Fuller's Brewery in
Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...
in the west of
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
was a family-run business from its foundation in 1845 until 2019. In that year, the brewing division of
Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC was sold to the Japanese international beverage giant
Asahi
Asahi (朝日, 旭, or あさひ) means "morning sun" in Japanese and may refer to:
Cities
* Asahi, Chiba (旭市; ''Asahi-shi'') Wards
* Asahi-ku, Osaka (旭区; ''Asahi-ku'')
* Asahi-ku, Yokohama (旭; ''Asahi-ku'')
Towns
* Asahi, Aichi (旭 ...
.
John Fuller's Griffin Brewery dates from 1816; in 1845, his son, John Bird Fuller, was joined by Henry Smith and John Turner.
Fuller, Smith & Turner owns and operates more than 380
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
s, inns and hotels across the south of England.
History
Beer has been brewed on Fuller's historic Griffin Brewery site in
Old Chiswick
Old Chiswick is the area of the original village beside the river Thames for which the modern district of Chiswick is named. The village grew up around St Nicholas Church, founded c. 1181 and named for the patron saint of fishermen. The placena ...
since the seventeenth century. From the original brewery in the gardens of Bedford House on
Chiswick Mall
Chiswick Mall is a waterfront street on the north bank of the river Thames in the oldest part of Chiswick in West London, with a row of large houses from the Georgian and Victorian eras overlooking the street on the north side, and their gar ...
, the business expanded and thrived until the early part of the nineteenth century. Money problems forced the owners, Douglas and Henry Thompson and Philip Wood, to seek a partner.
John Fuller, of
Neston Park
__NOTOC__
Neston Park is an English country house and estate in the village of Neston, some 2 miles (3 km) south of Corsham, Wiltshire. The name of the village of Neston is derived from the name of the house.
The present house dates fr ...
, Wiltshire was approached to see if he would inject the required amount of money. In 1829 he joined the enterprise, but the partnership proved a difficult one and in 1841 Douglas Thompson fled to France and the partnership was dissolved. It became apparent that it was difficult for one man with no brewing experience to run a brewery of that size alone. In 1845 John Fuller's son, John Bird Fuller, was joined by Henry Smith from the
Romford Brewery of Ind & Smith and his brother-in-law, head brewer John Turner, thereby forming Fuller, Smith & Turner.
[
Reg Drury joined Fullers in 1959 at a time when ]cask ale
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 car ...
s were in decline, and worked there for 40 years, becoming the director of brewing. It was thought at the time that it was only possible to cask beer in open fermenter
Industrial fermentation is the intentional use of fermentation in manufacturing products useful to humans. In addition to the mass production of fermented foods and drinks, industrial fermentation has widespread applications in chemical industry. ...
s, but Drury experimented and found that it could also be made in more modern, closed conical fermenters. The switchover to conical fermenters improved consistency and allowed Drury to perfect the recipes of Fuller's beers.
In 2019 Fuller, Smith & Turner Plc sold its drinks company (The Fuller's Griffin Brewery, Cornish Orchards, Dark Star Brewery & Nectar Imports) to Asahi
Asahi (朝日, 旭, or あさひ) means "morning sun" in Japanese and may refer to:
Cities
* Asahi, Chiba (旭市; ''Asahi-shi'') Wards
* Asahi-ku, Osaka (旭区; ''Asahi-ku'')
* Asahi-ku, Yokohama (旭; ''Asahi-ku'')
Towns
* Asahi, Aichi (旭 ...
for £250m. This included the entirety of Fuller's beer, cider and soft drinks brewing and production, wine wholesaling, distribution, and the Griffin Brewery site. Asahi stated that it would continue to brew beer at the Griffin brewery.
Griffin Brewery
The first record of the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick dates from 1816, when one of the owners of the company at the time, Douglas Thompson, acquired the name from a failed brewery (Meux & Reid) in the City of London. As well as its range of beers, The Griffin Brewery, on the A4 in Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...
, is famous for having the oldest wisteria
''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and north o ...
plant in the UK, planted in 1816. The public can take a guided tour of the site.
File:20210711 Griffin Brewery old buildings.jpg, Griffin brewery from Chiswick Lane South
File:Fuller's brewery - pipes - cylinder.jpg, At the brewery
File:Fullers wisteria.JPG, The ''Wisteria
''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and north o ...
