Two traditional breweries: a photo-essay

Compared to, say, Roger Putman, recently retired editor of Brewer & Distiller International magazine, who has visited more than 170 different breweries in his career, I’ve really not been to that many: fewer than 60, across four decades, albeit in six different countries. Pfff. Amateur status. But inexplicably, in 2014 I was welcomed into seven different brewhouses, of all sizes, that I had never been to before, from the massive new set-up at Guinness in Ireland to Twickenham Fine Ales’ current base, which may be bigger than its first home, but still produces less in a year than Brewhouse No 4 in Dublin makes in a day.

I take my camera with me around breweries, though I’m not, I cannot emphasise enough, a photographer in any sense except being the idiot pressing the shutter button. Very occasionally I get something that isn’t actually terrible. And since 2010 I’ve been using a camera that is fantastic at taking low-light shots, which helps enormously inside buildings. I have put a few of the pictures from my 2014 trips up on the blog to illustrate the pieces I wrote at the time, but two trips, to Shepherd Neame in Faversham and Hook Norton in Oxfordshire, never produced any words. So here is a small selection of snaps from two of Britain’s most traditional breweries:

Shepherd Neame brewery, Faversham

Shepherd Neame entrance, Faversham
Entrance to the Shepherd Neame brewery in Faversham, Kent

 

 

An old radiator-style "counterflow" wort cooler, late 19th or early 20th century, discarded
An old radiator-style heat-exchange wort cooler, late 19th or early 20th century, discarded and lying around the Faversham brewery. The hot wort ran into the trough at the top and over the outside of the cooler, through which ran cold water, then poured into the trough at the bottom and ran away to the fermenting vessel
Lovely poster from the time of the Shepherd & Mares partnership at the Faversham brewery, circa 1849-1864, hanging in the Faversham brewery boardroom
Lovely poster from the time of the Shepherd & Mares partnership at the Faversham brewery, circa 1849-1864, hanging in the Faversham brewery boardroom
A poster for Shepherd Neame's bottled beers from 1926, now hanging in the company boardroom in Faversham
A poster for Shepherd Neame’s bottled beers from 1926, now also hanging in the company boardroom in Faversham

 

The 1914 mash tun at the Shepherd Neame brewery, refurbished 1949, still in use
The 1914 mash tun at the Shepherd Neame brewery, refurbished 1949, still in use
Inside the 1914 mash tun at the Faversham brewery, showing the slotted floor plates
Inside the 1914 mash tun at the Faversham brewery, showing the slotted floor plates

 

A copper in the Shepherd Neame brewhouse, Faversham
A copper lauter tun in the Shepherd Neame brewhouse, Faversham, with a copper in the background

 

Stained glass windows in the Shepherd Neame brewhouse. Spot the icons, including a bishop's finger signpost, and the Shepherd & Mares trademark
Stained glass windows in the Shepherd Neame brewhouse. Spot the icons, including a bishop’s finger signpost, and the Shepherd & Mares trademark

 

Inside the Shepherd Neame sampling room
Inside the Shepherd Neame sampling room, with slate tasting notes

 

Framed letter in the Shepherd Neame sample room introducing the brewery's newest beer in 1958, Bishops Finger.
Framed letter in the Shepherd Neame sample room introducing the brewery’s newest beer in 1958, Bishops Finger

Hook Norton brewery

The Hook Norton brewery, designed by the brewery architect William Bradofrd, who also designed Harvey's brewery in Lewes and McMullen's in Hertford, among many others. This is the 'cliche shot' of Hook Norton, but hey …
The Hook Norton brewery, designed by the brewery architect William Bradford, who also designed Harvey’s brewery in Lewes and McMullen’s in Hertford, among many others. This is the ‘cliche shot’ of Hook Norton, the one everybody takes, but hey …

 

There's a joke in here somewhere about art worthy of the Louvres …
There’s a joke in here somewhere about a work of art fit for the Louvres …

 

Old grist mill at the Hook Norton brewery
Old grist mill at the Hook Norton brewery
A notice on the wind trunk, a device for separating the plump malted grain from the dust and faulty. too-light grains before the malt was ground
A notice on the wind trunk, a device for separating the plump malted grain from the dust and faulty, too-light grains before the malt was ground
Inside a mash tun at the Hook Norton brewery wth the plates up after cleaning
Inside a mash tun at the Hook Norton brewery wth the plates up after cleaning
Disused copper cooler at the top of the Hook Norton brewery. The hot, newly boiled wort would be pumped up into the shallow cooler, and the louvres opened for the steam to escape as the wort cooled down before it was run into the fermenting vessels below and the yeast pitched. Infections? Undoubtedly …
Disused copper cooler at the top of the Hook Norton brewery. The hot, newly boiled wort would be pumped up into the shallow cooler, and the louvres opened for the steam to escape as the wort cooled down before it was run into the fermenting vessels below and the yeast pitched. Infections? Undoubtedly …
Copper, Hook Norton brewery. This is one of the few I have seen in a "large" brewery that does not exhibit the "iceberg" effect, where most of the vessel is hidden below the floor that the operator stands on to feed in hops
Copper, Hook Norton brewery. This is one of the few I have seen in a “large” brewery that does not exhibit the “iceberg” effect, where most of the copper is hidden below the floor that the operator stands on to feed in hops
Inside the (empty) copper at the Hook Norton brewery
Inside the (empty, obviously) copper at the Hook Norton brewery

 

10 thoughts on “Two traditional breweries: a photo-essay

  1. Fabulous articles with great photographs, Martyn ! My congratulations with those! I now regret terribly that I never took a good camara with me on my brewery visits.
    Have you been to Harveys of Lewes yet ??

  2. Thanks Martyn, I have a question about the mash tun at Shepard’s, is that entirely made of wood? I can’t tell for sure from the picture. If so it seems rather late for still using wood. I am trying to find out how far back metal plates mash tuns go. Do you have an knowledge on that?
    Thanks,
    Frank Clark

    1. The plates in the base of ther Sherps mash tun are certainly metal: the cast iron mash tun was patented by Jonathan Dickson in 1808, but many big brewers, including Bass, Allsopp and Barclay Perkins, were still using wooden mash tuns in 1889.

  3. Very interesting article and great pictures. I’m particularly interested in how these traditional mash tuns supported their false bottoms, did they use a ledge around the edge of the vessel ?

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