Brewer's Droop?

There comes a time in the affairs of man when he should .... well, when he should find a good pub and have a decent pint of beer. But as I've been teetotal for a few decades now, it's not something that I ever do. But, if I did, I would seek out a pint of real ale as my taste buds can still remember being washed with a nice drop of Sam Smith's.  And I am still have a Pavlovian response to the powerful aroma of hops and malted barley.  All of this brings me to a recent vignette I read on two of the brewers of Tadcaster, a brewery town just west of York - Samuel Smith's Old Brewery and John Smith's New Brewery. The story behind these two breweries with similar names is worthy of re-telling.

The oldest of the breweries was, appropriately enough, the Old Brewery which was built in 1758 and by the 1840s it had come into the ownership of a certain John Smith. John Smith built up the business, expanded the trade, modernised the plant and equipment and thrived. He was joined in the business by his brother William and by the two sons of his sister Sarah Riley. When John died in 1879, he left equal shares in the business to his brother William and another brother, Samuel, who had a tannery business in Leeds. On their death, the will stipulated that the business should pass to their heirs. There were three problems: the first was that William had never married and therefore had no heirs, the second was that Samuel Smith - or his heirs who were set to inherit the business - had never been involved in the running of the brewery, and the third was that no mention was made of the nephews, Frank and Henry Riley.

A plan was hatched between William Smith and his nephews. And plot of land within a quarter of a mile of the old brewery site was obtained, a new purpose-built brewery was constructed and the trade, the fixtures, the fittings and the acquired expertise were craftily and rapidly moved there. As this new building didn't figure in John Smith's will it passed to Frank and Henry Riley on his death (the brothers rather cheekily had changed their name to Riley-Smith in the meantime). When Samuel Smith and his son (another Sam) arrived to take control of their legacy all they found was an empty building and a marked absence of trade.

Samuel Smith rebuilt the business trading from the old brewery and his company became Samuel Smith's. The Riley-Smiths had the advantage of the new large brewery and they traded under the name of John Smith's.

There was no love lost between the two firms and one can almost imagine raiding parties being sent out from one to make mischief at the other. Who won the battle between the Brewing Smith's? In some ways it is difficult to call. John Smith's grew faster and eventually became a powerful national brand. But then it got caught up in the wave of twentieth century mergers and acquisitions, first becoming part of the Courage Group, then Scottish and Newcastle and now part of the international Heineken Group. Samuel Smith remained comparatively small and independent, trading locally but achieving an international reputation for its quality beers. In some ways the battle was one between traditions and technology. For me tradition wins, and I’d always opt for a pint of Sam's.