Category:Brewing School Visits

Background to Brewing School visits 1968 – 1969

I discovered my old notes of fifteen brewery and malting visits written in 1968/69 while studying at the British School of Malting and Brewing which was then attached to Birmingham University. They are hand written in fountain pen on lined foolscap paper. The early visits are reported lengthily with a lot of good brewing practice included as remember I knew little about the subject 55 odd years ago. Reports got more succinct as examinations approached. You must also forgive some cringing remarks of an arrogant 21 year old.

Degrees Fahrenheit, brewers pounds, quarters, tons and psi abound. Oh those were the days!

Other students were

• Hugh Archibald - Courage
• Neil Chantrell – Greenall Whitley
• Edward Dempsey – Bass
• Viv Jones – Ansells
• Ian Kirkhope – Watney
• Bruce Monaghan – Tennent Caledonian
• Jim Pryor - independent but recently ex Bass
• John Reade – independent
• Alan Williams – Allied

Visits include

• Davenport's Brewery Ltd, Birmingham
• Ansells Brewery Ltd, Birmingham
• Mitchells & Butlers Ltd, Birmingham
• Allied Breweries Maltings, Burton on Trent
• Courage Western Maltings, Oakhill, Somerset (private visit)
• Courage & Co. Ltd Eastern, Horseleydown, London
• Guinness (Park Royal)
• Watney & Co Ltd (Mortlake), Mortlake
• Young & Co (Wandsworth)
• Flower & Sons Ltd, Stratford on Avon
• Greenall Whitley & Co. Ltd, Warrington
• Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Ltd, Burton on Trent
• ABM Maltings at Wallingford and Abingdon
• Marston, Thompson & Evershed Ltd, Burton on Trent
• Mansfield Brewery Co. Ltd, Mansfield

Only Marstons is still operating in 2023.

Roger Putman, November 2023