Brewery in Hertfordshire, England
McMullen's
, known locally as
Mac's
,
[2]
is a
regional brewery
founded in 1827 in
Hertford
,
England
, the
United Kingdom
. The brewery expanded during the second half of the 19th century by purchasing other breweries and their associated pubs. In 1902 it was the second largest brewery in Hertfordshire. The brewery has occupied several different sites in Hertford and moved to its current location in 1891. There have been several breweries on this site and the current one opened in 2006. As of 2021, members of the 6th
generation
of the McMullen family are still involved with the business.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
The former McMullen's Brewery of 1891 on Hartham Lane, Hertford
McMullen's was founded in 1827 in Back Street (now Railway Street) Hertford by Peter McMullen(1798-1881),
[3]
the son of an
Irish
nurseryman
.
[4]
[5]
The passing of the
Beerhouse Act
in 1830 enabled Peter McMullen to open his own
beerhouse
named after
William IV
in Mill Bridge, Hertford.
[3]
[6]
The passing of the Beerhouse Act acted as a stimulus to common brewing and led to an increase in the number of breweries in Hertford, peaking at eight in Hertford in 1838.
[4]
In 1966 McMullen's were the sole survivor.
[4]
In 1860 Peter McMullen passed the business onto his sons Alexander Henry and Osmond Henry who began trading as P. McMullen & Sons.
[7]
The company expanded during this period and acquired a number of local breweries.
[2]
As the business grew it moved to Old Cross, Hertford in 1891 and a new brewery was built.
[8]
The new brewery was designed by
William Bradford
and is now a grade II
listed building
.
[9]
In 1897 the brewery became a
limited company
, McMullen & Sons Ltd, when it owned 90
pubs
.
[4]
[10]
Osmond Henry became Chairman of the new company
[3]
whilst Alexander Henry retired from the brewery and founded a seed merchant in Hertford.
[11]
By 1902 McMullen's were the second largest brewery in Hertfordshire, behind
Benskins Brewery
of
Watford
and owned 131 pubs
[3]
Osmond Henry died in May 1914 and his son
Lieutenant colonel
Osmond Robert became chairman.
[3]
Osmond Henrys's grandson Peter, a former
Special Operations Executive
colonel, ran the brewery from 1946 to 1980.
[3]
In 1966 the brewery owned 200 pubs.
[4]
A modern brewhouse was built in 1984 when John McMullen was company director.
[6]
From the 1960s until the early 1990s, Mac's also brewed a range of kids' soft drinks that were sold at their pubs and also in the local
ice cream
stands and
newsagent
shops. These included
lemonade
,
Shandimac
,
ginger beer
,
lime soda
,
orange soda
, and
Maxi-Cola
which came in reuseable glass bottles that could be returned for a discount on the next drink.
[12]
In 2002 there was a split between various members of the McMullen family some of whom wanted to turn their holdings into cash whilst others were happy to remain shareholders.
[13]
Financial consultants were appointed and the company was put up for sale. The company was independently valued at £176m in 2002.
[13]
A new independent chairman, Charles Brims, secured a compromise whereby several non-brewing property investments were sold in order to release cash to appease the majority shareholders and a plan was developed to build a new, smaller brewhouse.
[14]
The company decided to shed
contract brewing
and take advantage of tax breaks by becoming a smaller brewer.
[
citation needed
]
As the new Whole Hop Brewery (opened 2006) was more compact than the 1984-built plant, the spare land was sold to
Sainsbury's
in 2007.
[15]
This is the fifth McMullen brewery to operate on this site
[14]
McMullen's brews
cask ale
and
pasteurised
bottled beers. The company owns over 130 freehold pubs, mainly in the
Home Counties
, with a number in
London
, including The Spice of Life in
Cambridge Circus
, The White Swan in Pimlico and The
Nag's Head
in
Covent Garden
. McMullen's is acquisitive and has recently purchased pubs and bars in
Cambridge
,
Chelmsford
,
Sevenoaks
,
Fleet
,
Marlow
,
Milton Keynes
and
Bishop's Stortford
.
