Historic Beer Birthday: Timothy Taylor

August 6, 2024 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Timothy Taylor (August 6, 1826-January 1898). He was born in Bingley, part of West Riding in Yorkshire, England. In 1858, he founded a brewery with two partners, local businessmen James Shackleton and John Naylor, but by 1863 the partnership was dissolved and it became known as Timothy Taylor & Co. His sons, Percy and Robert Henry, joined him in the family business, and today the brewery remains in the Taylor family.

Here’s part of the early history of the brewery from the UK journal Brewery History:

Timothy Taylor, born on the sixth of August 1826 at Bingley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, was the eldest son of Richard and Elizabeth Taylor (neé Petyt). The family lived at Myrtle Place, Bingley, in 1841. Richard’s trade was tailoring and at that time they had an apprentice living with them. By the following census, Timothy had joined his father in business, then at premises on the Main Street, Bingley.
Between the years 1854 and 1857 a branch of Taylor & Sons, tailors and drapers, became established in Low Street, Keighley, with Timothy moving there, presumably to manage the outlet. The town had a population of 18,259 in 1851, with its main industries being the manufacture of textiles and engineering. Drinkers were able to slake their thirsts at eighteen fully licensed public houses and nine beerhouses. Three pubs were situated in Low Street, the thoroughfare where Timothy had set up shop.
Next door to his premises was the business and residence of Robert Aked, printer, stationer and stamp distributor.
Robert had one daughter, Charlotte, who married Timothy on the seventeenth of September, 1857 at the parish church. The following year Timothy commenced brewing in Cook Lane, a road that adjoined Low Street.
Whether his father-in-law instigated this new career move or was entirely of Timothy’s own volition it is not known, obviously he would have seen the amount of trade done by the local inns. He continued with his tailoring and drapery business, which had by 1861 been removed a short distance along Low Street, to a point where it became Change Gate. The company purchased their first public houses during 1859, the Volunteer’s Arms, Lawkholme Lane, Keighley, and New Inn at Bocking.
Richard Metcalf of Barking, Essex, presumably a property speculator, offered for sale in May 1863, the Knowle Park Estate, either in one lot or several lots. Timothy bought an area of land 5,000 square yards, forming part of Walker Royd Close, opposite Knowle Park Farm. The purchase of this green field site, about half a mile from the Cook Lane property provided the opportunity to move away from what was at that time the rather insanitary centre of Keighley and secure a pure supply of brewing liquor. An application to build at the Knowle came before the Keighley Local Board of Health in June 1863, sometime after that date Knowle Spring House, brewhouse and maltkiln were erected. The dwelling house was built as two homes for the Taylor and Aked families. Ownership of the land changed in September 1863 to Robert Aked. In this rural idyll, Timothy also farmed and when he later advertised for a malt kiln worker, one with agricultural experience was preferred.
By 1867 it appears he had severed all connections with the textile trade and a couple of years later showed his commitment to the local brewing trade by joining the Bradford and District Brewers’ Association’s first committee.

And this early history is from the UK blog Make Mine A Magee’s:

