| Type | PLC |
|---|---|
| Industry | Beverages |
| Founded | 1807 |
| Headquarters | Blackburn, Lancashire, England, UK |
| Key people | Daniel Thwaites founder Ann Yerburgh chairman |
| Products | Beer |
| Revenue | £162.7m (2007)[1] |
| Website | http://www.thwaites.co.uk/ |
Thwaites Brewery is a regional brewery founded in 1807 by Daniel Thwaites in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The firm still operates from its original town centre site. A variety of cask ales, draught beers, lagers and ciders are produced in Blackburn or imported from Europe by Thwaites. In 1999, the Mitchell brewery in Lancaster closed down, and was bought in part by Thwaites. Lancaster Bomber has since been available from Thwaites public houses after being acquired in the takeover. Thwaites also has a hotels division, which is called Shire Hotels.
The company now has over 350 pubs in the North of England, as well as supplying off-licences, clubs and the free trade.
The brewery invested heavily in pasteurised keg beers, especially those powered by nitro in the 1990s,[2] however is now working to increase the market for its cask beers[3] Thwaites unveiled a new Craft brewery in December 2011 named "Crafty Dan"
The beers are available in draught form in the company's 350 pubs, which are mainly in the North of England. The bottled beers are widely distributed. Many of the pubs in Blackburn and nearby smaller towns such as Great Harwood are owned by Thwaites.
Thwaites produce regular ales:
Thwaites also produces a range of Craft Beers. A limited edition of 13 to choose from throughout the year, each is only available for a limited period.
A particularly successful brew was Thwaites Best Mild, one of only three ales to win the Champion Beer of Britain twice - 1978 and 1980. The recipe has been changed and the beer is now known as Dark Mild and is mainly available pasteurised in keg form.
In 2007, the brewery celebrated its 200th year producing ales - a large banner was hung from the top of the brewery tower, and a digital countdown activated counting down the days to the event.
To celebrate, the brewery released a range of limited edition ales - Double Century, Flying Shuttle Premium Ale, Elma's Pound (named for the granddaughter of the founder, Elma Yerburgh) and Wainwright's Fine Ale.[4] 12,000 bottles of Double Century were produced and distributed. The ale is sweet and mild, and rather refreshing for a traditional ale.
Wainwright's Fine Ale, originally a limited edition, is now on sale indefinitely due to popular demand. It was initially only available as a cask ale.[5] In 2008 a bottled version was launched.[6]
The Thwaites logo has undergone several changes since the brewery's foundation. The traditional logo was simplified to a gold and red emblem featuring the shire horses on the top and remained in use until May 2011.
The newly adopted logo is based on vintage designs from the 19th century, but for the first time in the brewery's history, the famous shire horses which have been part of the emblem for almost 200 years have been dropped from its design.[7]