'Gloucestershire is a poor county for real ale': that was the sad assessment of the county's brewing heritage in the 1976 Good Beer Guide according to the Campaign For Real Ale. Just two breweries were in operation then, supplying only four real ales. The ubiquitous Whitbread PA was easy to find, but it took a determined effort to seek out the delights of XXX, BB and SBA from the highly regarded and picturesque Donnington Brewery near Stow on the Wold. It was all a far cry from the glory days of brewing in Gloucestershire, when most towns could boast their own local brewery, producing beers of character. It's tempting to be overly sentimental about the closure of much-loved breweries such as Wintle's Forest Brewery of Mitcheldean, Tayler's Cotswold Brewery of Northleach and so on ... but there were economic and social factors that made such rationalisation inevitable. With the closure of the Whitbread Flowers Brewery in Cheltenham in 1997, it was feared that the rich history of brewing in Gloucestershire was under threat. However, nearly twenty years later, Gloucestershire is awash with breweries producing truly wonderful and distinctive beers. Indeed, beer drinkers have never had it better. Cheers!

About the Author
A fan of real ale, Geoff Sandles was the editor of Gloucestershire CAMRA's Tippler for ten years. A chance discovery of two old books in Gloucester library documenting all licensed premises that once existed in Gloucestershire in 1891 and 1903 inspired Geoff to discover the location and history of thousands of bygone county pubs. The meticulous study has been posted on his highly acclaimed website - www.gloucestershirepubs.co.uk, a valuable resource for local historians.


Book Information
ISBN 9781445655512
Author Geoff Sandles
Format Paperback
Page Count 96
Imprint Amberley Publishing
Publisher Amberley Publishing
Weight(grams) 298g