Staffordshire Breweries

Daniel-Batham and Son Ltd

The Delph, Brierley Hill

I don't care if you accuse me of bias here but I think Batham's is THE brewery of breweries. I have enjoyed great pints of beer from other breweries but nothing can match Batham's Bitter for sheer consistent good times down the years. In fact, I cannot imagine life without Batham's Bitter - it is the tastiest and most thirst-quenching pint in the universe. Indeed, it really is quite peerless. You can have a pint of other bitters and often say "that's a bit like...." Not so with Batham's Bitter - I have yet to try another beer which comes close to THAT taste. I've heard that the yeast was originally from Banks's a long, long time ago but I doubt if Batham's will let you in on that secret. I only live a few minutes from the shrine that is The Bull and Bladder and even closer to where Batham's was born at Cradley so, yes, I'm unashamedly biased. But who isn't proud of their local brewery? Ask anyone in Mansfield about the water from their Bunter Sandstone and they immediately glow with pride. Well, Brierley Hill may not have such a famous water source but by heck Batham's do something wonderful to that old H�O. The first beers produced by the Batham's family were by Charlotte Billingham who had married Daniel Batham. They had set up home together in Corngreaves Road, Cradley Heath, close to The Plough and Harrow public house. Daniel worked in a local mine whilst Charlotte kept a house with three lodgers. It was there she cultivated her talent for brewing ale. In the 1870's the couple moved to Cradley High Street and soon began working at the White Horse Inn. This pub has long since vanished but stood opposite the Rose and Crown. Daniel Batham took over the licence from John Attwood in 1882. And so the legend that has become Batham's Brewery was officially born - Charlotte brewed the ales and Daniel kept the pub, though it is thought he started to become a brewer himself. Sons Daniel and Caleb entered the business which had begun to flourish. In 1904 Daniel took over the King William in Cole Street, Netherton, where production of Batham's beer continued for another 17 years before it was sold to Julia Hanson's brewery at Dudley. In 1905 Daniel Batham bought The Vine on The Delph which was previously owned by Caroline Fox, a close friend of the family [she was an Attwood, the family who had kept the White Horse Inn]. Because Daniel was busy brewing at the King William, he decided to lease The Vine but interest was minimal - competition was fierce on The Delph which already had the large Elwell's Brewery. Production of Batham's beer was slowly transferred to The Vine from the King William which was sold in 1921. Another pub was added to the estate in 1923 when they acquired The Royal Oak in Lye. In 1926 the brewery bought The Bird in Hand at Oldswinford and The Brickmaker's Arms in Lye and also leased the Spread Eagle Inn at Brierley Hill. Another pub was bought in 1931 - The Fountain Inn at Quarry Bank and a year later the company took the lease of The Railway Tavern in Cradley Heath, a pub that was not too far from where Charlotte Batham first began brewing ales. A family dispute in the 1930's between Daniel and Caleb Batham led to the sale of many of their pubs to larger breweries. However, they were back into taking on pubs again in the following decade when famous names like the Royal Exchange and The Lamp Tavern were added to the estate. It was in 1951 that the really significant move was made. The Swan Inn at Chaddesley Corbett, which was acquired by the Trustees of King Henry VIII in 1927, was leased it to Batham's on 27th July 1951. At that time the brewery only brewed traditional Black Country Mild. The locals of Chaddesley Corbett however were used to a paler drink and would have been up in arms were it not for the company introducing their first bitter to satisfy the palates of the North Worcestershire folk. Nowadays of course we take Batham's Bitter for granted but if it were not for The Swan we may never have tasted the amber nectar that is Batham's Bitter. The company almost amalgamated with Holden's during the 1950's but thankfully remained independent. The joint venture would have meant the closure of the brewery at The Vine and all production would have been moved to Woodsetton. Now with Matthew and Tim Batham at the helm, the brewery is now in its fifth generation of family ownership. In 1991 Batham's Bitter was voted Champion Beer of Britain by CAMRA. Batham's has nine tied houses in the Midlands plus a pub in Wales. The company sells to an increasing number of free houses in the region although brewing is near to capacity. Incidentally, the pump clips shown below are real gems - forget those cheap and nasty things you often see - these are ceramic. Mind you, such lovely ales deserve such attention to detail.
� Copyright. Images from Digital Photographic Images and reproduced with kind permission.

