Bass Brewery

{{For timeline|Bass Charrington timeline}}

File:Small Bass barrel from Burton 01.JPG at Shugborough Hall]]

Before establishing a brewery, William Bass transported ale for brewer Benjamin Printon. Bass sold this carrier business to the Pickford family, using the funds to establish Bass & Co Brewery in 1777 as one of the first breweries in Burton-upon-Trent.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pickfords.co.uk/html/about-pickfords-removal-company-uk/aboutpickfords_history2.htm |title=Find Out More About Pickfords From 1630 To 2005, With a Complete History of Pickfords Moving and Storage |website=Pickfords.co.uk |date=14 February 2011 |access-date=19 April 2011}}

File:Барли Вайн (тип эля) БАСС №1- - лучший зимний напиток!.jpg

Early in the company's history, Bass was exporting bottled beer around the world, serving the Baltic region through the port of Hull. Growing demand led his son Michael Thomas Bass (1760–1827), to build a second brewery in Burton in 1799 in partnership with John Ratcliff. The water from local boreholes became popular with brewers, with 30 operating there by the mid-19th century. His son, Michael Thomas Bass (1799–1884), succeeded on his father's death in 1827, renewed the Ratcliff partnership, brought in John Gretton, and created 'Bass, Ratcliff and Gretton'.

The opening of a railway through Burton in 1839{{cite web|url=http://www.burton-on-trent.org.uk/station-history|title=Burton on Trent Local History»Archive » Station History|website=Burton-on-trent.org.uk|access-date=4 April 2015}} redoubled Burton's pre-eminence as a brewing town. In the mid-1870s, Bass, Ratcliff and Gretton accounted for one-third of Burton's output. A strong export business allowed Bass to boast that their product was available "in every country in the globe".A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 9: Burton-upon-Trent (2003){{cite book|title=A Bottle of Guinness Please|author=David Hughes|date=2006|isbn=978-0955371301|publisher=Phimboy}} By 1877, Bass was the largest brewery in the world, with an annual output of one million barrels. In the 1880s the brewery received unwanted publicity through the lifestyle of Frederick Gretton, son of John Gretton. Having worked for the company when a young man, he drifted away and developed a stable of racehorses. His 'Sterling' and 'Isonomy' were stars of the Turf. But Fred, as he was known, was also a heavy drinker and took a mistress, the teenage Fanny Lucy Radmall. In later life she would become a household name as Lucy, Lady Houston. When Fred died of drink in 1883 he left her £6,000 a year, much to the disgust of his family.{{Cite book|title=Adventuress: The Life and Loves of Lucy, Lady Houston|last=Crompton|first=Teresa|publisher=The History Press|year=2020}}

Following the death of the second Michael Thomas Bass in 1884, his son Michael Arthur Bass, later the 1st Baron Burton, took the reins. Both Michael Thomas Bass and his son Lord Burton were philanthropically inclined, making extensive charitable donations to the towns of Burton and Derby. The annual Bass excursions, laid on by the firm for its employees, were the largest operation of its type in the world by a private company. The brewer became a public limited company in 1888.Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, {{Page needed |date=February 2013}}

Bass' No. 1 Ale was the first beer to be marketed as barley wine, around 1870.{{cite book|title=A dictionary of chemistry and the allied branches of other sciences, Volume (1872)|first=Henry|last=Watts}}

Early in the 20th century, a declining market closed many Burton breweries, 20 in 1900 falling to eight in 1928. Bass took over Walkers in 1923, and Worthington in 1927. Also in 1927, they acquired, for over £1,000,000, Thomas Salt, which was founded in 1774 as the Clay Brewery by Joseph Clay, who sold it to Salt, his maltster, just before the introduction by Napoleon of the Continental System that stopped all trade between Britain and Europe.

Bass was one of the original London Stock Exchange FT 30 companies when the listing was established in 1935.{{Cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/78c12166-0773-11db-9067-0000779e2340.html |title=Financial Times – FT 30 information page |newspaper=Financial Times |date=1 July 1935 |access-date=19 April 2011}} Over the next half-century, Bass maintained its UK dominance by acquiring such brewers as Mitchells & Butlers (1961), Charringtons (1967), Bents-Gartsides (1967), John Joule & Sons (1968), William Stones Ltd (1968), and Grimsby's Hewitt Brothers Ltd (1969), being variously known as Bass, Mitchells and Butlers or Bass Charrington. Draught Bass ale and Worthingon "E" were merged to become the same product until Bass became preferred as the name of the cask beer and Worthington for keg, although some pubs resisted this distinction.

