I often mention Higsons beer here. The beer was brewed at the Stanhope Street Brewery now (and formerly) occupied by Cains. The offices were in Dale Street however, next to the Ship and Mitre. The building, which is still in use, is clad in grey marble and still bears the Higsons name.
The photo was taken from the inside of the Ship and Mitre.
It's all gone a bit quiet on the short-lived resurrected Higsons (Bootle) - poor beer quality & service, non-payment of bills, etc has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many (& it was always a bitter beer, as you know, Mr.T).
ReplyDeleteThe sad yet laughable "meet the brewer" event seemed to typify the mess - we were served out of date & cloudy bitter (the stout was nice though) & the "brewer" (actually the owner - never brewed a pint of beer in his life) stayed for about 5mins, leaving the ex-Higsons "brewing consultant" to meet & greet, while the actual "brewer" turned up to see if he could get any of his outstanding wages from the "owner"!
Latest rumour is that he's ringing around for quotes for 30-barrel brewing equipment - triple the size he already has, yet can't seem to brew on!?
Curiouser & curiouser, Alice.
That's sad. I thought they were making a decent fist of recreating the bitter. Oh Well.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous comments annoy me.I have no idea whether they are true or not.It is certainly different to the excuse of drainage problems that was given.
ReplyDeleteI also thought Higsons were brewing a very nice pint.All a bit of a shame really.
Ben
Liverpool
Ironically Ben, you will see that you are anonymous too though you mitigate it by signing at the end of your message. I tend to take these anonymous comments on a "merit" basis. I'd much prefer if people just gave themselves a name.
ReplyDeleteI've tried contacting Higson's Brewery using the contacts on the website http://www.higsonsbrewery.co.uk/#, but with no success. The last item on the 'latest news' webpage is dated 7.12.2007. Still, it was a nice idea. With any luck another brewer will purchase the name and recipe.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous/Ben said
ReplyDelete"It is certainly different to the excuse of drainage problems that was given."
Ah, the irony - there were no drains, at all (well, there was a sink & a loo, but no floor drains - so the brewer had to try to avoid spilling anything!)
(I'm still Anon-ing, I'm afraid, but I have my reasons :~)
ReplyDeleteLatest news is that the Higson's plant (not the name or recipes) has been sold to the new Liverpool Organic Brewery, Bootle (owned by the same folks who own the excellent Stamps/Stamps2 in Crosby/Waterloo).
Higsons himself is now buying a 40Bbl plant (+ possibly importing wheat from Russia, while also looking into rearing pigs in space).
Interesting stuff Anon. Pigs in space? A brave venture.
ReplyDeleteFor clarification.
ReplyDeleteLiverpool Organic Brewery Limited is NOT owned by the owners of Stamps/Stamps Too (Waterloo or Crosby), as a companies house search would reveal. However, Karl Critchley, who is the manager of Stamps Too (Waterloo) is a shareholder, and indeed the head brewer. The shareholders are Mark Hensby (50%), John Burns (10%), Karl Critchley (10%), Steve Clark (5%) and Ken Robinson (25%).
Brewing commenced last Friday, the 28th August: some cask product will be available for pubs in about 14 days (the 6.5ABV IPA will take about 1 month) and conditioned bottled beer will be available sometime before Christmas.
A verbal agreement has been reached to produce Higsons beers, but until this is formally documented and legalized no Higsons beer will be produced, although it is anticipated this will happen during the next 2 weeks.
It is planned to produce 4 regular and 2 seasonal organic beers, and in time Higsons Bitter (to a real original recipe) and a seasonal Higsons beer, probably also using organic grain.
A Real (live) Organic Cider will also be produced starting in about 4 weeks: MerseyCider!!!
For more information email info@liverpoolorganicbrewery.com
Mark