Due to the forced pub closures during the
COVID-19 pandemic
of 2020?21, Mac's began selling
takeaway
casks of beer directly from their brewery yard.
[16]
The company has no debt.
[17]
Beers
[
edit
]
McMullen's produces three regular cask ales and several occasional ales. The regular range consists of:
Cask Ales
[
edit
]
Cask ales are
real ales
that have been cask conditioned and will continue to ferment in the cask in a process known as secondary fermentation.
McMullen AK
[
edit
]
McMullen AK is a mild beer with an
ABV
of 3.7%, brewed in Hertford since 1833. AK was once a popular designation for beers which were light in gravity and colour and lightly hopped.
[18]
Brewed with a mix of malts with Kentish Whitbread Goldings the only
hops
used.
[19]
McMullen IPA
[
edit
]
McMullen
IPA
is a traditional English IPA with an
ABV
of 4.8%. The hops used are undisclosed, but are added as whole leaf hops, as opposed to the compressed hops pellets more commonly used in non-traditional brewing.
[20]
Country Best Bitter
[
edit
]
Country Best
Bitter
, first brewed in 1964, is a traditional bitter with an ABV of 4.3%, brewed with Fuggle, Progress and Bramling Cross hops and a mixture of pale malts.
[21]
McMullen Cask
[
edit
]
McMullen house cask ale, in production since 2007, is a 3.8% ABV 'honey-gold' ale with undisclosed ingredients
[22]
Mac's No.1 Pale Ale
[
edit
]
Number One Pale Ale is a 3.8% amber cask ale popular among agricultural workers since the turn of the 20th century. It was previously advertised under the slogan "second to no-one", or "second to none", and was known as No.1 Bitter before 1950.
[23]
Discontinued during the early 1990s, but brought back into production in 2021.
[24]
Bootwarmer
[
edit
]
Bootwarmer
is an
old ale
first brewed in 1995 and sold in McMullen pubs during the Christmas holidays from 2002 onwards. It was discontinued in 2019 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
, but brought back in December 2021.
[25]
[26]
Bottled Beers
[
edit
]
McMullen Hertford Castle
[
edit
]
Hertford Castle is a 5% ABV strong ale brewed with Suffolk barley and undeclared whole leaf hops. First brewed in 1960, the beer is named after
Hertford Castle
, where Queen
Elizabeth I of England
spent much of her childhood.
[27]
[28]
McMullen Stronghart
[
edit
]
A speciality brew with an ABV of 7%, Stronghart is made to an 1850s recipe with East Anglian barley and undeclared whole leaf hops and won gold in the 1997
CAMRA
Champion Beer of Briton barley wine and strong old ale class.
[29]
[30]
Originally known as Mac's Olde Time Strong Ale, it was rebranded as Stronghart in 1993.
[31]
[29]
Rivertown
[
edit
]
The Rivertown range was introduced in 2017 to produce
vegan
-friendly
pale ale
,
IPA
and
Pilsner
.
[32]
The Session IPA, at 4.1%, uses Citra, Waimea and crystal hops for a citrus finish.
[33]
Guest beers
[
edit
]
- Rivertown Quin (2024)
[34]
Out of production
[
edit
]
- Nags Head Bitter (2023)
[35]
- Fit For A King
Mild Ale
(2023)
[36]
- Rivertown
Elysium
Lager (2023)
[37]
- Rivertown Ernest Amber Ale (2023)
[38]
- Mc
Mulled Beer
(2022-23), a 4.4.% recreation of a 1976 recipe infusing
Stronghart
with apples, sugar and spices.
[39]
- Camra
1950
Porter
(2022-23)
[40]
[41]
- Amber Bay IPA (2022-23)
[42]
- Rivertown Helles
Lager
(2022-23)
[43]
- Rivertown Solstice (2022-23)
[44]
- Jubilant 70 Golden Ale
(2022)
[45]
[46]
- Normality (2021?22)
[47]
- Rivertown Freedom (2021?22)
[48]
- Mac's Oat Brown Stout (2020?21), a 4.4% ABV recreation of a beer produced at the Hertford brewery during the 1930s.
