Herefordshire CAMRA

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Recent Herefordshire Breweries

By the 1970s, it was almost impossible to find a decent pint of beer around Hereford. Happily this was the stage at which the new wave of microbreweries began to arrive on the scene. In 1977, Martin Griffiths of Penrhos Court, Lyonshall opened the Penrhos Brewery, and soon became well-established in a small number of free houses, notably the Crown at Aymestry, later to become the Riverside, with its own brewery. Beer with a flavour was back, and Penrhos Bitter, Jones's First Brew and Penrhos Porter soon had a cult following. The beer was available quite widely around the county, but changes of personnel and other problems, led to the brewery closing in 1983.

The Canon Pyon Brewery, at the Nags Head was in operation for about a year, producing Pyon Bitter for sale in the pub. When it closed, the equipment was moved to Bodenham to establish Tates, whilst the premises were taken over by the Wye Valley Brewery in what turned out to be a brief stop en-route from Retford to Hereford and, much later, Stoke Lacy.

Herefordshire Ales, set up by Dr Chris Tennant, started brewing in 1985 on Holmer Trading Estate in Hereford. Hereford Bitter and Old Mild Ale were taken up by some half a dozen pubs in the city, but the operation closed down in 1986.

The Tate Brewery, named after Maurice Tate (the England cricketer - who was the owner Dave Dawson's grandfather), began life at Canon Pyon in 1985, but was 'caught out' three years later. It ended brewing when finally operating near Bodenham. Their beers were of a high quality and were all given names with a cricketing theme, such as LBW and Maiden Over, as well as Tates Traditional Bitter.

Brewing returned to Hereford city itself in 1986, when the Wye Valley Brewery, moved from Canon Pyon Lamb Inn or, as it rapidly became known, The Barrels. In 1990, Paul Soden of the Worcester-based Jolly Roger Brewery bought the Bricklayers Arms in Hereford, and converted it into a home-brew pub called the Jolly Roger with a bar in the shape of a galleon. Calling itself the Original Hereford Brewing Company, it brewed Quaff, Blackbeard and Old Hereford Bull. A pub sign in the form of a mural of a pirate brought conflict with the local planning authority. By 1993 Jolly Roger were scaling down their operation, and the pub was sold to the Wye Valley Brewery, and renamed The Victory, the brewery being closed.

Brewing returned to Leominster in the early 1990s with Dunn Plowman, who, having started life quietly at the Royal George at Lingen, moved to a shed at the back of the Black Horse. From here, the operation was moved to Kington, and renamed the Solstice Brewery. The subsequent break-up of the partnership brought Paul Harris back to Leominster, forming the Marches Brewery on an industrial to the south of the town and more recently moving to Dormington

Founded in 1993, the tiny Fromes Hill Brewery was situated at the Wheatsheaf Inn. The main beer was Buckswood Dingle and a few other pubs were supplied. The operation wound up in 2000 and the pub has subsequently closed

1994 saw the start-up of the Shoes Brewery at Norton Canon

S P Sporting Ales of Stoke Prior began in April 1996, supplying beers to the local trade under a variety of sport-related names. Brewing continued until 2001, when the equipment was purchased by Dunn Plowman.

Brewing was first established to the rear of the Ledbury's Royal Oak in 1841, closing in 1921. Seventy five years later the Ledbury Brewing Co set up on the site. A year later, a change of management saw output increase, with some 60 outlets being supplied. The excellent beers used single varieties of hops, with names such as Challenger, Northdown, and Pioneer Gold. A tied pub was purchased in 1998, but the operation ran into financial difficulties and closed in 2000.

In the north of the county, the Woodhampton Brewery opened in 1997, idyllically situated on a farm a few miles from its brewery tap, the Riverside Inn at Aymestry. Equipment came from Wild's Brewery of Slaithwaite. The beers were all named after birds with Red Kite as the quaffing bitter plus Jack Snipe, Kingfisher and Ravenhead Stout. Brewing ceased in 2002 when the original partnership broke up.

Also starting in 1997 the Frome Valley Brewery was set up in an 18th century hop kiln. The main beer was Frome Valley Premium Bitter, and a few local outlets were supplied. Bottled beers were supplied to local craft shops. Brewing ceased in 2002.

In 2000, Hereford city again had two breweries of its own when the Spinning Dog Brewery opened at the Victory. By 2002, from a high of about ten, the county was down to four working breweries, with Marches awaiting relocation. The benefit of reduced duty for small breweries came too late to save some of them. With the opening of Bridge Street Brewery in Kington, on the site previously occupied by Dunn Plowman, the tide was beginning to turn again.

Soon Pete Wild arrived in Herefordshire (about 7 years behind his old equipment at Woodhampton!) and was setting up Wilds Brewery in Weobley. Wild's beers were launched in 2005, by which time the Frome Valley Brewery site and equipment was seeing renewed activity in preparation for Mayfields Brewery. These two breweries contrasted in the way they sell their products, with Wilds relying mainly on wholesalers and Mayfields distributing locally

By this time all was not well at Kington, Bridge Street had only brewed intermittently when the licensee of the Wine Vaults took on the vacancy for a brewer. The relationship did not work out, leading to yet another brewery being built in Kington, at the Wine Vaults - now called the Arrow Brewery. Brewing continued spasmodically at Bridge Street but ceased altogether in 2006 and the building was converted to domestic use.

Later in 2006, Wild's expanded into bottling, introducing swing-top bottles which were very novel for real ale. However the plan was ill thought-out and the significant financial backing for the bottling line was withdrawn, causing Wild's to go into receivership in February 2007. Plans were announced to reopen under new ownership as a bottled-only operation called Weobley Organics. A brewer was appointed, and a website was set up giving brief details of proposed products. However, this plan was aborted, and by November 2007 the site was stripped of everything except thousands of unused swing-top bottles. To the best of our knowledge the new operation did not actually brew, and certainly never sold any product.

In Summer 2007 plans were laid for a new brewery on the Brockhapton Estate near Bromyard, but the project was heavily delayed by the adverse weather. Brewing finally started in Spring 2008 as the Willoughby Brewing Company.

Late in 2007 Mayfields ceased brewing, and the business was sold as a going concern to Adam Smith, who installed the equipment in Leominster, and commenced brewing in Spring 2008.