Founder Daniel Batham

Daniel Batham

Charlotte Batham

c.1930's Poster

Inside the Brewery

Fermenting Vessels

Liquid Nectar

Racking Area/Dispatch

Drayman Geoff Hingley

Bitter 4.5% A pale yellow sweet, hoppy monster of a beer. Absolutely orgasmic. Perhaps the most consistent bitter in the Midlands - you have to have a really dodgy cellar person to spoil this amber nectar. Having said that, some pubs serve better Batham's than others. Current joint reigning champions are Leann McKinney, licensee of the Royal Exchange in Stourbridge and Rodney Budd, gaffer of The Plough at Shenstone.

1950's

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1950's

Beer Mat

Enville-Brewery

Coxgreen

Beer production in Enville ceased in 1919 but was restored, albeit slightly out of the village, in 1993 when the Enville Brewery was founded at an old farm in Coxgreen. The brewery was established by former glass designer, Will Constantine-Cort, who had been made redundant from his job as head of design at Royal Brierley Crystal. Basing his first beer on a recipe he had used for a home-brewing hobby, he first produced his Enville Ale at the Chainmaker brewery in Stourbridge's Mill Race Lane. The first barrel was sold at his local pub, the Robin Hood Inn at Amblecote. Using the same water as the original brewery at Enville, the beers are made using several tons of honey a year, all of which is produced on the site's farm. The brewery also grows its own barley and its beers are now sold in many outlets around the Midlands region. Apparently, Will Constantine-Cort originally intended to keep bees on a full-time basis but somewhere along the line diversification into beer production led to a change of direction within the company.
� Copyright. All images from Enville Ales and reproduced with kind permission.

Enville Ale 4.5% This is a traditional beekeepers ale. It is pale yellow fruity bitter with an initial sweetness progressing to a complex dry hoppy taste based on an old nineteenth century recipe. Enville Ale is produced using 100% Maris Otter floor malted barley and top fermenting ale yeast. It is processed through an initial very rapid fermentation followed by a priming process using selected honeys which are specially processed and then allowed to secondary ferment before being lagered for a precise period of time. This process enables the brewery to produce conditioned beer with a controlled yeast count in cask - the result is a traditional cask conditioned beer in which the carbonation has been carefully controlled.

Chainmaker Mild 3.8% A classic style mild, dark and well balanced with a hop aroma and underlying sweetness which, combines with the smooth malty finish.

Gargoyle 4.5% Rauchbier is literally smoked beer. Malted grain used in the brewing is roasted over a beechwood fire taking on a distinctive smokey flavour. Blended with Munich malt this soft lightly hopped dark beer can be enjoyed best with food or with a group of friends.

Nailmaker Mild 4.0% This mild has a more defined hop aroma and higher gravity than its counterpart. Nailmaker enjoys a certain degree of sweetness associated with traditional mild yet gives a drier finish. Seems only appropriate to drink it in Bromsgrove or Quarry Bank.

Maiden's Ruin 6.0% Specially brewed for the festive period, this is Enville Brewery's most potent ale designed for special occasions and not to be taken too copiously but to be savoured for its rich warming flavour. Just right on cold winter nights!

