthday: Des De Moor

April 20, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the 64th birthday of Des de Moor, who’s a London-based freelance beer writer. I honestly can’t recall exactly when we met, but we’ve been judging together at beer competitions and attending other beer events around the world for a number of years, and Des is great fun to share a pint with. He’s also the author of the CAMRA Guide to London’s Best Beer Pubs & Bars. Join in wishing Des a very happy birthday.

With a pint of Harvey’s Sussex Bitter.
Des from Flagship February in 2019.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: England, Great Britain, UK

Historic Beer Birthday: Michael Jackson

March 27, 2025 By Jay Brooks

jackson
Today would have been Michael Jackson’s 83rd birthday. I first met Michael in the early 1990s, shortly after my first beer book was published. He is all but single-handedly responsible for the culture of better beer that exists today. He began writing about good beer in the 1960s and 70s and his writing has influenced (and continues to influence) generations of homebrewers and commercial brewers, many of whom were inspired to start their own breweries by his words. There are few others, if any, that have been so doggedly persistent and passionate about spreading the word about great beer. I know some of my earliest knowledge and appreciation of beer, and especially its history and heritage, came from Michael’s writings. Michael passed away in August 2007, nearly 14 years ago. I still miss him, and I suspect I’m not the only one. A few years ago, J.R. Richards’ documentary film about Michael Jackson, Beer Hunter: The Movie, debuted, which I helped a tiny bit with as a pioneer sponsor.

I did an article several years ago for Beer Connoisseur, for their Innovator’s Series, entitled Michael Jackson: The King of Beer Writers, A personal look back at the man who made hunting for beer a career. I reached out to a number of people who also knew Michael for their remembrances as well as my own, and as a result I’m pretty pleased with the results (although the original draft was almost twice as long).

I’ll again be playing some jazz and having a pint of something yummy in his honor, which has become my tradition for March 27, which I’ve also started declaring to be “Beer Writers Day.” Join me in drinking a toast to Michael Jackson, the most influential modern beer writer who’s ever lived.

At GABF in 2005, still wearing the same glasses. But my, oh my, have I changed. Sheesh.

mj-gdivide
At the Great Divide Brewing’s media party in Denver over fifteen years ago.

m-jackson-2
On stage accepting the first beer writing awards from the Brewers Association with Jim Cline, GM of Rogue, Stan Hieronymus, who writes Real Beer’s Beer Therapy among much else, and Ray Daniels, formerly of the Brewers Association.

mj-bf
With Carolyn Smagalski receiving an award at Pilsner Urquell.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: England, Great Britain, UK, Writing

Beer Birthday: Steve Wellington

March 22, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the 81st birthday of Steve Wellington. He “started working for Bass in 1965, a year after the Worthington’s brewery was demolished, and brewed both Bass and Worthington’s beers. He left Bass to run his own business, teaching people how to brew at home, then returned in 1994 to run the White Shield microbrewery as part of the Brewing Museum in Burton. He brewed some of the beers Burton had lost: Worthington’s E, Imperial Stout, Barley Wine, and the legendary Worthington’s White Shield.” In 2007, he was named “Brewer of the Year’ by the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group in 2007 and Guild of British Beer Writers’ Brewer of the Year in 2004. I met him shortly after that, when I visited Marston’s in Burton-on-Trent, accompanying Matt Brynildson on a trip to do a collaboration beer. He was very generous with his time and showed us around his brewery. He then retired several times, as many as five (according to Roger Protz), the last time in 2018. When he retired previously, in 2011, Pete Brown referred to him as the “Jedi Master Brewer of Worthington White Shield,” and that sums him up nicely. I’ve run into Steve at least one another time, and he’s a great person. Join me in wishing Steve a very happy birthday.

Steve in the Worthington brewery when I met him.
Steve when he retired in 2011.
Wellington with a stash of ancient beer that was found in a vault under the streets of Burton upon Trent in 2007.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: England, Great Britain, UK

Historic Beer Birthday: William Worthington

March 21, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of William H. Worthington (March 21, 1723-1800). Actually, it’s the date of his baptism, but that’s as close as we know, and, strangely, no one seems to have recorded the day he passed away and all we know is it was sometime in 1800. In 1761, he founded the Worthington Brewery in Burton-on-Trent, with the help of his wife Ann Tarratt, when “he purchased a brewery in the High Street for 320 pounds from Richard Cummings of Repton.”