[49]
- Chinook (2020?21)
- OK Bloomer (2021)
- Hopguzzler (2018-19)
[50]
- Victory Stout (2018)
[51]
- Carriage Court Ale (2018)
- Golden Years (2017)
[52]
- Special Day (2015)
[53]
- Hop On A Mo
(2015)
[54]
- Brave Herts (2015)
[55]
- Flying Frog (2014?16)
- Love Herts (2014)
[56]
- Bard of Ale (2013)
- Screaming Reels (2011?13)
- Stag Bitter (2008)
[57]
- Harvest Moon (2006-2008)
- Victory 1805 (2005)
- Special Reserve Anniversary Porter (2000)
- Oatmeal Ale (1997-2001)
- Gladstone (1995-2001)
[58]
- J.M Premium Bitter (1990s)
[59]
- Hartsman
Lager
(1980s)
- Crafter Low Alcohol Bitter (1970s)
- Mac's Stout (1960s-1970s)
- Mitre (1960s-1990s)
- Mac's Brown (1960s)
- Old Cross (1950s-1960s)
- Coronation (1953)
- Family Ale (1950s)
- Lady Mac (1950s)
- Shandimac
(1950s-1980s)
- No. 3 Special Pale Ale (1950s-1970s)
- Nut Brown Ale (1940s-1950s)
[60]
- Milk Stout
(1930s)
- Oat Brown Stout (1930s-1950s)
- Dinner Ale (1920s)
- Dark Beer (1920s-40s), renamed Olde Time Ale during the 1950s and Stronghart in 1993
- White Label (1880s-1920s)
Pubs
[
edit
]
The Jolly Farmers, Enfield with a brewery lorry
The Peahen
, St Albans
- The Peahen
, St Albans
- The Woolpack,
Hertford
- The Millstream, Hertford
- Dog and Whistle, Hertford, formerly known as The Ram
- Lord Haig
, Hertford
- Salisbury Arms Hotel, Hertford
- Golden Griffin, Hertford
- The Greyhound,
Bengeo
- The Builders Arms,
Potters Bar
- The Black Bull,
Buntingford
[61]
- The Angel,
Waltham Abbey
- Baroosh, Hertford, Chelmsford and Bishops Stortford.
- The Hare,
Harlow
- Nag's Head, Covent Garden
.
- The Plough,
Crews Hill
[62]
- The Kingfisher on the Quay,
Mytchett
- The Jolly Postie, formerly
Royston
Post Office
.
- Saracens Head, Ware
- The King's Mead, Ware
[63]
- The Sun,
Hoddesdon
- The Bull,
Broxbourne
[64]
- The Heron on the Lake,
Fleet, Hampshire
[65]
- The White Swan,
Westminster, London
- The Yew Tree,
Walkern
- The Old Bank of England
,
Fleet Street
,
London
- The Harrier (The Hilltop), Hatfield, Hertfordshire
- The Hopfields Hatfield, Hertfordshire
- The Red Lion Hatfield
, Hertfordshire
- The Hollybush, Loughton, Essex
- The Cambridge Tap, Cambridge
- The Horse and Guardsman, Westminster
- The Duchess of Cambridge, Windsor
- The White Hart, Hertford, Hertfordshire
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"McMullen & Sons Limited - Head Office Family"
.
Archived
from the original on 7 August 2021
. Retrieved
7 August
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"150 Years of 'Macs'
"
(PDF)
.
The Campaign for Real Ale - South Herts. Newsletter
. January 1977.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 7 August 2021
. Retrieved
7 August
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"Mac's No.1 - Peter the Poacher"
(PDF)
.
The Campaign for Real Ale - Hertfordshire Newsletter
. April 1981.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 7 August 2021
. Retrieved
7 August
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Connell, E.J (1967). "Hertford Breweries".
Industrial Archaeology
.
4
: 29?43.
- ^
"McMullen & Sons Limited - 1827: The Very Beginning"
.
