W.H. Brakspear & Sons Ltd. is a brewer in

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. Since the closure of its original

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

in Henley-on-Thames in 2002, most of its beers have been brewed by

Wychwood Brewery Wychwood Brewery is a brewery in Witney, Oxfordshire, England, owned by Marston's. The company's flagship brand is Hobgoblin, a 5.2% abv brown ale. Wychwood Brewery produces around 50,000 barrels () of cask ale each year, and is the United Ki ...

West Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire is a local government district in northwest Oxfordshire, England, including towns such as Woodstock, Burford, Chipping Norton, Charlbury, Carterton and Witney, where the council is based. Area The area is mainly rural downland ...

. In 1993, beer writer

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

described its "ordinary" bitter as the best in England.

History

In 1711, W.H. Brakspear bought a brewery on Bell Street,

. The Brakspear family was distantly related to

Nicholas Breakspear Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...

, who became

Pope Adrian IV Pope Adrian IV ( la, Adrianus IV; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159, also Hadrian IV), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 to his death in 1159. He is the only Englishman t ...

in 1154 — the only Englishman to become

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. In 1812, the brewery moved to a

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

-side location on New Street. The brewery was used in 1990 episode of ''

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series ''Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...

'', "Sins of the Fathers". In 2002, W.H. Brakspear & Sons licensed the brewing of its beers to

Refresh UK Wychwood Brewery is a brewery in Witney, Oxfordshire, England, owned by Marston's. The company's flagship brand is Hobgoblin, a 5.2% abv brown ale. Wychwood Brewery produces around 50,000 barrels () of cask ale each year, and is the United K ...

, owner of

, and the brewery ceased production and closed. The site was sold and part of it converted to a Hotel du Vin boutique hotel. The now non-brewing Brakspear Pub Company and its estate of 104 pubs was bought in 2006 by pub chain JT Davies for £106 million; the 51 Davies pubs were rebranded as Brakspear. After being brewed at

Burtonwood Burtonwood is a village in the civil parish of Burtonwood and Westbrook, in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the name Burtonwood is known worldwide as the location of the ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, production of Brakspear beers was moved, along with some of the historic Henley brewing vessels, to Refresh's

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...

, Oxfordshire. Refresh UK was subsequently bought out by

Marston's Marston's plc is a British pub and hotel operator. Founded by John Marston in 1834, it is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Marston's disposed of its brewing operations in 2020, selling the assets to a newly formed joint venture with the Ca ...

. In spring 2013 Brakspear Pub Company made a limited return to brewing with the commissioning of the Bell Street Brewery in its Bull public house in Bell Street,

Brewing

Brakspear's beer is brewed using the traditional double drop fermentation method. This involves allowing fermentation to start in vessels on an upper floor, before 'dropping' into a second vessel below. This leaves tired or dead yeast and unwanted solids ('trub') behind and encourages a healthier fermentation. Refresh UK claims that Brakspear beers possess a

butterscotch Butterscotch is a type of confectionery whose primary ingredients are brown sugar and butter, but other ingredients are part of some recipes, such as corn syrup, cream, vanilla, and salt. The earliest known recipes, in mid-19th century Yorkshir ...

flavour due to

diacetyl Diacetyl (IUPAC systematic name: butanedione or butane-2,3-dione) is an organic compound with the chemical formula (CH3CO)2. It is a yellow liquid with an intensely buttery flavor. It is a vicinal diketone (two C=O groups, side-by-side). Diacet ...

produced through this method and their particular long-lived, multi-strain yeast. The yeast has "distant origins" at Mann, Crossman & Paulin in Mile End, London. When beer writer

visited in 1993, the barley was

Maris Otter Maris Otter is a two-row, autumn sown variety of barley commonly used in the production of malt for the brewing industry. The variety was bred by Dr G D H Bell and his team of plant breeders at the UK's Plant Breeding Institute; the "Maris" par ...

and water came from their own well, described as "chalk-hard". Hops were Goldings from Kent, Hereford Fuggles and "Styrians". Jackson thought the ordinary bitter the best in England, writing "In its delicate, malty sweetness, teasing, yeasty fruitiness, and hoppy bitterness, Brakspear's 'ordinary' is lightly refreshing, gently sociable, more-ish and appetite-arousing; the perfect combination in a bitter. The hoppiness is its salient feature". John Mortimer in 1986 claimed "Brakspear's draft bitter is undoubtedly the best to be had in England". (The contemporary Brakspear draft bitter shares the same name but differs otherwise.) With the opening of the Bell Street Brewery in

in spring 2013 a number of beers are brewed including some sold using the Brakspear's beer brand name albeit with point of sale material also showing the brewing provenance as the Bell Street Brewery. Previous Brakspear's beer names Mild, Old Ale and Special have featured at various times, with Special being a regular product.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official WH Brakspear & Sons Ltd websiteOfficial Brakspear Beers websiteRefresh UK websiteLoddon BreweryThe Bell Street Brewery
Breweries in England Henley-on-Thames Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom 1799 establishments in England 2002 disestablishments in England Companies based in Oxfordshire Economy of Oxfordshire History of Oxfordshire Grade II* listed buildings in Oxfordshire Grade II* listed industrial buildings