'' plant at the Griffin brewery 2008
File:Mawson Arms 02.JPG, The nearest pub to the brewery, Fullers' Mawson Arms
The Mawson Arms/Fox and Hounds is a Grade II* listed public house (at non-postal Mawson Row), 110 Chiswick Lane South, Chiswick. The entire terrace of five houses is listed, and they were built in about 1715 for Thomas Mawson; owner of what bec ...
on Chiswick Lane
Beers
Fuller's brews London Pride and other award-winning ales such as Chiswick Bitter, ESB and 1845.
Its beers are exported to about 80 countries around the world. Its biggest overseas markets in 2014 were Russia and Sweden.
Its London Porter
Porter may refer to:
Companies
* Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto
* Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets
* Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer
* H.K. Porter, Inc., ...
has won awards including World's Best Standard Porter and Europe's Best Standard Porter at the World Beer Awards, and Champion Keg of Great Britain. Chiswick Bitter is a 3.5% ABV sessionable ale with strong hop characteristics.
Fuller's 1845 has won awards including CAMRA
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is the ...
's Champion Bottle Conditioned Beer in 1998. In February 1995, while visiting the Griffin Brewery, Prince Charles
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
added a handful of hops to a copper of 1845. Fuller's Vintage Ale is released around Christmas and has been made since 1997. In 2002, the year of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II
The Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration held in 2002 marking the 50th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was intended by the Queen to be both a commemoration of her 50 years as ...
, Fuller's added Goldings hops and Golden Promise malt to its Vintage Ale. Past Masters XX Strong Ale is a bottle-conditioned 7.5% strong ale
Strong ale is a type of ale, usually above 5% abv and often higher, between 7% to 11% abv, which spans a number of beer styles, including old ale, barley wine and Burton ale. Strong ales are brewed throughout Europe and beyond, including in Engl ...
based on a September 1891 entry in the brewing logs. It is made using Plumage Archer barley. Fuller's Past Masters Double Stout is a 7.4% bottle conditioned
Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brew ...
dark and creamy stout
Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout.
The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...
based on an August 1893 entry in the brewing logs. It was released in 2011 and is also made using Plumage Archer barley.
Fuller's 1966 Strong Ale was released in 2013 using a recipe from June 1966. It is a ruby coloured ale brewed with pale ale
Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Diff ...
malt, Goldings and Fuggles hops and cane sugars. Fuller's Brewer's Reserve is a collection of four bottled beers: No. 1 - a 7.7% strong ale
Strong ale is a type of ale, usually above 5% abv and often higher, between 7% to 11% abv, which spans a number of beer styles, including old ale, barley wine and Burton ale. Strong ales are brewed throughout Europe and beyond, including in Engl ...
launched in 2008 which spent 500 days in 30-year-old single malt whisky
Single malt whisky is malt whisky from a single distillery.
Single malts are typically associated with single malt Scotch, though they are also produced in various other countries. Under the United Kingdom's Scotch Whisky Regulations, a "Si ...
casks; No. 2 - an 8.2% ale oak aged in Courvoisier
Courvoisier () is a brand of cognac, with production based in the town of Jarnac in the Charente region of France. It is the youngest and smallest of the "big four" cognac houses (the others are Hennessy, Rémy Martin, and Martell).
Courvo ...
Cognac casks; No. 3 - a 9.0% beer matured for more than two years in Auchentoshan distillery whisky casks; No. 4 - an 8.5% beer matured in Comte de Lauvia Armagnac casks for a year.
Gales HSB (Horndean Special Bitter) is a cask conditioned
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 car ...
4.8% bitter. It was first brewed in 1959 in Horndean
Horndean is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, north of Portsmouth.
The nearest railway station is southeast of the village at Rowlands Castle.
The village had a population of 12,942 at the 2011 Census, and shares the semi-rura ...
, Hampshire.
Frontier was launched in 2013 – Fuller's first lager since the short-lived K2 brand of the 1980s; it has an ABV of 4.5%. In 2013, Fuller's bought cider makers Cornish Orchards.
In February 2018, Fuller's bought Dark Star Brewery, based in Partridge Green, West Sussex, for an undisclosed sum.
File:Fuller's bottles.jpg, An assortment of Fuller's bottles
File:Fullers brands.JPG, A selection of Fuller's brands from the museum display
Notes
References
External links
*
Brewery profile
fro
Ratebeer.com
Profile at Google Finance
{{LB Hounslow
1845 establishments in England
Breweries in London
British companies established in 1845
Companies based in the London Borough of Hounslow
Chiswick
Food and drink companies established in 1845