Holden's-Brewery

Woodsetton

Son of a boot and shoe maker, Edwin Alfred Holden was born in Rowley Regis in March 1875. He followed the family business moving to Netherton and taking lodgings in Northfield Road. In Netherton he met and married a publican's daughter, Lucy Blanch Elizabeth Round at St.Andrew's church on October 25th 1898. Lucy's father, who had a long-established reputation in the licensed trade, persuaded them to take the tenancy of a public house. It was the beginning of the link with the Holden name and beer. Two months after their wedding, Edwin and Lucy Holden moved into the old Britannia Inn, a short distance from their rooms in Northfield Road. They stayed there for six years, moving to the Struggling Man Inn at Shavers End. Three years later and the Holden's were on the move again to take the Atkinson's-operated Horse and Jockey in Dibdale Lane, Lower Gornal, some half a mile away. Son Teddy was born at the pub on November 13th 1907. Their fourth house, again run by Atkinson's, was the Bloomfield Inn at Bloomfield Road in Tipton which they took over in October 1909. However, they only remained there for a short period. Within a year, the family had taken over a free house - The Summer House at Woodsetton, where they remained until 1920. In 1916 Edwin Holden, now in failing health, bought the Park Inn in George Street, Woodsetton, taking the license in 1920, shortly before his death. It was, like the Summer House, a home-brew pub with a small brewery at the rear and in the cellar. This proved to be an exciting new turning point for the family and after developing a popular ale for the locals the brewing equipment was enlarged from within the cellar to adjoining buildings, which had been previously been used as a malt store by Atkinson's Brewery. Lucy proved to have a strong business head on her shoulders. Over the next three years and through great personal endeavour she was able to purchase a second pub, the Painter's Arms in Coseley, which was owned by Butler's Brewery. This acquisition was principally for her son who had returned from Birmingham University after earning his brewing colours. From the traditional dark strong mild brewed twice a week on the premises, the brewery developed during the 1950's and 1960's to its present size, with a capacity of 250 barrels a week. There is a large bottling plant at the brewery, the last remaining such plant in the Black Country. Holden's brews and bottles beers for PDH [formerly Davenport's] in addition to its own range.

Lucy Blanche Holden

Malt Mill

Mash Tun

Copper

Brewer

Fermenting Tanks

Gravity Test

Racking Tanks

Bottling Plant

Dray

Black Country Mild 3.7% A splendid smooth blend of malt hops and roast flavours. A beer whose full-bodied taste belies it's gravity. An excellent mild.

Special Bitter 5.1% This is billed as a pale brown, sweet and malty, strong bitter, full-bodied, with a bittersweet after taste. However, I have found this too easy to drink for its gravity. It's absolutely delicious but be warned - this will give you a headache if you treat it like a session ale.

2007 Monthly Special Ales

Flo Jangles 4.2% Produced for January 2007, Flo Jangles was a dirty blonde beer with a dominant fruity sweetness and a moreish full malty body, which resulted in a climax of fruit, malt and a lingering bitter tang. A fruity little minx!

April Showers 4.3% Sparkling primrose in colour with a delicate hoppy aroma, this medium bodied beer had an underlying gentle malty sweetness and muted cereal notes, which developed into a restorative bitter finish. According to the brewery it was a totally revitalizing experience!

Julie Dunn 4.2% Produced for July 2007, Julie Dunn was a fresh light silvery gold coloured beer with a dynamic hop aroma and a crisp clean bitter taste resulting in a perfectly accomplished satisfying malty sweetness. A duly deserved drink!

Octavia 4.3% A surprisingly big and complex golden goddess with a forceful malty nose, Octavia was a full bodied delicious sweet fruity ale that delivered a satisfying symphony of fruit and hops. It was perfect for whetting your whistle!

2006 Monthly Special Ales

Gongoozler 4.5% Ever since their first appearance, locks on canals have been a source of fascination, not only as an engineering marvel providing a simple yet effective means of lifting heavy barges almost vertically, but also as a hive of activity as handles are turned, paddles lifted and gates are man hauled. Not surprisingly, therefore, locks have also proved a magnet to those who like to watch others working and it is to the most infuriating of these examples that canal folk have given the name Gongoozler. Often the lock keeper's dim-witted assistant, the Gongoozler is much more of a hindrance than a help, drifting around the lock gawping at everyone else working and invariably getting under everyone's feet and hampering their progress. This January ale was a morning sunlight in colour, with a delicate hoppy aroma and a full and malty flavour, which led to a long dry and tangy finish. It was brewed using Progress hops and Maris Otter malt. Gongoozler was a contrasting and contradictory beer. A bruly taffling brew!

Wind Blower 4.3% Available in April 2006, Wind Blower was brewed using Progress hops and Optic Malt to give this corn dolly yellow beer a soft and pleasant fragrance with underlying light cereal notes. This leads to a clean and crisp dry finish that is guaranteed to put the wind up your sails!