Bass had been reliant on railways to distribute its beer from Burton, and owned the country's largest private rail network within the town linking its various premises. From the 1970s it followed the trend to abandon the use of rail freight, which had become notoriously unreliable. The switch to road haulage required local transport depots, and in many places small independent breweries were bought and repurposed as such. At that time, along with the other major brewers which now dominated the industry, Bass were moving away from the production of traditional ales in favour of keg beer and particularly Carling lager at Warrington, ignoring opposition from CAMRA.

In 1988, Bass acquired the rights to franchise the Holiday Inn name outside of North and South America and in 1989 went on purchase the Holiday Inn hotel chain from Holiday Corporation.{{cite news|last=Cowan|first=Alison Leigh|date=25 August 1989|title=Bass P.L.C. to Acquire Holiday Inn|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/25/business/bass-plc-to-acquire-holiday-inn.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=20 December 2018}}

{{Main|The Beer Orders}}

During the prime ministership of Margaret Thatcher, beer production, distribution and retailing were vertically integrated, with the "Big Six" brewers (Bass among them) accounting for a large portion of UK beer production and sales. Most pubs were "tied houses", owned by one of the brewers, and mostly selling its products.{{Cite book|last=Bamforth|first=Charles W.|title=Beer is Proof God Loves Us|publisher=FT Press|year=2011|isbn=9780137065073|location=Upper Saddle River, NJ|pages=27–33}}

On the advice of the Director-General of Fair Trading, the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (later the Competition Commission) released a report entitled "The Supply of Beer: A Report on the Supply of Beer for Retail Sale in the United Kingdom", investigating the nature of the beer industry.{{Cite web|title=House of Commons - Trade and Industry - Second Report|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmtrdind/128/12805.htm|access-date=2021-05-12|website=publications.parliament.uk}} The report made recommendations to break up a "complex monopoly" among beer brewing and sales between the UK's "Big Six" (Allied, Bass, Courage, Grand Metropolitan, Scottish & Newcastle, and Whitbread), which at that time accounted for "75% of beer production, 74% of the brewer-owned retail estate, and 86% of loan ties." Recommendations to limit the number of pubs a brewing company could own were enacted in legislation in 1989, commonly called "the Beer Orders", with three years for brewers to dispose of excess pubs. Bass went from owning approximately 7,190 pubs in 1989 to about 2,077 in 2014 (by its successor company Mitchells & Butlers).

Following decades of closures, consolidation, and the effects of the Beer Orders, Bass was left by the end of the 20th century as one of only two large remaining breweries in Burton. The Bass company decided to focus on hospitality rather than brewing and Bass' brewing business was sold to the Belgian brewer Interbrew (later Anheuser-Busch InBev) in June 2000. The UK government's Competition Commission again raised concerns about the monopoly implications arising from the deal{{Cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/food-beverage-stores/111083-1.html |title=The British government has ruled that it will allow the Belgian brewing conglomerate, interbrew, to keep Bass Brewers if it disposes of the Carling beer business as it had undertaken |website=Allbusiness.com |date=28 January 2002 |access-date=19 April 2011 |archive-date=19 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619111808/http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/food-beverage-stores/111083-1.html}} and instructed Interbrew to dispose of the Bass brewery facility in Burton along with the Carling and Worthington brands, which were all sold to Coors (later Molson Coors). However, Interbrew was to retain the rights to the Bass Pale Ale brand.{{Cite news|last=Murray-West|first=Rosie|date=2001-12-26|title=Interbrew sells Carling for £1.2bn|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|language=en-GB|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2746749/Interbrew-sells-Carling-for-1.2bn.html|access-date=2020-04-30|issn=0307-1235}}

With only hotel and pub holdings left in the Bass company's portfolio, the company renamed itself Six Continents plc,{{cite news|author=Julia Day|date=27 June 2001|title=Bass to become Six Continents|newspaper=The Guardian|location=UK|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/jun/27/marketingandpr2|access-date=17 September 2015}} which itself split into Mitchells & Butlers and InterContinental Hotels Group in 2003.{{Cite web|last=Platt|first=Gordon|date=1 June 2003|title=Global Finance Magazine - Corporate Finance : Global Depositary Receipts|url=https://www.gfmag.com/magazine/june-2003/3lbaty-corporate-finance-global-depositary-receipts|access-date=2021-05-12|website=Global Finance Magazine|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Walsh|first=Dominic|title=Bill for Six Continents split is £109m|newspaper=The Times|language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/bill-for-six-continents-split-is-109m-833b8pl3h3f|access-date=2021-05-12|issn=0140-0460}}

