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Higsons was a brewery in Liverpool, England, founded in 1780 and closed by Whitbread in 1990. Higsons beer was brewed in Sheffield and Durham after closure before being discontinued. The brand has been revived in the 21st century.
Higsons Brewery was formed in 1780 at 64 Dale Street, Liverpool. The company brewed beer at this site until 1914, when it moved to the Windsor Brewery in Upper Parliament Street.
In 1918, the brewery was bought by J. Sykes & Company. The combined company began to expand further, acquiring several public houses on the Wirral and the Spraggs Brewery in 1919. In 1923, the company bought the newly merged Walker Cains' Brewery in Liverpool's Stanhope Street following that company's decision to focus production at its Warrington brewery. There was one last push for expansion in 1927, when the firm acquired Joseph Jones & Co. in Knotty Ash. A further 70 public houses were added as a result.
In 1962, Higsons purchased a new head office in North Street, Liverpool. 1974 saw the brewery merge with James Mellor & Sons. In 1978, Higsons acquired Bent's Brewery, which was based next to its North Street head office. The vendor was the Bass Brewery. Boddingtons of Manchester acquired Higsons in 1985 but decided to abandon brewing in 1989 to focus on its pubs. Boddingtons' brewing arm was sold to Whitbread in 1990 which subsequently closed the Higsons Stanhope brewery.
In 2005, the former Mayflower Brewery in Wigan, originally run by a former Higsons brewing chemist, was commissioned to recreate the original Higsons Bitter in a series of test brews. The beer was subsequently produced in Liverpool before production ended.
The beer was later produced by the Liverpool Organic Brewery in 2011 before the licence to produce the brand ended. [1]
In December 2015, the Liverpool Echo reported that a company called Higsons Brewery Limited had applied for planning permission to convert two vacant warehouses in Liverpool into a brewery with a distillery, visitor centre, shop and sampling hall. [2] Higsons Brewery Ltd is owned by the former managing director of the Caledonian Brewery Stephen Crawley. As well as his 25 years' experience in the brewing industry, Stephen grew up on the Wirral and his wife controls the company which owns the Higsons brand. [3] In August 2017, it was reported that work on the new premises had begun. [4] In December 2017, H1780 opened. It comprises a brewery brewing Higsons and Love Lane beers, gin distillery, three bars and a kitchen. The H in the name is for Higsons and 1780 is the year that Higsons was founded. [5] Four Higsons beers are now produced: Bitter Ale, Pale Ale, Amber Ale and Pilsner
Brains is a regional brewery based in Cardiff, Wales. It was founded in 1882 by Samuel Arthur Brain. At its peak, the company controlled more than 250 pubs in South Wales, Mid Wales and the West Country but the brewer sold most of its pub estate in 2022. The company took over Crown Buckley Brewery in Llanelli in 1997 and Hancock's Brewery in 1999. In 2000, Brains moved to the former Hancock's Brewery just south of Cardiff Central railway station. The Old Brewery, in Cardiff city centre, has been developed into a modern bar and restaurant complex.
Boddingtons Brewery was a regional brewery in Manchester, England, which owned pubs throughout the North West. Boddingtons was best known for Boddingtons Bitter (Boddies), a straw-golden, hoppy bitter which was one of the first beers to be packaged in cans containing a widget, giving it a creamy draught-style head.
Wychwood Brewery was a brewery and pub chain based in Witney, Oxfordshire, England. the brand is currently owned owned by Carlsberg Marston's. Hobgoblin, a 5.2% abv brown ale, was the company's flagship brand.
Whitbread is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread in partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, with premises in London at the junction of Old Street and Upper Whitecross Street, along with a brewery in Brick Lane, Spitalfields. Samuel Whitbread bought out his partners, expanding into porter production with the purchase of a brewery in Chiswell Street, and the company had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s.
Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation.
Cains was a brewery in Liverpool, England, founded in 1858 by Robert Cain. The company merged with Peter Walker & Son in 1921 to form Walker Cains. Peter Walker & Son had a large brewery in Warrington so sold its Liverpool brewery to Higsons in 1923. Boddingtons of Manchester took over in 1985. In 1990, Whitbread acquired Boddington's brewing operations and closed the brewery. It was reopened by GB Breweries, who became part of Bryggerigruppen in 1991, and in 2002 was sold to Gardener-Shaw for £3.4 million.
Morland was a brewery in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, and the second oldest brewer in England, until it was bought by Greene King in 2000. Morland's beers include Hen's Tooth, Old Speckled Hen, Tanner's Jack and Morland's Original.
Mitchells & Butlers plc runs circa 1,784 managed pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom. The company's headquarters are in Birmingham, England. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Vaux Brewery was a major brewer and hotel owner based in Sunderland, England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was taken over by Whitbread in 2000.
Worthington Brewery, also known as Worthington & Co. and Worthington's, is a British brewer founded by William Worthington in Burton upon Trent in 1761. It is the second oldest continuously-brewed British beer brand, after Whitbread. The principal product is Worthington Creamflow, a nitrokeg bitter.
The Porterhouse Brewing Company is a brewing company based in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1996 by cousins Oliver Hughes and Liam Lahart who opened Ireland's first craft brew pub in Dublin. The company's brewery is now in Glasnevin, providing beers to its outlets in Dublin, London and New York. It also sells its products via several supermarket chains.
Stephen Crawley is a former Scottish cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler. In 1981 he played for England Schools who were captained by Hugh Morris and included Peter Moores, the future England coach. He spent his early career playing second XI cricket for Lancashire and was 12th man for the 5th day of the 1982 Test match v India after Ian Botham had broken his toe) and Leicestershire in addition to minor counties cricket for Cheshire, for whom he played a handful of List A matches.
Stones Brewery was a brewery founded in 1868 by William Stones in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, and purchased by Bass Brewery in 1968. After its closure in 1999, Stones Bitter has continued to be produced by Molson Coors.
Nottingham Brewery, is a microbrewery located in Nottingham, England. The name Nottingham Brewery refers to two different breweries in the Nottingham area. The first was established in 1847 and situated on Mansfield Road, next door to The Rose of England public house. The Brewery was demolished to make for York House, which itself was demolished in 2016. The current brewery was established in 2001 in Radford.
Oldham Brewery Ltd was an English brewery based in Oldham, Lancashire. It was founded in 1873.
Camerons Brewery is an English brewery established by John William Cameron in Stranton, Hartlepool, County Durham, in 1865. It is the largest independent brewer in the North East of England, with a brewery capacity of 1.5 million hectolitres and a tied estate of 75 houses. It is one of the oldest industrial concerns in Hartlepool, and has historically been one of the largest employers.
Castle Eden Brewery was a brewery that operated in the village of Castle Eden in County Durham. It was best known for Castle Eden Ale, which continues to be produced at Seaham.
Peerless Brewing Company is an independent microbrewery based in Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, producing cask brewed beers by combining traditional techniques and fine ingredients with a modern tang.
Boddingtons Bitter is a straw-golden bitter beer originally produced by Boddington & Co at their Strangeways Brewery in Manchester. It is now owned by AB-InBev and produced at their brewery in Samlesbury, Lancashire.
Ewart Agnew Boddington was an English brewing executive, who served as chairman and President of Boddington's and President of the Institute of Brewing.
