Industry | Brewing |
---|---|
Founded | 2006 |
Defunct | 2017 |
Successors | Wells & Co Marston's |
Headquarters | , England |
Products | Beer |
Wells & Young's Brewery was formed in 2006 from a merger of the brewing operations of Charles Wells Ltd and Young's Brewery. Charles Wells initially had a 60% stake and Young's 40%. In 2011, Charles Wells took full control when it bought Young's 40% stake. [1] Wells & Young's is now responsible for brewing, distributing and marketing Charles Wells' and Young & Co's brands at the Eagle Brewery in Bedford. [2] [3] [4]
At the beginning of 2007, Wells and Young's made its first big investment and bought the Courage brands which included Courage Best and Courage Directors.
As well as brewing its own brands, the brewery contract brews other beers including Kirin Ichiban [5] and Estrella Damm. [6]
As well as selling its beers to Charles Wells and the Young's pubs, Wells and Young's supplies free trade and other pubs, as well as supermarkets. The company also distributes its products to the US, Canada, Russia, Japan, Europe and Australia.
Following a rebrand in 2015, the company traded as Charles Wells again, reuniting the different arms of the business under its founding name.
In 2017, Charles Wells sold the brewery and wine business to Marston's Brewery together with the Bombardier, McEwan's and Young's brands. The former Wells Brewery was renamed the Eagle Brewery by Marston's and in 2019 Young's rebranded its Bitter and Special as London Original and London Special respectively.
In a bid to move away from 'super strength' and to focus on the brewery's core brands, the Kestrel brand was sold in October 2012 to the company's managing director. [9]
Young's main brands are Young's Bitter (commonly known as Ordinary) renamed Young's London Original in 2019, a 3.7% abv bitter made with Red Tractor accredited Maris Otter and crystal malt and Fuggle and Golding hops; and Young's Special renamed Young's London Special in 2019, a 4.5% abv version of the Ordinary.
Bottle conditioned brands are Young's Bitter at 4.5% abv, Young's London Gold, and Young's Special London Ale, a 6.4% abv strong pale ale which was awarded a gold medal for bottle conditioned beer at the 1999 CAMRA Great British Beer Festival, and received a Grand Gold Medal at Monde Selection's World Quality Selections in 2010.
Bottled beers which are not bottle conditioned are: Young's Double Chocolate Stout, a 5.2% abv stout which contains dark chocolate essence and chocolate malt; and Young's Ram Rod, a 5% abv beer named after the Dorset Horn ram that lived in the Ram Brewery stables in Wandsworth, and on which the company's trademark is based;
Bottled beers Young's have brewed in the past include: Old Nick, a 7.2% abv barley wine; Young's St George's Ale, a 5.2% abv pale ale, dry hopped with English Pilgrim hops (occasionally available cask conditioned at 4.3% abv); Young's Winter Warmer; John Young's Christmas Ale; Young's Oatmeal Stout and Young's Christmas Pudding Ale.
Several Young's beers, including bottled mild ale Dirty Dick's, summer seasonal cask ale Golden Zest, Kew Brew and keg lager Young's Pilsner were discontinued as part of the rationalisation process that took place when Young & Co and Charles Wells brewing operations merged. Kew Brew has recently been relaunched as Kew Gold, a 4.8% abv bottle conditioned beer, with a donation from every purchase made to Kew Gardens. [10]
In January 2007, Wells & Young's bought the brewing and marketing rights of the Courage brands, Courage Directors, Mild, Light Ale and Best from Scottish & Newcastle. It has subsequently rekindled production of the famous 10% abv bottled Courage Imperial Russian Stout initially for sale in the USA. [11] S&N kept a minority stake in the brands until 2011. [12]
In late 2011, Wells and Young's Brewing Company purchased the Scottish McEwan's and Younger's brands from Heineken UK. This acquisition put Wells and Young's into the top three brewers in the UK.
Beers contract brewed and imported by Wells & Young's include:
Kirin Ichiban, a 5% abv pale lager, brewed under licence for the Japanese brewing company Kirin. It is brewed using the unique Ichiban Shibori brewing process, the most expensive in the world.
