Fuller's Brewery in
Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
, west
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England, was the brewing division of
Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC, a family-run business from its foundation in 1845 until 2019, when it was sold to the Japanese
Asahi Breweries
The is a Japanese beverage holding company headquartered in Sumida, Tokyo.
In 2019, the group had revenue of JPY 2.1 trillion. Asahi's business portfolio can be segmented as follows: Alcoholic drink, alcoholic beverage business (40.5%), over ...
.
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 in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
s, inns and hotels across the south of England.
History
Beer has been brewed on Fuller's historic Griffin Brewery site in
Old Chiswick since the seventeenth century. From the original brewery in the gardens of Bedford House on
Chiswick Mall, 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, 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 ale 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 ca ...
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 fermenters, 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 (Japanese 朝日, 旭, or あさひ 'morning sun') may refer to:
Places in Japan Cities
* Asahi, Chiba (旭市; ''Asahi-shi'')
Wards
* Asahi-ku, Osaka (旭区; ''Asahi-ku'')
* Asahi-ku, Yokohama (旭; ''Asahi-ku'')
Towns
* Asahi, Aichi ...
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 in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
, is famous for having the oldest wisteria
''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae). The genus includes four species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and nor ...
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). The genus includes four species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and nor ...
'' plant at the Griffin brewery 2008
File:Mawson Arms 02.JPG, The nearest pub to the brewery, Fullers' Mawson Arms on Chiswick Lane (Closed as of 2023)
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 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., a locom ...
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, which promotes real ale, real cider, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs.
History
The organisation was founde ...
'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.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
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
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 brewer, ...
7.5% strong ale 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 brewer, ...
dark and creamy stout
Stout is a type of dark beer that is generally warm fermented, such as dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout and imperial stout. Stout is a type of ale.
The first known use of the word "stout" for beer is in a document dated 1677 in the E ...
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 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 launched in 2008 which spent 500 days in 30-year-old single malt whisky
Single malt whisky is malt whisky from a single Distillation, 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 Regulat ...
casks; No. 2 - an 8.2% ale oak aged in Courvoisier 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. No. 5 - an 8.5% beer matured for 500 days in fine old whisky casks.
Gales HSB (Horndean Special Bitter) is a cask conditioned 4.8% bitter. It was first brewed in 1959 in Horndean, 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