 | |
 The Brewery, in Masham, North Yorkshire | |
| Company type | plc (over 1,000 shareholders) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founder | Paul Theakston |
| Headquarters | , England |
| Products | Beer |
Production output | 70,000 barrels |
| Website | www |
The Black Sheep Brewery is a brewery in Masham, North Yorkshire, England.
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 (plc) in 1992. Theakston had been managing director of Theakston Brewery, also in Masham, since 1968. [1] He began at the age of 23, taking over from his father, Frank Theakston.
The Theakston Brewery was acquired by Matthew Brown following disagreements between members of the family and other shareholders. Scottish & Newcastle acquired Matthew Brown in 1987. Theakston left in 1988, and after a hiatus of more than a year purchased the North Yorkshire Malt Roasting Company, originally part of the former Lightfoot's brewery site, from an animal feed company, in order to start a new brewery in Masham.
Theakston wanted to use the Lightfoot name to bring back an old brewing tradition, but Scottish and Newcastle had already trademarked the name. The association of Masham with sheep led Theakston to come up with the name "Sheep Brewery" which became "Black Sheep" at his wife's suggestion. Much of the original brewing equipment came from the former Hartley's Brewery in Cumbria, whilst the slate Yorkshire squares and the yeast strain, in use since at least the early 1920s, came from the recently closed Hardys & Hansons brewery in Nottingham. [2]
Black Sheep Best Bitter was first sold at the Bruce Arms in Masham.
The brewery produces a range of well-hopped bitters, to distinguish itself from Theakston's range of fruity and yeasty beers. The brewery quickly became successful, and now produces over 75,000 barrels a year.
In 2008, the brewery launched Draught Golden Sheep, a blonde cask beer with a citrus-hop flavour. It remains a seasonal brew. This, like all Black Sheep beers and indeed the brewing plant itself was created by Paul Ambler, Head Brewer since 1992 and later Operations Director. Paul Ambler has now retired. Comments Paul Theakston, "Over the years, Paul Ambler has been a fierce champion of the quality of our beer, which is the keystone of our success". Nevertheless, a growing share of its sales is in on-cask form.
All bottled beers brewed by the Black Sheep Brewery are suitable for both vegetarians and vegans. [3]
The brewery has capitalised on its popularity by converting unused parts of the original maltings into a visitors centre from which tours of the brewery are conducted. In 1996, it served as host to an episode of the Two Fat Ladies cooking programme which was broadcast the following year.
For the first 15 years it paid its shareholders, including many real ale enthusiasts, steadily rising dividends. However it has since been forced to retrench, and has paid no dividend for several years. It is one of the largest shareholdings of the CAMRA Members' Investment Club. [4]
On 2 May 2023 the company announced that it was to go into administration as it lacked the cashflow needed to survive increased costs since the COVID pandemic. [5]
On 26 May 2023 Black Sheep was bought out of administration by London based investor Breal Group with an expectation that it would continue to produce Black Sheep beers and protect jobs. [6]
According to the website, "...Riggwelter takes its name from the local Yorkshire Dales dialect – when a sheep is on its back and can't get up without help, local dialect says it is riggwelted. [8] This dialect word comes from the old Viking words: 'rigg'(rygg) meaning back and 'velte' to overturn (the words and their meaning are still largely the same in the modern North Germanic languages). [9] Riggwelter is also popular in Sweden, being in the top 20 of bottled ales sold in that country. [10]
Ringwood Brewery is a brand of beer owned by Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company, and was formerly a small brewery on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, England, near the Dorset border. It produced mainly cask ales and some bottled beers.
Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide".
Old ale is a form of strong ale. The term is commonly applied to dark, malty beers in England, generally above 5% ABV, and also to dark ales of any strength in Australia. It is sometimes associated with stock ale or, archaically, keeping ale, in which the beer is held at the brewery. In modern times, the line has blurred between Old Ale and Barley wine.
Greene King is a British pub and brewing company founded in 1799, currently based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The company also owns brands including Hungry Horse and Farmhouse Inns, as well other pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), until it was acquired by CK Assets in October 2019.
Fuller's Brewery in Chiswick, west London, England, is the former brewing division of Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC. It was a family-run business from its foundation in 1845 until 2019, when it was sold to the Japanese international beverage giant Asahi.
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Timothy Taylor's is a family-owned regional brewery, founded in 1858 by Timothy Taylor, in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. Timothy Taylor's moved to larger premises in 1863 at Knowle Spring in Keighley, where they remain.
McMullen's, known locally as Mac's, is a regional brewery founded in 1827 in Hertford, England, the United Kingdom. The brewery expanded during the second half of the 19th century by purchasing other breweries and their associated pubs. In 1902 it was the second largest brewery in Hertfordshire. The brewery has occupied several different sites in Hertford and moved to its current location in 1891. There have been several breweries on this site and the current one opened in 2006. As of 2021, members of the 6th generation of the McMullen family are still involved with the business.
Jennings Brewery was established as a family concern in 1828 in the village of Lorton, between Buttermere and Cockermouth in the Lake District, England. The brewery was started by John Jennings Snr, son of William Jennings. Jennings brewed exclusively in Lorton until 1874 when its present home, the Castle Brewery in Cockermouth, was purchased. The Lorton brewery closed some five years later.
The Thornbridge Brewery is an independent brewery founded in the grounds of Thornbridge Hall in Ashford-in-the-Water near Bakewell, Derbyshire, England.
York Brewery is a brewery, formerly located in York within the city walls, owned by Black Sheep Brewery in Masham where York Brewery beers are currently brewed.
Copper Dragon Brewery is a brewery originally established in Skipton, North Yorkshire, in 2002.
Stones Brewery was a brewery founded in 1868 by William Stones in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and purchased by Bass Brewery in 1968. After its closure in 1999, its major brand, Stones Bitter, has continued to be produced by the Molson Coors Brewing Company.
The Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood (SPBW), founded in 1963, is the oldest consumer-based group interested in stimulating the brewing of, increasing the awareness of, and encouraging the drinking of traditional cask ale. The Society also supports and encourages the use of wooden casks for beer dispense.
Beer is often made from barley malt, water, hops and yeast and so is often suitable for vegans and vegetarians. Some beer brewers add finings to clarify the beer when racking into a barrel. Finings can include plant-derived products, like Irish moss, or animal-derived products, like isinglass and gelatin.
Beer is produced through steeping a sugar source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BC, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt. Descriptions of various beer recipes can be found in Sumerian writings, some of the oldest known writing of any sort. Brewing is done in a brewery by a brewer, and the brewing industry is part of most western economies. In 19th century Britain, technological discoveries and improvements such as Burtonisation and the Burton Union system significantly changed beer brewing.
T&R Theakston is a brewery in the market town of Masham, North Yorkshire, England. The company is the sixteenth largest brewer in the UK by market share, and the second largest brewer under family ownership after Shepherd Neame. Its best known beer is Old Peculier.
Worthington's White Shield was an India pale ale (IPA) available principally in bottle conditioned form.
Exmoor Ales is a microbrewery based in Wiveliscombe, Somerset, England. The brewery was previously called Golden Hill Brewery. Exmoor Ales was founded in 1980 in the former Hancock's Brewery in Wiveliscombe. They produce 13,000 barrels annually. Of the beers they make, 85% are cask ales. Their Exmoor Gold beer was first brewed in 1986 to celebrate 1,000 beer being brewed. Exmoor Gold was the first golden ale in Britain. In 2015, it was named Best Britain Golden Ale in Southwest England by CAMRA.