Shaft Spragger 4.5%
Available during June 2006, Bramling Cross hops and Optic and crystal malt gave this long velvety polished conker coloured beer a wonderfully balanced taste which swung between gentle hop notes and robust malty overtones resulting in a long lingering dry finish. The larger mines of the Black Country were invariably owned by titled land owners who knew little [and cared even less] of the sorry plight of the miners who toiled in appalling conditions to earn a meagre living. Profit was king and investment was made in essential machinery only if it would increase productivity in a way that additional labour would not - after all, labour was both cheap and in exhaustible supply. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that while wagons were an essential means of transporting coal to the surface, brakes were viewed an unnecessary luxury when you could employ an unfortunate individual to risk life and limb to control the movement of mine carts by poking sprags between the spokes of the wheels to act as a basic brake. The Shaft Spragger was one of the most dangerous jobs in a very perilous industry.

Burton Runner 4.2% Cradley Heath was famous for chain making. It was a harsh living, both men and women worked at hundreds of forges which peppered the area for pay that, even by the standards of the time, was pitifully low. Beer played a great part in the lives of both male and female chain workers as a relatively inexpensive means of cooling down and topping up fluid levels. Reports at the time suggested that drinking 24 pints a day was not unusual. Indeed, beer was so important to the workers that each factory had a boy whose only job was to run out and fetch pints for the men. The fact that workers were so poor means that it is not surprising that the beer that was served was the cheapest available: known as Burton Returns it was largely beer that had been returned to the brewery as undrinkable by more fastidious customers... and as a result the boys were known as Burton Runners. Available in July 2006, Herald hops and Maris Otter malt combined to give this bronze gold brew a light malty scent with a distinctive hop character leading to a clean and refreshing finish. It was well worth going the extra mile for!

Table Tapper 4.7% Available in October 2006, Herald hops and optic malt were fused to give this straw champagne coloured beer a distinctive hoppy nose and a rich a full-bodied quaffable taste that resulted in a spellbinding dry bitter taste. Out of this world! As for the story behind the name..... times were hard, education poor and superstition rife in the Black Country of the 19th century. Not surprisingly, it was the perfect environment for unscrupulous women to earn a few farthings by exploiting the fears of their desperate neighbours. Building their reputation as soothsayers, they would purport to converse with those who had "passed over" to proffer advice and admonishment to their awestruck clientele. Shrouding their activity in mystery and developing their own rituals these women would often get their victims to join hands and close their eyes before beginning their dialogue with the spirit world, often doing so with questions and responses tapped out on the kitchen table - hence their disparaging and commonly used description as Table Tappers.

Fogger 4.5%
Available in November 2006, this beer was sparkling gold in colour with a fruity aroma and a deliciously subtle malty taste. First Gold hops and optic malt combined to result in a long and lingering bittersweet finish. Nail making was, quite literally a cottage industry. In thousands of tiny workshops families eked out a meagre living accepting a weight of iron, "converting" it into nails and supplying a corresponding weight of nails and scrap to their middlemen, only to repeat the process time and time again. The Fogger was a particularly despicable type of middlemen who preyed on the poverty of the nailers during times of extreme hardship. He supplied them with iron on credit, often keeping incorrect scales to con the nailers. When he returned to collected the finished nails he would use another set of fixed scales to under weigh the finished product, thereby "buying" them at lower than cost price. The Fogger was often blamed for keeping the price of nails artificially low thereby keeping nailers in a parlous state of grinding poverty.

Christmas Blaster 4.8%
Available in December 2006, Challenger hops and Optic malt were suffused to create winter sunshine in a glass. With a lively and assertive hop character and a dominant malty sweetness throughout this premium beer resulted in a moreish malty aftertaste. Christmas Blaster certainly blew away the cobwebs! In days of yore, "time off" was a rare luxury. The Sabbath was strictly adhered to - but this was a time for sober religious reflection not joviality - and holidays were few and far between. Christmas holidays consisted of Christmas day and [for some] Boxing Day. However, nothing stood in the way of efficiency - and a blast furnace needed to be cared for and kept up to temperature no matter what day of the year, for if it cooled it would need to be dismantled and re-fired - a long and costly process. As a result a skeleton workforce was always in attendance and if they were unfortunate enough to have to work on the 25th December the poor souls were jokingly referred to as Christmas Blasters.