St Austell Brewery is 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 b ...

founded in 1851 by Walter Hicks at

St Austell Saint Austell (, ; ) is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. At the 2021 Census in the United Kingdom, census it had a population of 20,900. History St Austell was a village centred ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England.

History

Originally named ''Walter Hicks & Co: brewers and wine merchants'', the brewing company was renamed St Austell Brewery and significantly expanded by his daughter Hester Parnall (1868–1939), who became a director in 1911. She took over running the company on her father's death in 1916 (her husband Thomas Parnall, having died in 1915), and added nearly 80 pubs and

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s to the brewery's holdings, becoming known for "''ruling the company with the grace of a duchess combined with the aplomb of a successful businessman''". The brewery's

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

is ''Tribute Ale'', which accounts for around 80% of sales. Other popular ales include ''Proper Job'', ''Tinner's Ale'' and ''Duchy Bitter''. On 1 July 2016 St Austell Brewery acquired Bath Ales. In March 2017 a multi-million pound investment in a new brewery and larger bottling and canning facilities at Bath Ales was announced. Chief executive, James Staughton, described the rationale of the investment as "to de-risk the business away from the seasonality of Cornwall. The further east we go, the more we're focused on city centres and the less seasonal the business becomes."

Beers

''Tribute'' was launched to commemorate the 1999 solar eclipse. It was originally a one-off special named ''Daylight Robbery'', but proved to be so popular it was reintroduced as ''Tribute'' and has since won several awards around the UK. St Austell Brewery signed a deal in 2008 with Healey's Cornish Cyder Farm, near

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

, to help keg and distribute ''Rattler Cyder'' and ''Rattler Pear Cyder'' for five years. St Austell Brewery also produces ''Cornish IPA'', which is bottle-conditioned and sold in

Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

stores and its other products include: * Proper Job IPA (4.5% cask, 5.5% bottled) - also sold as M&S Cornish IPA at a strength of 5% * Black Prince (4%) * Trelawny (3.8%) * HSD (Hicks Special Draught) (5.0%) * Dartmoor Best Bitter (3.5%) * Korev Cornish Lager (4.8%) * Big Job IPA (7.2%) * Mena Dhu (Cornish Stout) (4.5%) * Tribute Cornish Pale Ale (4.2%) * Anthem British Pale Ale (3.8%) * Cornish Best (3.4%) * Tribute Extra Strong Pale Ale (5.2%) * Proper Black Black IPA (6.0%) * Black Square Imperial Stout (11%) * Cardinal Syn (7.8%) * Bad Habit (8.2%) * Divine Intervention (13%) * Sayzon Belgium Farmhouse Ale (5.9%) * Baobab Wheat Beer (5.3%) * Secret Santa (4.3%) The brewery previously produced the winder warmer Cripple Dick (11.7% ABV).https://untappd.com/b/st-austell-brewery-cripple-dick/920031/photos

References

External links

''St Austell Brewery'' website

''Tribute'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Austell Brewery British companies established in 1851 Companies based in Cornwall St Austell Food and drink companies established in 1851 1851 establishments in England Cornish cuisine Breweries in England