Theakston Brewery
Encyclopedia
Masham
Masham is a small market town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 1,235. Situated in Wensleydale on the western bank of the River Ure, the name derives from the Anglo-Saxon "Mæssa's Ham", the homestead belonging to Mæssa. The Romans had...
, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, England. They are the sixteenth largest brewer in the UK by market share, and the second largest brewer under family ownership after Shepherd Neame
Shepherd Neame
Shepherd Neame is an English regional brewery founded in 1698 by Richard Marsh in Faversham, Kent. It is a family owned brewery that produces a range of cask ales and filtered beers. Production is around 230,000 barrels a year...
.
History
T&R Theakston Ltd. was founded in 1827 by Robert Theakston and John Wood at The Black Bull pub in Masham. By 1832 Theakston had sole ownership of the brewery and in 1875 he passed control over to his son Thomas who expanded the range of buildings by building the new brewery on the Paradise Fields.In 1919 the company acquired and closed down the Lightfoot Brewery, also in Masham.
Theakston's expanded into Cumbria in 1974 buying the Carlisle State Management Brewery
State Management Scheme
The State Management Scheme saw the UK government take over and run the brewing, distribution and sale of liquor in three regions of the UK from 1916 until 1973....
. The brewery had been owned and operated by the government since 1916. However the site was a financial drain on Theakston's and led to the company being taken over in 1984 by Blackburn based brewer, Matthew Brown plc. Matthew Brown was itself taken over by Scottish & Newcastle
Scottish & Newcastle
Scottish & Newcastle plc was a "long alcoholic drinks" company with positions in 15 countries, including UK, France and Russia. It was headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. In the last 20 years, S&N expanded significantly from its home base to become an international business with beer...
in 1987.
Paul Theakston (Managing Director since 1968) left Theakston's in 1988, and in 1992 established the Black Sheep Brewery
Black Sheep Brewery
The Black Sheep Brewery is a brewery in Masham in the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England.-History:The Black Sheep Brewery was established by Paul Theakston in 1991. Following a successful launch as a Business Expansion Scheme, it became a public limited company in 1992. Paul...
in the old Lightfoot Brewery premises - located adjacent to the White Bear Hotel, one of Theakston's pubs.
The Carlisle brewery was closed in 1987, and brewing of some Theakston beers was transferred to Scottish & Newcastle's Tyne Brewery.
In 2004 the business returned to family ownership after being purchased back from Scottish & Newcastle by four Theakston brothers. Major development works at the Masham Brewery enabled the company to announce that brewing of Theakston Bitter would return to Masham in 2009.
Beers
Cask ale
Cask ale or cask-conditioned beer is the term for unfiltered and unpasteurised beer which is conditioned and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure...
and pasteurised bottled ales. Theakston cask ales are widely available in pubs in the north of England, though are less common in other parts of the country. The bottled beers are also widely distributed to British supermarkets and exported to Germany and the United States.
The company produces five regular cask ales and six seasonal. Only two of the beers are filtered and pasteurised to be made available in bottles, Theakston XB and Old Peculier.
Best Bitter (3.8% ABV
ABV
ABV is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* Alcohol by volume, a measure of the alcohol content of alcoholic drinks* Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Nigeria, from its IATA airport code...
) is regularly paired with XB in pubs, Theakston Best Bitter is the company's most easily found product, served in many pubs, mainly in the north of England.
XB (4.5% ABV) is a premium strength Bitter with a more complex flavour. It was launched in 1982.
Black Bull Bitter (3.9% ABV) was brewed to commemorate the Theakson's first pub where the first Theakston's beers were brewed and sold.
Traditional Mild (3.5% ABV) is the weakest beer produced by Theakston, a dark and dry drink created as an alternative for dark ales. It was launched in 1992.
Old Peculier (5.6% ABV) is Theakston's most famous beer. Old Peculier has been made under this name since the 1890s. In 2000, it won the silver medal in the Campaign for Real Ale
Campaign for Real Ale
The Campaign for Real Ale is an independent voluntary consumer organisation based in St Albans, England, whose main aims are promoting real ale, real cider and the traditional British pub...
(CAMRA)'s "Champion Winter Beer of Britain" 2000 competition. The label on the bottle describes it as a "full bodied, rich, smooth tasting ale with a mysterious and distinctive flavour". It is named after the peculier of Masham, a peculier being a parish outside the jurisdiction of a diocese. In 1985 The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
dubbed it the "doyen of real ales."
The six seasonal ales are Cooper's Butt (4.3% ABV), Hogshead Bitter (4.1% ABV), Lightfoot Bitter (4.1% ABV), Grouse Beater (4.2% ABV), Masham Ale (6.5% ABV) and Paradise Ale (4.2% ABV).
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