Bottled and keg Bass formerly exported to the US with a higher alcohol content are now{{When|date=May 2021}} produced there domestically by Anheuser-Busch at a Baldwinsville, New York, facility.{{Cite web|date=2015-06-23|title=Anheuser-Busch invests $4.5 million in Baldwinsville brewery|url=https://www.syracuse.com/business-news/2015/06/anheuser-busch_to_invest_45_million_in_baldwinsville_brewery_add_new_products.html|access-date=2020-04-30|website=syracuse|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Why Paying More for Imported Beers Is a Big Waste of Money|url=https://money.com/craft-beer-imports-becks/|access-date=2020-04-30|website=Money|language=en}}

Image:Bottles of Bass beer.JPG, Fukushima, Japan]]

From 2000 to 2005, Bass was produced under licence by Molson Coors in Burton, in the original Bass brewery. When Coors' licence to brew draught Bass came to an end in 2005, a new licence was awarded to Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries plc (later Marston's plc), which transferred production of Bass to its own brewery, also in Burton. The former Bass brewery in Burton, under Molson Coors ownership, underwent renovations in the early 21st century,{{Cite web|title=Molson Coors Brewery Upgrade and Expansion - Food Processing Technology|url=https://www.foodprocessing-technology.com/projects/coors/#:~:text=The%20Burton%20redevelopment%20project%20will,the%20future%20needs%20of%20customers.|access-date=2021-05-12|website=Foodprocessing-technology.com}} and as of 2021 brews Carling and other beers for the UK and European market.{{Cite web|last=foodmanufacture.co.uk|title=Burton brewery appears on Inside the Factory|url=https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2019/03/14/Carling-brewer-features-on-BBC-Two-series|access-date=2021-05-12|website=Foodmanufacture.co.uk|language=en-GB}} In 2020, the historic Bass brewery site, adjacent to the contemporary brewery, was put on the market for redevelopment.{{Cite news|date=2020-04-22|title=Historic Burton brewery site set to be turned into homes|language=en-GB|website=Derbytelegraph.co.uk|url=https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/burton/molson-coors-historic-burton-brewery-4068405|access-date=2021-05-12|issn=0307-1235}}

{{main|National Brewery Centre}}

Sited next to the brewery, the Bass Museum of Brewing (later renamed the Coors Visitor Centre & The Museum of Brewing), was Burton-upon-Trent's largest tourist attraction until closed by Coors in June 2008. A steering group was established to investigate re-opening,{{Cite news |author=Keith Bull |url=http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/burtonmail-news/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=380768 |title=Power group set up to save museum |website=Burtonmail.co.uk |date=19 February 2009 |access-date=19 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615212924/http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/burtonmail-news/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=380768 |archive-date=15 June 2009 }}{{Cite news |author=Roger Protz |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/nov/23/coors-brewing-museum-burton |title=The brewing museum is victory at the barley roots |newspaper=The Guardian|location=UK |date= 23 November 2009 |access-date=17 September 2015}} and the museum was relaunched in May 2010 as the National Brewery Centre.{{cite web| url=http://www.nationalbrewerycentre.co.uk/News_2010_09_HRH_Princess-Royal-Opens-National-Brewery-Centre-burton.htm |title=HRH The Princess Royal Opens the National Brewery Centre, Burton Brewery Centre |publisher=National Brewery Centre |archive-date=29 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229032423/http://www.nationalbrewerycentre.co.uk/News_2010_09_HRH_Princess-Royal-Opens-National-Brewery-Centre-burton.htm}} It closed in 2022.{{cite news |title=Burton-on-Trent brewing museum plans given green light |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-66931548 |access-date=9 April 2024 |work=BBC News |date=27 September 2023}}

Image:Edouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.jpg]]

