Hoskins Brothers Ales was a small brewery based in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. It had been known as Hoskins and Oldfield, and before that as T. Hoskins Ltd. [1]
The brewery was founded by Jabez Penn who built the brewery in Beaumanor Road in 1895. In 1904, Tom Hoskins joined him as a partner but their partnership only lasted two years before Hoskins took control. In 1983 the brewery was sold and Philip & Stephen Hoskins and another partner Simon Oldfield established Hoskins & Oldfield Brewery Limited. The Hoskins brewery was acquired in February 2000 by Archer's and closed down. Hoskins' beers were subsequently brewed at Swindon, Wiltshire, Archer's base of operations until, in 2009, Archer's itself went into administration and now no longer exists. [2]
The first edition of the Good Beer Guide reported "Only one pub - but excellent ale". The single pub owned by the brewery was the Red Lion at Market Bosworth, 10 miles from the brewery; in 1973, draught beer was also available at the off-licence attached to the brewery and in the free trade in the Leicester area. [1]
Beer is the oldest and most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after potable water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal grains—most commonly from malted barley, though wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. During the brewing process, fermentation of the starch sugars in the wort produces ethanol and carbonation in the resulting beer. Most modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilizing agent. Other flavouring agents such as gruit, herbs, or fruits may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, the natural carbonation effect is often removed during processing and replaced with forced carbonation.
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just over 150,000 members, it is the largest single-issue consumer group in the UK, and is a founding member of the European Beer Consumers Union (EBCU).
A pub is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in the late 17th century, and was used to differentiate private houses from those which were open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:
Newcastle Brown Ale is a brown ale, originally brewed in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Launched in 1927 by Colonel Jim Porter after three years of development, the 1960 merger of Newcastle Breweries with Scottish Brewers afforded the beer national distribution and sales peaked in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. The beer underwent a resurgence in the late 1980s and early 1990s with student unions selling it. By the late 1990s, the beer was the most widely distributed alcoholic product in the UK. By the 2000s, the majority of sales were in the United States, although it still sells 100 million bottles annually in the UK. Brewing moved in 2005 from Newcastle to Dunston, Tyne and Wear, in 2010 to Tadcaster, and in 2017 to the Heineken Brewery in Zoeterwoude, the Netherlands. As of 2019, it is also brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, California, and Chicago, Illinois, for the American market.
Tooheys is a brewery in the suburb of Lidcombe, in Sydney, Australia. It produces beers and ciders under the Tooheys and Hahn Brewery trademarks, and is part of the Lion beverages group which was acquired by the Japanese Kirin Company in 2009.
Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis on enthusiasm, new flavours, and varied brewing techniques.
Brains is a regional brewery based in Cardiff, Wales. It was founded in 1882 by Samuel Arthur Brain. The company controls more than 250 pubs in South Wales, Mid Wales and the West Country. 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.
India pale ale (IPA) is a hoppy beer style within the broader category of pale ale.
Bass Brewery was founded in 1777 by William Bass in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, once the highest-selling beer in the UK. By 1877, Bass had become the largest brewery in the world, with an annual output of one million barrels. Its pale ale was exported throughout the British Empire, and the company's iconic red triangle became the UK's first registered trade mark.
Greene King is a large pub retailer and brewer. It is based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The company owns pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by CK Assets in October 2019.
Wychwood Brewery is a brewery in Witney, Oxfordshire, England, owned by Marston's. The company's flagship brand is Hobgoblin, a 5.2% abv brown ale.
Fuller's Brewery in Chiswick in the west of London was a family-run business from its foundation in 1845 until 2019. In that year, the brewing division of Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC was sold to the Japanese international beverage giant Asahi.
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.
Timothy Taylor's is a family-owned regional brewery founded in 1858 by Timothy Taylor. Originally based in Cook Lane, Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. Timothy Taylor's moved to larger premises in 1863 at Knowle Spring in Keighley, where they remain.
Deschutes Brewery is a craft brewery in the northwest United States, located in Bend, Oregon. Founded in 1988 as a brew pub, it is known for such products as Black Butte Porter and Mirror Pond Pale Ale. In 2008, the brewery opened a second pub in the Pearl District of Portland, Oregon. Deschutes Brewery ships beer to 28 states, the District of Columbia, and around the world from its main brewing facility. The brewery is named after the Deschutes River, which runs through Oregon. As of 2016, Deschutes was the eighth-largest craft brewery and fifteenth-largest overall brewery in the U.S., producing 250,000 US beer barrels (290,000 hL) in 2012.
Nethergate Brewery was established in 1986 in Clare, Suffolk, England by former Head Brewer Ian Hornsey and his business partner Dick Burge. In 2005 the brewery site was moved across the county border to Pentlow in Essex. In 2010 the brewery was sold to anonymous buyers. Since 2017 the brewery has been based back in Suffolk, in the hamlet of Rodbridge.
Everards is a regional brewery based in Leicester and founded in 1849 by William Everard and Thomas Hull. It produces cask ales and owns over 170 tenanted pubs, mainly around the Leicestershire area. Its chairman is fifth generation Richard Everard.
Maclay's Brewery was a Scottish brewery based in Alloa, Clackmannanshire until 2001. It remains a beer brand in Scotland and Canada, produced under contract at other breweries in each country.
Beer in the United Kingdom has a long history, and has quite distinct traditions. Historically the main styles were top-fermented Bitters, Porters, Stouts and Milds, but after World War II lagers took over half the market by volume. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) was founded in 1971 and has encouraged the preservation and revival of traditional styles of ale. In particular CAMRA has promoted cask conditioned beer, which completes its maturation in casks in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery. As of 2014 the UK drank 634 million imperial pints of cask ale, representing 60% of ale in pubs and restaurants and 17% of all beer in pubs. In total 42.42 million hectolitres of beer were produced in 2013 of which 48% was sold in the off-trade.
Benskins was the pre-eminent brewery in Watford, and Hertfordshire's biggest brewer until its acquisition by Ind Coope in 1957.