It's now 10 years since the last barrels of Sergeant's bitter were supped in Brigg.
Older followers of our blog might be surprised at this statement, as the fondly-remembered riverside brewery, located behind the White Hart pub car park, closed way back in 1967.
However, in January 2010 the Black Bull Inn, on Wrawby Street, sold two barrels of Sergeant's Brigg Bitter that had been produced by a Lincolnshire craft brewery, assisted by a recipe that had survived down the decades.
Its alcoholic strength - always a factor for real ale enthusiasts - was 3.7 per cent.
This special brew generated plenty of interest among drinkers old enough to have supped original Sergeant's ale but also younger folk who had heard of the award-winning brewery's product and were keen to give the replica batch a try.
Brigg Blog popped in on the Friday night to sample a few pints of this pleasant light-coloured brew, which didn't last long due to heavy demand over the weekend. Richard and Amber Smith were then running the Bull.
During the 1930s, one Sergeant's brew from Brigg was declared champion ale of the UK at a contest in London. The firm's beers took many other honours - all featuring Castlethorpe spring water.
That weekend in January 2010 saw a number of old pictures relating to Sergeant's brewery in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s taken along by people whose relatives had worked there post-war. With their permission we copied some of the images.
Jack North - well known in Brigg - worked at the local brewery for many years, and his sons Martin and John both went on to run pubs in Brigg and elsewhere.
Family concern Sergeant's was later acquired by the large Hewitts company. We think the giant Bass Charrington combine later took over.
Today we raise a glass in memory of Sergeant's Brigg Brewery.
Use this link to view our illustrated report about Brigg Bitter originally posted in January 2010.
PICTURED ABOVE: The last barrels of Sergeant's bitter leaving the Brigg brewery in 1967 on their way to local pubs.
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| Mine host Richard Smith pulling Brigg Blog a pint of Sergeant's Brigg Bitter in January 2010. |
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| The first taste of Brigg Bitter made by the Fulstow Brewery in 2010. |
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| John North, right, at the Black Bull in 2010, looking at an old picture from Sergeant's Brigg Brewery in the 1960s. |
Beer has had a compkex history, Nige. Romans in Europe had some sort of beer and during the Middle Ages, various herbs acted as both preservatives and the source of flavour. Later, hops were imported from Europe...From this time beer (porter) strengths was high 7 to 15 percent.
ReplyDeleteAs time progressed, light and dark ales were produced with the light ales, or pale ales being found to havs a longer shelf-life and suited sea journeys to the Far East - ie Indian Pale Ales.
The reduction of sugar imports during WW1 dictated significant reduction in beer strength...a situation that has not really recovered.
This gave rise to modern beers.Lager grew in popularity in the 70s, while Mild beer declined.....and wooden barrels gave way to metal casks..
Overall, beer has always been a target for taxes during budgets....and the extensive range of beers has been reduced to a relatively short range of popular brews....although in recent years there has been an increased emergence of craft beers, ie local pub-brewed ales..reflecting the Victorian practices of pub and small brewery beers that waa found in towns..