The founder of the firm, Timothy was born in Bingley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on the 6th of August 1826 to Richard and his wife Elizabeth. Richard Taylor was, appropriately enough a Tailor, who at the time of Timothys birth was living on Myrtle Place in Bingley; and his eldest son joined him in his business. Soon after leaving school in 1841, where he quickly learned his fathers trade and went on to become the companys salesman in the local towns, and by 1853 the concern was known as Richard Taylor & Sons with premises on Main Street in Bingley and a second branch opening in Keighley in 1854; where Timothy was joined by his younger brother, Henry. However after two years the business partnership was dissolved; with Henry Taylor moving back to help run his fathers business in Bingley as a separate concern. The neighbours of Timothy at his premises on Low Street in Keighley included another local businessman, Robert Aked whose daughter Charlotte was to marry Timothy Taylor, in the parish church of Keighley on September 17, 1857.
In 1858, a family tragedy (the death of Timothy`s brother-in-law, Charles) quite probably gave him the inspiration to enter the brewing trade; as later in 1858, he entered into a partnership with local businessmen James Shackleton and John Naylor An old barn and stables on Cook Lane in Keighley were chosen as suitable for conversion to a brewery and Timothy commenced producing his ales later that year. The business began to prosper and by 1861, the census returns show that Timothy Taylor was listed as a Brewer, employing 8 men and 1 boy; however in 1863, the partnership between Timothy and the other gentlemen was dissolved on the 22nd of April.
Later, in 1863, the estate of the Greenwood family in Keighley; Knowle Park was offered for sale by their agent, and Timothy was possessed of sufficient acumen to acquire a substantial portion of it; and in June of that year, an application was duly presented to the Keighley Board of Health to erect a new brewery and other structures; amongst which was Knowle Spring House, (The family home for many years). By 1867, Timothy had severed most of his close ties with the clothing trade and was a founder member of the first committee of The Bradford & District Brewers Association whose first meetings were held in that year. Sadly, Timothy Taylor passed away in January 1898; with the business carried on by his sons Robert Henry Taylor and Percy Taylor, and by 1911, rising demand for the brewery’s products saw an expansion of the brewery, with new buildings being erected to house a Mill, Mash Tun (which was in use until 2000), Copper and Hop Back (replaced in 1976).

Beer Birthday: Ben McFarland

August 5, 2024 By Jay Brooks

Today is UK beer writer Ben McFarland’s birthday. I first met Ben when he was over here working on the CAMRA beer guide to the west coast with Tom Sandham and Glenn Payne. We invited Ben to join us judging Double IPA’s at the Bistro’s Double IPA Festival, which I believe was something of a shock to the system for both Ben and Tom. These days he and Tom are The Thinking Drinkers, performing their “‘The Thinking Drinker’s Guide to Alcohol,’ a unique comedic drinking show that debuted at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe.'” Join me in wishing Ben a very happy birthday.

bistro-dipa07-2 Ben judging at the Double IPA Festival at the Bistro in Hayward while he was working on the CAMRA guide to the west coast of the U.S. in 2007.

McFarland-2 Taken at the CLASS Awards, by CLASS Magazine.

McFarland-1 Taken somewhere in the U.S. of A.

Ben and his writing partner, Tom Sandham.

Note: The last three photos were purloined from Facebook.

Beer Birthday: Adrian Tierney-Jones

July 19, 2024 By Jay Brooks

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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.

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Having another pint.

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In Leuven for the Brussels Beer Challenge last year: Adrian, with fellow Brits Tim Hampson, Tim Webb and Pete Brown.

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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.

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

Historic Beer Birthday: Glenn Payne

July 18, 2024 By Jay Brooks

Today would have been the 70th birthday of Glenn Payne, an Englishman who wore many beer hats, but unfortunately passed away seven 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.

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

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

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

Historic Beer Birthday: William Everard

July 13, 2024 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.
william-everard

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.

everards_tiger
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, 2024 By Jay Brooks

Today is the 56th 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: Francis Showering

July 10, 2024 By Jay Brooks

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”.

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.
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.
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.
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.

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.

Historic Beer Birthday: John Courage Jr.

June 26, 2024 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.

Beer In Ads #3859: Londoners Love It When It Pours

September 25, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Saturday’s ad is for “Foster’s Lager,” from 1983. This ad was made for Carlton & United, who made Foster’s Lager, although it was later part of AB-InBev but more recently was sold to Asahi. It was started by two American brothers who emigrated to Australia in 1886, and started selling it in 1889. In 1907, the Foster brothers merged with four other Melbourne breweries to created Carlton & United Breweries. The Foster’s brand barely sells in Australia, but began importing to the UK and the US in the early 1970s, and thanks to very successful advertising became a popular international brand. This one features a billboard for the UK market with an umbrella and the tagline “Londoners love it when it pours.”