Bass was a pioneer in international brand marketing. "Many years before 1855"{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/stream/gov.uscourts.f1.096/096.f1?ui=embed#page/n235/mode/1up | page=207 | title=The Federal Reporter | volume=96 | year=1899 | publisher=West Publishing Co}} Bass applied a red triangle to casks of its Pale Ale. After 1855 the triangles were red, white or blue depending on which of three breweries it came from, but all bottles of Pale Ale had the red triangle from that date. The blue triangle was briefly revived after World War II for Pale Ale that was not bottle conditioned. The Bass Red Triangle was the first trade mark to be registered under the UK's Trade Marks Registration Act 1875.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/1/UK00000000001 |title=IPO trade mark 1 |website=Ipo.gov.uk |access-date=19 April 2011}} The Act came into effect on 1 January 1876 and legend has it that a Bass employee queued overnight outside the registrar's office on New Year's Eve in order to be the first in line to register a trade mark the next morning. As a result, Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Limited received the first six registrations, the Bass Red Triangle for their pale ale and the Bass Red Diamond next for their strong ale (Numbers 3 to 6 have been abandoned).{{Cite web|url=http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/1/UK00000000002 |title=IPO trade mark 2 |website=Ipo.gov.uk |access-date=19 April 2011}} The trade marks are now owned by Brandbrew SA, an InBev subsidiary based in Luxembourg.{{Cite web|url=http://www.secinfo.com/dsVs2.zgh.7.htm |title=American Beverage Co Ambev – 20-F – For 12/31/04 – EX-4.17 |publisher=SEC Info |access-date=19 April 2011}} In June 2013 InBev renamed Bass Pale Ale as Bass Trademark No.1.{{cite web | url=http://www.ab-inbev.co.uk/2013/06/bass-ale-celebrates-its-heritage-as-bass-trademark-no-1/ | title=Bass Ale celebrates its heritage as Bass Trademark No.1 | publisher=Anheuser-Busch InBev | access-date=16 June 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323111404/http://www.ab-inbev.co.uk/2013/06/bass-ale-celebrates-its-heritage-as-bass-trademark-no-1/ | archive-date=23 March 2015 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}

Bottles of Bass with the Red Triangle logo have occasionally appeared in art and literature, including Édouard Manet's 1882 painting A Bar at the Folies-BergèreKenneth Bendiner, {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygcrmSmQqRkC&q=Bar+at+the+Folies-Berg%C3%A8re+Bass&pg=PA73 |title=Food in painting: from the Renaissance to the present |page=73|publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2004 |isbn=1861892136 |access-date=4 April 2010 }} and in over 40 paintings by Picasso, mostly at the height of his Cubist period around 1914.{{Cite web |url=http://csdll.cs.tamu.edu:8080/picasso/OPPv2ImgViewer?imageURL=%2Fpicasso%2Fgraphics%2F1914%2Fopp14-11.jpg |title=Ma Jolie |access-date=2 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060211175208/http://csdll.cs.tamu.edu:8080/picasso/OPPv2ImgViewer?imageURL=%2Fpicasso%2Fgraphics%2F1914%2Fopp14-11.jpg |archive-date=11 February 2006 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://csdll.cs.tamu.edu:8080/picasso/OPPv2ImgViewer?imageURL=%2Fpicasso%2Fgraphics%2F1914%2Fopp14-54.jpg |title=Verre, violon et bouteille de Bass |access-date=2 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060211175157/http://csdll.cs.tamu.edu:8080/picasso/OPPv2ImgViewer?imageURL=%2Fpicasso%2Fgraphics%2F1914%2Fopp14-54.jpg |archive-date=11 February 2006 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.photo.rmn.fr/c/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?FP=3986923&E=22S39UZSIAPE&New=T&SubE=2C6NU0HQ34CD |title=Bouteille de Bass, verre et journal |website=Photo.rmn.fr |access-date=19 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718111154/http://www.photo.rmn.fr/c/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?FP=3986923&E=22S39UZSIAPE&New=T&SubE=2C6NU0HQ34CD |archive-date=18 July 2011 |url-status=dead }} In the "Oxen of the Sun" episode of James Joyce's Ulysses, Bloom observes the Bass logo."During the past four minutes or thereabouts he had been staring hard at a certain amount of number one Bass bottled by Messrs Bass and Co at Burton-on-Trent which happened to be situated amongst a lot of others right opposite to where he was and which was certainly calculated to attract anyone's remark on account of its scarlet appearance." — Episode XIV, Ulysses, James Joyce (1922).

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File:Crewe alexandra 1988-1989.gif

• Bass sponsored Derby County Football Club from 1984 to 1986.{{Cite web|url=http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Derby_County/Derby_County.htm |title=Derby County – Historical Football Kits |website=Historicalkits.co.uk |access-date=19 April 2011}}
• Bass sponsored Crewe Alexandra Football Club from 1986 to 1989.{{Cite web|url=http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Crewe_Alexandra/Crewe_Alexandra.htm |title=Crewe Alexandra – Historical Football Kits |website=Historicalkits.co.uk |access-date=9 September 2018}}
• Bass sponsored Blackpool Football Club from 1988 to 1990.{{cite web |url=http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Blackpool/Blackpool.htm |title= Blackpool – Historical Football Kits |website=Historicalkits.co.uk |access-date=13 February 2019}}
• Bass sponsored Bohemian Football Club from 1993 to 1994.{{Cite web|date=2019-07-07|title=Bohemian football shirt 1993 - 1994 sponsored by Bass|url=https://www.oldfootballshirts.com/en/teams/b/bohemian/old-bohemian-football-shirt-s69815.html|access-date=2021-08-05|website=oldfootballshirts.com|language=en}}
• Bass was the main sponsor of Bristol Rugby for 2006–07.
• Bass was a major sponsor of Pontypridd RFC during the 2009–2011 seasons.

