H & G Simonds Ltd was a

brewing 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, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

company founded in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

, England in 1785 by William Blackall Simonds. The company amalgamated with Courage & Barclay in 1960 and dropped the Simonds name after ten years. Eventually the firm became part of

Scottish & Newcastle Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold. The company was listed on the London Stock Exc ...

who sold the brands to

Wells & Young's Brewery Wells & Young's Brewery was formed in 2006 from a merger of the brewing operations of Charles Wells Ltd and Young's Brewery. Charles Wells initially had a 60% stake and Young's 40%. In 2011, Charles Wells took full control when it bought Young' ...

in 2007 and closed the Reading brewery three years later.

History

The Simonds brewery was founded in Broad Street in Reading by

William Blackall Simonds William Blackall Simonds (1761–1834) was a brewer and banker in the English town of Reading. He founded both H & G Simonds Brewery, which merged with other breweries to form Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Co in 1960, and J & C Simonds Bank, one ...

in 1785, although his father had a brewing arm of his

malting Malting is the process of steeping, germinating, and drying grain to convert it into malt. Germination and sprouting involve a number of enzymes to produce the changes from seed to seedling and the malt producer stops this stage of the process w ...

business as early as 1760. In 1790 the company moved to Bridge Street, where it remained until 1978. The new brewery complex was designed by architect

Sir John Soane Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the Ro ...

and possessed an early

Boulton & Watt Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Engl ...

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

. Over time the brewery expanded, coming to occupy large quantities of land alongside the

River Kennet The Kennet is a tributary of the River Thames in Southern England. Most of the river is straddled by the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The lower reaches have been made navigable as the Kennet Navigation, which � ...

on both sides of Bridge Street. The site is now occupied by The Oracle shopping centre. Simonds developed rapidly, but expansion was held back until legislation restricting the setting up of new

public houses 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 ...

was repealed by the

Beerhouse Act 1830 The Beerhouse Act 1830 (11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. 64) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which liberalised the regulations governing the brewing and sale of beer. It was modified by subsequ ...

. Since 1813, Simonds had supplied beer to the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

. In the 1850s, it expanded its reputation for supplying the military with beer, when nearby

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

was established as the 'home of the British Army'. This led to a branch being set up in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and an outlet in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. The former still exists as the, now independent,

Simonds Farsons Cisk Brewery Simonds Farsons Cisk plc, commonly known as Farsons, is a Maltese food and beverage conglomerate whose businesses include the brewing, sale and distribution of beer and soft drinks; importation, wholesale and retail of food and beverages; opera ...

. Simonds also supplied many of the railways in southern England. By the 1880s, Simonds was the largest brewery in Reading. Simonds became a very early limited company in 1885, taking the name of H & G Simonds from William's two sons,

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

and George. The latter was the father of a later director,

George Blackall Simonds George Blackall Simonds (6 October 1843 – 16 December 1929) was an English sculptor and a director of H & G Simonds Brewery in Reading, Berkshire. Biography George was the second son of George Simonds Senior, of Reading, director of H & G ...

, a sculptor. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Simonds expanded by acquisition, purchasing local breweries as well as others in places such as Bristol and Devonport. The hopleaf logo was introduced to all Simonds pubs in 1930. By 1938, Simonds' was producing just over one percent of all beer brewed in England and Wales. The brewery made extensive use of the canal to deliver its wares, but the railway was also an important form of transport, with the brewery having its own siding off the

Coley branch line The Coley branch line (Engineers line reference, ELR:COY), also known as the Coley goods branch, was a single-track branch railway running to Reading Central goods depot, from the Reading to Basingstoke line near Southcote Junction. History Th ...

. In 1960, the brewery amalgamated with Courage & Barclay to become Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Co Ltd until simplified to Courage Ltd in 1970. As

Scottish Courage Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold. The company was listed on the London Stock Exc ...

, they operated from the Berkshire Brewery on the borders of Reading and

Shinfield Shinfield is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Wokingham, Berkshire, England. It lies just south of Reading, around from the town centre, and covers an area of . Shinfield Park is the northern part of the parish, becoming physical ...

, until it closed in March 2010. In January 2007, the rights for the production, marketing and sales of the Courage brands were sold to Wells & Young's Brewing Company of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

. This is managed by a venture called Courage Brands Ltd.

Beer

Simonds was a pioneer of

pale ale Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared in England around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at th ...

in the 1830s, including India pale ale which the company exported to the British army in India. In the 1870s, they developed a lighter beer called 'SB' (Season's Brew) and, in the following decade introduced a new system of

fermentation Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...

known as the 'Burton Union Method'. Simonds were well known for their 'hopleaf' branding and Hopleaf pale ale is still available from the Simonds Farsons Cisk Brewery in Malta. Simonds branded an "India Pale Ale" as "Tavern", the name originating as "Taverner's" in a competition for employees.

References

External links

Hopleaf Beer

The Story of H & G Simonds Ltd Brewery, ReadingThe Red Cow in Caversham: a Simonds Pub
{{DEFAULTSORT:H and G Simonds Ltd

Simonds Simonds may refer to: People * D'Marcus Simonds (born 1997), American basketball player *Gavin Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds (1881–1971), British judge *George Blackall Simonds (1843–1929), English sculptor *Major General George S. Simonds (18 ...

Simonds Brewery H & G Simonds Ltd was a brewing company founded in Reading, Berkshire, England in 1785 by William Blackall Simonds. The company amalgamated with Courage & Barclay in 1960 and dropped the Simonds name after ten years. Eventually the firm became ...