Higsons was a

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 ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England, founded in 1780 and closed by Whitbread in 1990. Higsons beer was brewed in Sheffield and Durham after closure before being discontinued. The brand has been revived in the 21st century.

The beginning

Higsons Brewery was formed in 1780 at 64 Dale Street,

. The company brewed beer at this site until 1914, when it moved to the Windsor Brewery in Upper Parliament Street.

Expansion through the 1920s

In 1918, the brewery was bought by J. Sykes & Company. The combined company began to expand further, acquiring several

public houses 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 ...

on the Wirral and the Spraggs Brewery in 1919. In 1923, the company bought the newly merged Walker Cains' Brewery in Liverpool's Stanhope Street following that company's decision to focus production at its Warrington brewery. There was one last push for expansion in 1927, when the firm acquired Joseph Jones & Co. in Knotty Ash. A further 70 public houses were added as a result.

The later years

In 1962, Higsons purchased a new head office in North Street, Liverpool. 1974 saw the brewery merge with James Mellor & Sons. In 1978, Higsons acquired Bent's Brewery, which was based next to its North Street head office. The vendor was the

Bass Brewery The Bass Brewery () was founded in 1777 by William Bass in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, once the highest-selling beer in the UK. By 1877, Bass had become the largest brewery in the world, with ...

Boddingtons Boddingtons Brewery was a regional brewery in Manchester, England, which owned pubs throughout the North West. Boddingtons was best known for Boddingtons Bitter (Boddies), a straw-golden, hoppy bitter which was one of the first beers to be ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

acquired Higsons in 1985 but decided to abandon brewing in 1989 to focus on its pubs. Boddingtons' brewing arm was sold to Whitbread in 1990 which subsequently closed the Higsons Stanhope brewery.

Revival of the Higsons brand

In 2005, the former

Mayflower Brewery ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

, originally run by a former Higsons brewing chemist, was commissioned to recreate the original Higsons Bitter in a series of test brews. The beer was subsequently produced in Liverpool before production ended. The beer was later produced by the

Liverpool Organic Brewery Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in 2011 before the licence to produce the brand ended.

2017 H1780 Tap & Still opens and Higsons relaunched

In December 2015, the

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...

reported that a company called Higsons Brewery Limited had applied for planning permission to convert two vacant warehouses in

into a brewery with a distillery, visitor centre, shop and sampling hall. Higsons Brewery Ltd is owned by the former managing director of the

Caledonian Brewery Caledonian Brewery was a Scottish brewery founded in 1869 in the Shandon area of Edinburgh, Scotland. History Early years When it was founded in 1869, the brewery was named the Lorimer and Clark Caledonian Brewery, after its founders George L ...

Stephen Crawley Stephen Crawley (born 16 September 1962 in Cheshire, England) is a former Scottish cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler. In 1981 he played for England Schools who were captained by Hugh Morris and included Pete ...

. As well as his 25 years' experience in the brewing industry, Stephen grew up on the Wirral and his wife controls the company which owns the Higsons brand. In August 2017, it was reported that work on the new premises had begun. In December 2017, H1780 opened. It comprises a brewery brewing Higsons and Love Lane beers, gin distillery, three bars and a kitchen. The H in the name is for Higsons and 1780 is the year that Higsons was founded.Take a look inside the new Higsons Brewery Tap bar
''Liverpool Echo'' Three Higsons beers are now produced: Pale Ale, Amber Ale and Pilsner

References

External links

H1780 Tap & Still
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higsons Brewery 1780 establishments in England Manufacturing companies based in Liverpool British companies established in 1780 Breweries in England Food and drink companies established in 1780