History of micro breweries in south east

sunnyse

Hi all, I wonder if anyone can help.
I'm trying to get an idea of what beers were traditionally brewed around the South East and Waterford in Particular.
I understand that there were over 150 breweries back in the 1850s and I was trying to get an idea of what kind of beers they were brewing in my area.

I've searched fairly extensively but have only found references to "dobbs and Hobbs" brewers and "Ramsay and Bell" Brewers but no info as to what they were actually brewing or where they were situated.

Cherrys brewery in Mary St in Waterford used to brew ale that was eventally bought by smithwicks and is now making the mix for Guinness.

any other info on traditional beers from the last (2) centuries would be fantastic.

marceldesailly

As ever ICB is a good start http://www.irishcraftbrewer.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=106&Itemid=64

BeerNut

As part of the research for that I went looking for details of Wickham's brewery in Wexford, looking through trade directories of the period. And what I found was that, while a brewery was functioning in the town, not a single one of the many grocers stocked its product. The only beers that appeared to be available were from Guinness's, Bass and Allsopp's. Strange how people have always preferred the megabrands to anything made locally.

OP, I think it's a fairly safe bet that any of these brewers will have been making stout, porter and pale ale.

The best source of information -- serious numerical data, mostly -- on brewing history is Ron Pattinson's blog. He mostly deals with England because that information is readily available, but he occasionally covers bits of Ireland. The problem for us is that so many of these breweries ended up as possessions of Guinness, and Diageo don't seem very keen on letting people into its archive. I've already had one denial that there's any non-Guinness information to be found in there.

And do let us know if you find anything interesting in your investigations.

sunnyse

Thanks for that Marcel;)

And thanks Beernut for the info. As usual the info on ICB is brilliant as ever.


One of the things I was really wondering was if any local beers had interesting names or unusual additives or if they were always as simple as possible.

It seems like such a shame that a product which would have played a huge part both culturally and economically can have so little records kept about it. I wonder if there are any archives in Britain pertaining to that time. but then again I guess it wouldn't have seemed as important to our neighbours to keep records on us heathens over here:P

sunnyse

By The Way, Beernut I read the article on the brewing course run by brewlabs that's was written up on ICB.

I was wondering if there are any brewing courses in Ireland or if travel to the UK is the only option.
I read on IDB (http://www.ibd.org.uk/) that they hold courses in Ireland but I couldn't find any actual details. I emaild them but haven't had a reply. They seem awful expensive too:eek: 4 seperate courses at 13/1400 Sterling each:eek:
These guys do courses too: http://www.mossbrew.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ Anyone heard about them??

BeerNut

sunnyse wrote: »

One of the things I was really wondering was if any local beers had interesting names or unusual additives or if they were always as simple as possible.

Heh heh, from stuff I've read, adulteration was rife among brewers and all manner of crap seems to have been put into the beer, including sulphuric acid, though no-one ever admitted to it or was outed: it was always "This beer doesn't contain dodgy additives like some others I could mention, wink wink", but I've never found out who these others were.

sunnyse wrote: »

It seems like such a shame that a product which would have played a huge part both culturally and economically can have so little records kept about it.

It was policy, certainly for Guinness, and probably for all the big brewers, to utterly erase all memory of breweries they conquered -- pub mirrors, posters, glassware -- all junked and replaced with the new owner's livery. It wasn't enough that the big brewers show they're top of the pile, but wanted to give the impression they had always been top of the pile. 'Cos everyone knows things were better in the old days. It's this strategy that prompted us to try and find out more about the dead local breweries which were once a part of everyday life.

sunnyse wrote: »

I was wondering if there are any brewing courses in Ireland or if travel to the UK is the only option.
I read on IDB (http://www.ibd.org.uk/) that they hold courses in Ireland but I couldn't find any actual details. I emaild them but haven't had a reply.

IBD train people for the big breweries, not interested amateurs (though I'm sure they'll take your money). It's expensive because the multinational corporation you brew for is supposed to be footing the bill. We had a thread on it recently here.

Everyone I've heard of doing these things goes to the UK. The problem with Brewlab is that it's very focussed on the UK scene, and cask ales in particular. Not terribly transferable if you want to come home and go commercial. It's a fun course, though, I'm told.

sunnyse wrote: »

These guys do courses too: http://www.mossbrew.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ Anyone heard about them??

From their site it looks like the sole purpose of their course is to get you to buy their kit. Careful you don't get brainwashed...

blueberry pie

h

blueberry pie

have also been looking for some brewing courses came across this one, its attached to an installation company also....
www.pbcbreweryinstallations.com/training.html