The Worthington brand was purchased from Bass by the American brewing company Coors in 2002, which following a merger became Molson Coors in 2005. Worthington’s White Shield IPA has continued to be brewed since 1829. In 2010, Molson Coors opened the William Worthington microbrewery, which brews historical and seasonal beers.

The Worthington Brewery c. 1899.

Here’s the early history of the brewery, from Wikipedia:

William Worthington (1723–1800) was born at Orton on the Hill in Leicestershire, the fourth child of William Worthington (1687–1742), yeoman farmer, and his wife, Elizabeth. In 1744, he moved to Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire where he worked as a cooper at Joseph Smith’s brewery. In 1760, Worthington purchased the brewery from Smith’s successor, Richard Commings, for £320 (equivalent to £50,000 as of 2019).

By the 1780s, the brewery probably had an annual output of around 1,500 barrels, similar to the rival breweries of Benjamin Wilson and Michael Bass. Throughout the eighteenth century, Worthington sales were mostly of porter, directed towards the Baltic market, which was transported via narrowboat through the River Trent to the Port of Hull. Largely as a result of this trade, by the time of Worthington’s death in 1800, Worthington & Co. ranked among the largest of the provincial breweries.

And this account of the brewery is from the Oxford Companion to Beer, written by my friend Tim Hampson.

Worthington Brewery was established by William Worthington in the English town of Burton-on-Trent in 1744. It became one of a handful of companies to trade lucratively with the Baltic states along with the better-known Burton entrepreneurial brewers run by the Wilson, Sketchley, Bass, and Evans families. By the 1820s a worsening relationship with Napoleon Bonaparte soured much of this trade, and an alternative market had to be found.

Since at least the 1780s the East India Company had exported beers to the Indian sub-continent, following in the wake of the administrators and troops who left the United Kingdom to work in settlements there. Records show that some of the first shipments took place in 1697.

The trade was dominated by London brewer Abbot & Hodgsons, but the Burton brewers recognized a business opportunity when they saw one. When the London brewer faltered, the trade quickly became dominated by Burton brewers Bass and Allsop, and, to a lesser extent, Worthington. They first began to imitate the London brewers’ beer but discovered that a Burton IPA had the attribute of arriving in Calcutta pale, clear, and sparkling. See burton-on-trent and india pale ale. Sometime around the start of the 20th century the term “India pale ale” disappeared from White Shield’s label and became known by its heart shield and dagger label design, which was first registered as a trademark in 1863.

Worthington was never one of the big Burton brewers and was subsumed within the growing Bass empire in 1927. Somehow, nonetheless, the beer survived as a bottled beer. It was a curiosity as it still contained yeast in the bottle, long after the practice of bottle-conditioning had largely disappeared from British brewing. Drinkers’ conversations often focused on whether the beer should be poured clear or have the yeast tipped into the glass too. Many beer enthusiasts have commented upon the beer’s ability to age well, gaining character in the bottle over a year or two.

Blue plaque at the Unicorn Inn, Orton-on-the-Hill, August 2017. (Photo: Steve Peck)

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: England, Great Britain, History, UK

Beer Birthday: Lucy Corne-Duthie

March 4, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the 46th birthday of Lucy Corne, a.k.a. Lucy Corne-Duthie, who’s a beer writer in South Africa, although she was originally born in Great Britain. She first began writing travel books, before moving on to beer in her adopted home of South Africa, writing African Brew: Exploring the Craft of South African Beer and Beer Safari: A journey through the craft breweries of South Africa. She also used to go by the moniker Brewmistress. I first met Lucy in Nashville during World Beer Cup judging when she attended one our beer writers guild seminars. We also worked together on Flagship February, and last year I was happy to join her in South Africa to judge the African Beer Cup, a continent-wide competitions she co-founded and helps to run. But I spent even more time with her in Germany and Belgium for the Brussels Beer Challenge and a press trip directly afterwards through Flanders. She’s a great ambassador for craft beer, not only in South Africa but the world. Join me in wishing Lucy a very happy birthday.

Lucy and me at Banana Jam.
Lucy with Emily Sauter (whose birthday is also today) and me in Belgium last year.
Lucy, with Pete Slosberg, Greg Casey, and me at the judge’s after-party at the Afro-Caribbean Brewery.
On our to way to Eupen, we stopped for a quick look-see in Maastricht with Marek Kaminski, Em Sauter, me, Lucy and Jan Lichota
At the very end of our press trip through Flanders. From left: Edu Villegas, me, Lucy, Stijn Van Houdt, Jaime Ojeda Selamé, Stephen Beaumont, and Andy Crouch.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: Great Britain, South Africa, UK

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