Alexander Nowell & The Invention Of The Beer Bottle

July 13, 2017 By Jay Brooks

July 13, 1568 is often given as the date that the Dean of St Paul, Alexander Nowell invented the beer bottle. It’s almost certain that’s not correct. If you were writing a work of history you’d ignore what you couldn’t confirm, but if you’re only commemorating the event it’s as good a day as any to do so. The event in question was another fishing trip. Apparently, the theologian was quite the avid fisherman and “a keen angler.” Nowell’s contemporary, Izaak Walton — the author of The Compleat Angler — remarked of him that “this good man was observed to spend a tenth part of his time in angling; and also (for I have conversed with those which have conversed with him) to bestow a tenth part of his revenue, and usually all his fish, amongst the poor that inhabited near to those rivers in which it was caught; saying often, ‘that charity gave life to religion.'”

As for inventing the beer bottle, credit was apparently not given until after his death, by English churchman and historian Thomas Fuller, who wrote. “Without offence it may be remembered, that leaving a bottle of ale, when fishing, in the grass, he found it some days after, no bottle, but a gun, such the sound at the opening thereof: and this is believed (casualty is mother of more inventions than industry) the original of bottled ale in England.”

The best account, as usual, undoubtedly comes from Martyn Cornell on his Zythophile blog, in his article, A Short History of Bottled Beer:

While Nowell was parish priest at Much Hadham in Hertfordshire, around 20 miles north of London, in the early years of Elizabeth I, it is said that he went on a fishing expedition to the nearby River Ash, taking with him for refreshment a bottle filled with home brewed ale. When Nowell went home he left the full bottle behind in the river-bank grass. According to Thomas Fuller’s History of the Worthies of Britain, published a hundred years later, when Nowell returned to the river-bank a few days later and came across the still-full bottle, “he found no bottle, but a gun, such was the sound at the opening thereof; and this is believed (causality is mother of more inventions than industry) the original of bottled ale in England.”
The ale, of course, had undergone a secondary fermentation in the bottle, building up carbon dioxide pressure so that it gave a loud pop when Nowell pulled the cork out. Such high-condition ale must have been a novelty to Elizabethan drinkers, who knew only the much flatter cask ales and beers. However, Fuller’s story is fun, but it seems unlikely Nowell really was the person who invented bottled beer: it seems more than probable that brewers were experimenting generally with storing beer in glass bottles in the latter half of the 16th century, though there is no apparent evidence of commercial bottling until the second half of the 17th century, only bottling by domestic brewers.
Part of the problem was that the hand-blown glass bottles of the time could not take the strain of the CO2 pressure. Gervaise Markham, writing in 1615, advised housewife brewers that when bottling ale “you should put it into round bottles with narrow mouths, and then, stopping them close with corks, set them in a cold cellar up to the waist in sand, and be sure that the corks be fast tied with strong pack thread, for fear of rising out and taking vent, which is the utter spoil of the ale.”
(There is, incidentally, a garbled version of the “bottle as gun” tale which seems to have materialised in the late 19th century, and which conflates the bottled ale story with another about Nowell fleeing England in a hurry in the reign of Queen Mary, after he received a warning that his enemy Bishop Bonner, known as “Bloody Bonner”, was out to arrest him for heresy. For some reason, in this version of the story Nowell is called “Newell”.)

And this account is from Just Another Booze Blog:

It was a pleasant July day in 1568. Alexander Nowell, the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, in London, decided he wanted to do some fishing down by the river. He packed up all his fishing gear and tackle, the wife packed him a ham and cheese sandwich, and he grabbed his night crawlers and the new fishing lure he bought off of the Outdoor Channel. He was all set to go when he realized, what would go great with fishing? A beer! Because fishing without beer is like driving without beer. It’s just no fun. So he stopped by the corner pub on his way to the river and had them fill a glass bottle up with beer for him. He made sure they sealed it up good and tight with a cork so his horse wouldn’t get pulled over for an open container.
When done fishing, he accidentally left the still half full bottle on the river bank. Several days later (July 13th) he returned to do some more fishing, because he needed an excuse to get away from the wife for a while. He saw his old beer on the ground and thought “man, I could really go for some for that right now.” When he went to drink it, the cork opened with a loud bang (the beer had fermented further over the past few days). He found it to be extra fizzy and quite delicious.

Alexander Nowell, DD, Benefactor, Principal (1595), Dean of St Paul's
A 1595 portrait of Nowell at Brasenose College, at the University of Oxford.

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