Estrella Damm – a 4.6% bottle and draught beer, now available in the UK. Wells and Young's import, market and distribute. Estrella Damm is brewed by Grupo Damm in Barcelona and is one of Spain's most popular beers.
Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed brand of Australian lager. It is owned by the Japanese brewing group Asahi Group Holdings, and is brewed under licence in a number of countries, including its biggest market, the UK, where the European rights to the brand are owned by Heineken International.
Adnams is a regional brewery founded in 1872 in Southwold, Suffolk, England, by George and Ernest Adnams. It produces cask ale and bottled beers. Annual production is around 85,000 barrels.
XXXX is a brand of Australian beer brewed in Milton, Brisbane, by Queensland brewers Castlemaine Perkins. It enjoys wide popularity in the state of Queensland, where it is commonly found on-tap in pubs and bars.
John Smith's Brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England, produces beers including John Smith's, the highest selling bitter in the United Kingdom since the mid-1990s.
Marston's plc is a British pub and hotel operator. Founded by John Marston in 1834, it is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Marston's disposed of its brewing operations in 2020, selling the assets to a newly formed joint venture with the Carlsberg Group to create the Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company (CMBC), in which Marston's plc holds a 40% share.
Greene King is a British pub and brewing company founded in 1799, currently based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The company also owns brands including Hungry Horse and Farmhouse Inns, as well other pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), until it was acquired by CK Assets in October 2019.
McEwan's is a brand of beer owned by Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company. It was originally brewed by William McEwan's Fountain Brewery in Edinburgh, Scotland. The McEwan's brand passed to Heineken in 2008 after their purchase of Scottish & Newcastle's British operations. Heineken sold the brand to Wells & Young's in 2011, who sold their brewing operation, including the McEwan brand to Marston's in 2017. Cans and bottles are now brewed in Bedford, England.
Fuller's Brewery in Chiswick, west London, England, is the former brewing division of Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC. It was a family-run business from its foundation in 1845 until 2019, when it 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, in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. Timothy Taylor's moved to larger premises in 1863 at Knowle Spring in Keighley, where they remain.
Young's is a British pub chain operating nearly 220 pubs.
Oriental Brewery or OB is a South Korean brewery currently owned by AB InBev, and initially founded by Doosan Group.
Robinsons Brewery is a family-run, regional brewery, founded in 1849 at the Unicorn Inn, Stockport, Cheshire, England.
Courage Brewery was an English brewery, founded by John Courage in 1787 in London, England.
Sharp's Brewery is a British brewery founded in 1994 in St Minver Lowlands, Rock, Cornwall, by Bill Sharp. Since 2011, the brewery has been owned by Molson Coors. It is best known for its flagship ale Doom Bar, named after the notoriously perilous Doom Bar sandbank in north Cornwall.
Wye Valley Brewery is a brewery in the village of Stoke Lacy, Herefordshire, England, in the Wye Valley. Founded in 1985 by Peter Amor, it has become "one of Britain's leading independent breweries". In 2002 Peter Amor's son, Vernon Amor, became managing director.
Stones Brewery was a brewery founded in 1868 by William Stones in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and purchased by Bass Brewery in 1968. After its closure in 1999, its major brand, Stones Bitter, has continued to be produced by the Molson Coors Brewing Company.
Heineken Malaysia Berhad is a major producer of beer, stout, cider and non-alcoholic malt beverages in Malaysia and has been listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia since 1965. Among the brands they produce and market are Heineken, Tiger Beer, Tiger Crystal, Guinness, Strongbow Apple Ciders, Apple Fox Cider, Anchor Smooth, Kilkenny, Anglia, and Malta. The company also imports and distributes Heineken 0.0, Paulaner and Kirin Ichiban.
T&R Theakston is a brewery in the market town of Masham, North Yorkshire, England. The company is the sixteenth largest brewer in the UK by market share, and the second largest brewer under family ownership after Shepherd Neame. Its best known beer is Old Peculier.
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.