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Cains Brewery Feature Following the successful campaign to keep Cain’s Brewing we thought we would take a look at Cain’s the Brewery and the beers. Robert Cain first arrived in Liverpool at the age of eighteen having been born in County Cork in 1826. From his pay as a merchant seaman he managed to accumulate enough funds to buy a pub with a brew house attached in Limekiln Lane. He quickly gained a reputation for his brewing skills and became known throughout the city for the quality of his beers. By 1878 demand for his ales was such that he acquired an old established brewery on the current site. A new brewery was built between 1883 and 1902 and was considered to be the most modern of the time. This is the landmark red brick brewery where Cains Ales are thankfully still brewed today. In 1911 Cains were merged with Walkers of Warrington this formed a new company known as Walker Cain Ltd. All production was transferred to Warrington and in 1923 the Stanhope Brewery was sold to Daniel Higson. In 1985 Boddingtons acquired the Brewery and in 1990 the Boddington brands were acquired by Whitbread, leaving the Brewery to close. In 1990 the Brewery was reopened by G.B. Brewers ltd and in 1991 and was renamed Robert Cain & Co Ltd. So what beers are available to us now? Cain’s produce a 3.2% Dark Mild which came joint in the bronze award in the Best Mild category on three occasions and Silver prize in the Champion Beer of Britain category 1997 at the Great British Beer Festival. This dark full-bodied mild has a distinctive and richly satisfying flavour all of its own; a smooth full flavoured truly dark mild with a rich creamy head. The distinctive taste of roasted malt and full body are balanced by the fresh hop character. Well worth a try if you spot it! Look out for the monthly specials and the rest of the Cain’s range at a pub near you! Brewery Bitter 3.5% well balanced, malty and bitter now called Dr. Duncan’s IPA. Traditional Bitter, 4% Malty with a hoppy finish. Formidable Ale 5% Straw hoppy dry and bitter. Superior Stout 4.8% Dry and bitter unfortunately this is only an occasional brew. Unaccredited Townes Brewery Feature The Budget has given small brewers a boost by reducing their duty on beer. So we decided to share a celebratory pint with Chesterfield’s own microbrewer Alan Wood of Townes Brewery. Alan is currently Chesterfield’s only microbrewer but he is amongst a group of people who have been given the seal of approval in the spring budget by Chancellor Gordon Brown. Alan is celebrating 8 years of brewing in Chesterfield, originally on Lockoford Lane in Chesterfield, hence the name Lockoford Bitter. The Brewery was established at Lockoford Lane in 1994 bringing brewing back to Chesterfield after a break of nearly 40 years. Then in 1998 he moved lock stock and literally barrels, to a room at the back of the bar at the Speedwell in Staveley, Chesterfield. Alan now produces 5 barrels (containing 180 gallons) of beer once to twice week. He therefore qualifies for the maximum reduction in duty in the budget, announced by the Chancellor. Alan enjoyed brewing as a hobby before moving from his job as a photography teacher to become a full time brewer. He now produces 4 regular beers plus a monthly special. Distribution is the key to survival, selling to the free trade has becomes harder, you have to have your own outlet. Hence the move from the unit at Lockoford Lane into the Speedwell Inn at Staveley, giving Alan a permanent outlet for his beers. How did the brewery be named Townes? The answer was in issue five of Innspire – Townes Van Zandt. Who’s he? As well as being real ale lovers Alan and his partners’ other social interest was live music. A few interested parties had been sat around for ages trying to think of a name when in 1994 they heard a gig in a Doncaster pub and it was clear. Townes Van Zandt was the one and Townes Brewery was named. Records show that the Speedwell Inn opened sometime during the 1860's, with the first brewery tie being with the Brampton Brewery of Chesterfield. In 1955 Brampton Brewery was bought by Warwick’s & Richardson’s Brewery of Newark, who in turn were taken over by John Smiths. Smiths sold the Speedwell in the 1980s to Mansfield Brewery, which closed the pub in 1996. The pub takes its name from the Speedwell colliery which, having opened in 1841, was the second oldest colliery in the Staveley area and has long since closed. In his book 'Staveley - My Native Town', local historian Arthur Court states that the names of the old collieries in the Staveley area recall that an important local family (the Barrows) were ship owners as well as ironwork/colliery owners and the Speedwell colliery was named after one of their ships. The doors were re-opened on 23 November 1998 after the pub was bought and refurbished by Townes. So, after a 43-year gap, drinkers can enjoy locally brewed beers at the Speedwell Inn. When Alan and his partners moved in, the place had been unoccupied for some time and a complete refurbishment was needed. Some investment and a lot of hard work later the Speedwell is a comfortable, clean, tastefully decorated and relaxing place to enjoy Alan’s beers. There is no jukebox or bandit to interfere with the serious business of drinking. The corridor ‘out the back’ containing the entrance to Townes Brewery is unusual in its décor, as the walls are papered using old copies of the national CAMRA monthly newspaper What’s Brewing. Small scale bottling has already begun with the first batch of Pynot Porter being committed to bottles. These were snapped up and a second batch will be ready shortly. It is hoped to have four regular cask conditioned beers in bottles for 2003. Joining Pynot Porter (4.5%) will be Muffin (4.8%) a premium bitter (5%) and a premium IPA (5%). There are thought to be 350 microbreweries in the country and most of the growth in this sector of the industry has happened in the past five to ten years. This action will stimulate more growth amongst pub brewers and boost employment as a result. Gordon Brown with massive lobbying from CAMRA has listened and identified an industry whose time has come. Unaccredited Woodforde Brewery -
Norfolk In July 2001 at the Great British Beer Festival at Olympia, Woodforde’s picked up another CAMRA award. This time it was the Silver Champion Best Bitter of Britain award, not as before for their Wherry or Norfolk Nog but for their 4.5% premium bitter Nelson’s Revenge. It is further acknowledgement, if that were needed, of the growing success of Woodforde’s Norfolk Ales. Ray Ashworth and Dr. David Crease established Woodforde’s in 1981, with the initial brewery located at an industrial unit at Bidewell Close, Drayton, Nr Norwich. In their words, “Woodforde’s was born out of the CAMRA philosophy and the policy of the company has never wavered... Good Quality Real Ale”. The company was named after Parson Woodforde, a noted 18th century clergyman from Weston Longville whose diaries revealed a passion for good food and good ale, which he liked to brew himself. The first commercial brew of Wherry Bitter was produced in April 1981. The brewery was moved to Erpingham in 1982, converting a disused stable block next to the Spread Eagle Public House. Despite an early fire, which gutted the premises and naturally halted production for some time, it was to be the home for the company for the next 7 years. One more move then in 1989 to larger premises at Woodbastwick, seven miles east of Norwich where disused buildings were converted into the new Broadland Brewery. Soon after the accolades started: Unaccredited This webpage was last updated on Sunday, 07 October 2007 |
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