Archived
from the original on 7 August 2021
. Retrieved
7 August
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Cunningam, Alice (8 October 2020).
"The history behind Hertford's McMullen & Sons brewery that faced both World Wars, Spanish Flu and now Covid-19"
.
Hertfordshire Mercury
.
Archived
from the original on 7 August 2021
. Retrieved
7 August
2020
.
- ^
"McMullen & Sons Limited - 1860"
.
Archived
from the original on 8 August 2021
. Retrieved
7 August
2021
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"McMullens Brewery (1268883)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
26 August
2021
.
- ^
Pearson, Lynn; Anderson, Ray (2010),
Gazetteer of operating pre-1940 breweries in England - The Brewing Industry - A report by the Brewery History Society for English Heritage
, Brewery History Society, p. 9,
archived
from the original on 15 December 2019
, retrieved
1 September
2021
- ^
"McMullen & Sons Limited - 1897"
.
Archived
from the original on 9 August 2021
. Retrieved
7 August
2021
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"The Seed Warehouse (1268869)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
26 August
2021
.
- ^
South Herts Camra 1985
- ^
a
b
Lewis, Alex (1 March 2002).
"Brewery sale clouds pubs' future"
.
St Albans & Harpenden Review
. Retrieved
11 September
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"The McMullen legacy"
.
Brewer and Distiller International
. The Institute of Brewing and Distilling. October 2006
. Retrieved
11 September
2021
.
- ^
Pearson, Lynn (2010),
Strategy for the Historic Industrial Environment - The Brewing Industry - A report by the Brewery History Society for English Heritage
, Brewery History Society, p. 29,
archived
from the original on 7 August 2021
, retrieved
7 August
2021
- ^
"McMullen's Tackling the Virus"
. South Hertfordshire Campaign for Real Ale.
Archived
from the original on 7 August 2021
. Retrieved
9 September
2021
.
- ^
"McMullen & Sons Ltd"
.
Independent Family Brewers of Britain
.
Archived
from the original on 9 September 2021
. Retrieved
9 September
2021
.
- ^
Cornell, Martyn (23 July 2014).
"Second thoughts on the mysterious origins of AK"
.
Zythophile
.
Archived
from the original on 1 June 2021
. Retrieved
9 September
2021
.
- ^
AK XXXX
- ^
Mac's IPA
- ^
Country
- ^
Cask
- ^
McMullen labels
- ^
Mac's No.1
- ^
Bootwarmer beer
- ^
McMullens Bootwarmer
- ^
Castle
- ^
Regional breweries of Britain 2004
- ^
a
b
Stronghart
- ^
South Herts Camra Feb 1999
- ^
Bootwarmer
- ^
Rivertown untapped
- ^
Rivertown IPA
- ^
Introducing Rivertown Quin
- ^
Nags head
- ^
Fit for a king
- ^
Elysium
- ^
Ernest beer
- ^
McMulled Beer
- ^
Seasonal keg
- ^
Untapped 1950 porter
- ^
Amber Bay
- ^
Beer Advocate
- ^
Rivertown Solstice
- ^
Macs denies Greene King rumours
- ^
Jubilant 70 ale
- ^
Cask breweries
- ^
"Untappd"
.
- ^
Oat Malt Stout
- ^
Hopguzzler
- ^
New Victory Stout
- ^
South Herts Camra: Golden beer for golden years
- ^
Brewed with the Willow Foundation
- ^
Brewed in honor of Movember
- ^
Brewed in aid of Keech hospice care
- ^
Mcmullen beers
- ^
Stag bitter
- ^
Herts Camra Oct 2001
- ^
45 spaces
- ^
McMullen beer labels
- ^
Our locals
- ^
The Plough at Crews Hill reopens 2016
- ^
Kings Mead now open
- ^
The Bull Broxbourne
- ^
"Heron awarded pub of the year"
. Archived from
the original
on 2016-01-06
. Retrieved
2017-07-18
.
External links
[
edit
]
51°47′55″N
0°04′49″W
/
51.7985°N 0.0803°W
/
51.7985; -0.0803