| Former type | Private company limited by shares |
|---|---|
| Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
| Founded | 1881 |
| Founder(s) | Ivan Levinstein, Otto Isler and Robert Graesser |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Wrexham, Wales, United Kingdom |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Beer |
| Parent | Carlsberg A/S |
Wrexham Lager was a brewery in Wrexham, north-east Wales, that produced alcoholic drink for more than 120 years. It closed in 2000 and was mostly demolished between 2002 and 2003. Only the historic building in which brewing started still remains, however there are currently plans to resume brewing using the original ingredients. Wrexham lager recently made a comeback on October 29, 2011 at the Buck House Hotel in Bangor-on-dee, Wrexham.
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The company was founded in 1881 by German immigrants, Ivan Levinstein and Otto Isler, trying to recreate their local lager. Wrexham itself had good water quality, and at one time had as many as nineteen different breweries operating, Wrexham Lager being the first Lager Brewery. The specific site was chosen as it was on a hill and the brewers could dig cellars into it for insulation from external heat, and the nearby River Gwenfro could be tapped for the required water. Brewing of the first lager began in 1882. However, the brewers could not easily keep the temperature down, affecting the quality of the lager and the brewery went into voluntary liquidation.
In 1886, Robert Graesser, another German immigrant who had established the chemical works at Cefn Mawr bought a majority shareholding in the brewery, introducing mechanical refrigeration demonstrated at his chemical plant to keep the cellars at -1°C. Local sales did not improve as the people of Wrexham were used to drinking ale as their staple drink; In 1892, the brewery was bankrupt. However Graesser reformed the brewery as, and found a non-local market in export sales, primarily through railways such as the Great Western Railway (who were also the primary method of shipping the beer out of Wrexham), shipping lines such as Cunard, and the British Army; there was documentary evidence of the lager appearing in many places, such as Khartoum as early as 1898.
Although successful abroad, local sales remained low in the local area until the brewery bought the Cross Foxes public house in Abbott Street in Wrexham in 1922, today known as the Last Orders public house. Such tied houses boosted trade for most breweries, but sales expansion relied on local hostelries becoming available for takeover. When a rival local brewery shut down, Wrexham Lager was able to buy the freeholds of their tied houses, expanding to a total of 23 pubs.[1]
During World War II, the export market was lost and was difficult to reclaim after the hostilities ceased. Wrexham Lager's debt increased and the company was bought out by Ind Coope of Burton upon Trent.
Lager grew in popularity after the War and domestic sales began to rise. In the early 1960s, Ind Coope invested £2.5million in a modernisation programme. Wrexham Lager and Ind Coope later joined with Ansells and Tetley Walker to become Allied Breweries, which became the largest brewing group in Britain of the time. Now a popular local drink, the lager and brewery had a cultural impact on the town, and the brewery once sponsored Wrexham F.C.; To this day Wrexham fans still shout a Football chant to the tune of Bread of Heaven, substituting the lyric of Bread of Heaven, with Wrexham Lager.
In 1992, Allied merged with the Danish Carlsberg group and the resulting company became Carlsberg-Tetley, who ran the brewery until it closed. In 2000, brewing of Wrexham Lager was moved to Leeds where it was brewed for two years, finally ending in 2002.
Attempts were made during these two years to buy the brewery as a going concern before it was demolished but failed.[2] Brewing equipment was auctioned and the building demolished, the stages being recorded by the BBC. A small retail park, "Central Retail Park", has now been built on the site of the former unlisted buildings.
In 2002, Martyn Jones, a Member of Parliament for the nearby Clwyd South constituency who had once been employed by the brewery, bought the original name and building for £1 in 2001. Local activists hope that brewing may continue from this building, at least on a small scale. The building itself is listed.
Wrexham Lager made a comeback on October 29 2011 at the Buck House in Bangor-on-dee and is now available at a range of pubs throughout the county including the town centre pub the golden lion, which reopened on November 7th 2011. At this moment in time they are focusing on the pub trade. They are currently using a new logo until they claim the rights for the old logo.[3]