Higsons Brewery
Higsons is a Liverpool brewery founded in 1780, closed in the 1990s, and reopened in 2005.
The beginning
Higsons Brewery was originally formed in 1780 at 64 Dale Street, Liverpool. The company brewed beer at this site until 1914, when it moved to the Windsor Brewery in Upper Parliament Street.
Expansion through the 20's
In 1918 the brewery was bought out by J. Sykes & Company. The company began to expand further, acquiring several public houses in the Wirral area and the Spraggs Brewery in 1919. In 1923, the company bought out Walker Cains Brewery in Liverpool's Stanhope Street. There was one last push for expansion in 1927, when the firm acquired Joseph Jones & Co. in Knotty Ash. A further 70 public houses were also taken over as a result.
The later years
In 1962, Higsons purchased a new head office in North Street, Liverpool. The brewery merged with James Mellor & Sons in 1974. The Bent's Brewery, which was next to their head office in North Street, was sold to them by Bass Brewery in 1978. Boddingtons of Manchester took over Higsons in 1985, deciding to abandon brewing in favour of running a chain of pubs. The Boddington breweries were sold to Whitbread in 1990 who finally closed the Higsons Stanhope brewery site shortly thereafter.
In 2005, the independently owned Mayflower Brewery in Wigan originally run by a former Higson's Brewing Chemist was commissioned to recreate the original Higsons Bitter in a series of test-brews. Unfortunately, after a short run the brew was once again discontinued.
The future of Higsons
The recipe has been taken up by the Liverpool Organic Brewery and, after a few test casks, is being unveiled at the Liverpool Beer Festival on 24th - 26th February. Currently, the brew is freely available throughout Liverpool.