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Draught Bass is a 4.4% ABV cask conditioned beer. Most prevalent near its Burton upon Trent and Derbyshire heartlands, it is brewed by Marston's in Burton in Yorkshire Squares using English hops and dry hopping{{cite web|url=http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/7337?Ntt=bass&Ntk=All&PagingData=Po_0~Ps_10~Psd_Asc|title=Enhanced Marston's Bass gets trade launch|website=Morningadvertiser.co.uk|access-date=4 April 2015}} and is described as "a classic ale with a malty, fruity, nutty aroma and a complex, satisfying flavour".[http://onestopshop.molsoncoorsdirect.com/productDetails.aspx?productId=106&pagetype=search] {{Dead link|date=November 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}

Bottled Bass is not bottle conditioned, and is brewed at Samlesbury, Lancashire, by AB InBev.

An ale brewed for export, usually to around 5% ABV.

• Bass Extra Smooth - A 3.6% ABV pasteurised keg version of Bass, brewed to the same recipe, and most popular in the South West of England.{{Cite web|url=https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk|title=Pub News & Pub Property Search for the UK pub trade|website=Morningadvertiser.co.uk|access-date=10 November 2024}}
• Bass Mild XXXX - A 3.1% ABV keg mild.[http://onestopshop.molsoncoorsdirect.com/searchResults.aspx?keyword=bass] {{Dead link|date=November 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}
• Bass Best Scotch - A 3.4% ABV keg beer in the North East of England Scotch ale style.{{Cite web |url=http://www.inn-kegs.co.uk/draught-b.php |title=In Kegs |access-date=6 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323155022/http://www.inn-kegs.co.uk/draught-b.php |archive-date=23 March 2012 |url-status=dead }} It was formerly brewed to 3.8% following its launch in 1986.

A 1.2% (later 0.5% ABV) shandy made with Bass beer and lemonade. A Pilsner variant in a white can was also available.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britvic.com:443/|title=Home|website=Britvic.com|access-date=10 November 2024}} Introduced in 1972, it was made by Britvic. It was discontinued in 2018.

Bass Pale Ale has been brewed under licence in Belgium since the Interbrew takeover. It is typically sold in 25cl bottles at 5.2% ABV.

Draught Bass has been exported to America since at least 1966."Bass, Mitchells & Butlers Limited." Financial Times [London, England] 17 December 1966: 5. Financial Times. Web. 21 August 2011. In 2001, 66,500,000 litres of Bass were sold in the United States.Euromonitor, 2011 However Bass suffered under the custodianship of InBev and later Anheuser-Busch InBev as it is undergoing heavy decline in American consumption, with 24,200,000 litres sold in the country in 2010. Molson Coors pledged funding to support the Bass brand in America, and since June 2012, Bass has been brewed in Merrimack, New Hampshire, at 5% ABV for the American market.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

In 1860, Bass was the first foreign beer to be sold in Japan."Double Bass." Financial Times [London, England] 3 November 1995: 15. Financial Times. Web. 21 August 2011.

• Bass Maltings, Sleaford
• Black and Tan, a British drink popular in the US, often made with Bass and Guinness
• Coors Brewers
• List of breweries in England
• Listed buildings in Burton (civil parish)

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{{Commons category|Bass Brewery}}

{{Wikisource1911Enc|Bass (brewers)|Bass}}

• [http://www.bass.com/ Official website (defunct, redirects to Anheuser-Busch)]
• [http://www.famouslogos.net/bass-ale-logo-one-of-the-worlds-oldest-logos Bass Logo- Design and History]
• {{PM20|FID=co/049565|TEXT=Clippings about|NAME=}}

{{FT 30 constituents}}

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Category:AB InBev brands

Category:Breweries in England

Category:Beer brands of England

Category:1777 establishments in England

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Category:British companies established in 1777

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Category:Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange

Category:Mitchells & Butlers