Dare's Brewery Ltd
Dare's Brewery Ltd, South End Brewery, 207 Belgrave Road, Birmingham, West Midlands
In 1895-1902 William Dare listed at 16 Highgate Street, the Grand Turk, and at Belgrave Road in 1903. Registered August 1927 to acquire William Dare & Son.
Acquired by Davenport's Brewery Ltd in 1961 with 40 public houses of which six were in South Wales.
Steve James writes:-
The story of Dare’s in Birmingham.
Dare’s Brewery was originally established in 1885, when William Dare is listed at 16 Highgate Street and the Grand Turk, Birmingham. Later in 1903, William Dare & Son moved to Belgrave Road, Balsall Heath and established their Southend Brewery . In August 1927, it was registered as a private company with assets of £75,000 and became Dares Brewery Ltd to acquire the brewery business, along with other land and buildings relating to the brewery.
Dares remained a private company, controlled by family members, including J.H. Dare as Chairman, W.H. & N.J. Dare as Joint Managing Directors and A.T. Dare as fellow Director. For many years, their Head Brewer was William Glew. The Dare family were keen fishermen and some of the pubs were located by rivers, canals or lakes, including the Boat near Solihull, Beckford Hotel near Evesham, Navigation Inn near Bromsgrove and Reservoir Hotel at Earlswood Lakes. In the city, the All Saints Tavern, Hockley, was one of their typical pubs.
In the 1930s, they often advertised in Midland Red staff magazines, one of the local bus companies in the region. Over the years, they brewed a range of traditional beers, including Dare’s Gold Medal Bitter and Nut Brown Ale, but by the early 1960s were promoting Dare’s Drum Bitter in containers with “sparklets” beer taps – ideal for parties. In 1961, the Southend Brewery was acquired by Davenport's Brewery Ltd, along with its 40 pubs, 14 of which were in Birmingham, 25 elsewhere in the West Midlands, including Solihull, Bromsgrove and Halesowen, with six in South Wales. The late 1960s were profitable years for Davenport's Brewery Ltd, reporting good profits. During this period, they introduced their own ‘Drum Bitter’, first pioneered by Dares. By 1985, Davenport's Brewery Ltd owned 123 pubs and off-licences and supplied more than 200 free-trade outlets in the Birmingham, Black Country and wider area. They also employed over 1,200 people, including 300 at their Bath Row brewery site. 11
However, by the 1980s, Davenport's Brewery Ltd were seen to be ripe for take-over, firstly in 1983 by millionaire E J Thompson of Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries Ltd (W&D), who offered £24m for the company, which was rejected. Over the next two years, W&D acquired a 38% stake in the company, but Whitbread’s stepped in to ensure that they could not acquire the necessary 51% stake and later expressed an interest in the company themselves. By January 1986, W&D were on the point of acquiring a 45% stake in the company and made a £32m takeover bid, raised to £35.5m on 1 February of that year. This split the Board of Directors, but was eventually rejected. Relations were particularly soured when a secret listening device was discovered in Davenport’s boardroom! However, on 12 February 1986, Davenports accepted a bid from Greenall Whitley & Co. Ltd] for £38.3m, including its 106 tied houses. Although assurances were given to continue brewing at Davenport’s Bath Row brewery, it closed in 1989, with the loss of 200 jobs. Brewing was transferred to Shipstone & Sons Ltd of Nottingham, which was closed later in 1990.
In 1987, the Davenport's Brewery Ltd brand was acquired by Empire Star, who also owned the Highgate brand and brewed at the historic Highgate & Walsall Brewery Co. Ltd.
They continued to brew Davenports beers at Highgate Brewery until 2010. They now brew Davenports beers at a new 7.5 barrel artisan craft brewery in Smethwick, near Birmingham, (see Davenports Smethwick using traditional 120-year recipes and modern brewing technology. The Davenports brand focuses on traditional cask beers, such as Original Bitter, Gold Ale and Top Brew De-Luxe. However, the Dares name lives on in its range of contemporary, ‘eclectic wickedly-brewed flavoursome’ craft keg beers. They include Dares RIP, a red Indian Pale Ale, dry-hopped with Chinook hops; Dares Red Eye, a striking Red Amber ale, dry-hopped with Cascade hops; and 6IX, a premium 6% craft lager combining the best of English and German hops.
So, the Dares name lives on. Long may it prosper!
With acknowledgement to Joseph McKenna, Brewery History Society, CAMRA and Davenports Brewery
They advertised in 'Midland Red' magazines in the 1930s:
1934
1937
