Bristol Brewery Georges & Co. Ltd Round Bakelite

Bristol Brewery Georges & Co. Ltd bakelite tray dating from the 1950s. The original brewhouse of the Bristol Porter Brewery appears to have been built in about 1730. Philip George agreed to acquire the Bristol Porter Brewery in 1788. Initially the Old Porter Brewery brewed only porter however a pale ale brewery was opened in the 1790s. After suffering early years of losses the need to widen its range of ales resulted in a further brewhouse being added to brew light ales in 1795. In 1816 the name of the Company was known as Georges, Ricketts & Co. whose main strategy was to acquire public houses. In 1827 the name was changed to George & Co. and this changed once again in 1888 when the business was registered as Bristol Brewery Georges & Company Ltd. During the next 70 years, from 1889 to 1960, the Company acquired thirteen breweries. One of these was the purchase of its main rival, Bristol United Breweries Ltd in 1956. The Old Porter Brewery was acquired by Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Co. Ltd in 1961, opening up the entire South West region to supply its beers. The importance of George's brewery location resulted in it becoming the headquarters of Courage (Western) Ltd in 1964. The brewery was extensively modernised both in the 1960s and in the 1980s and became dedicated to the production of cask ales, including the Georges brand name. In 1972 Courage Ltd was acquired by the Imperial Tobacco Group Ltd which was taken over by the Hanson Trust in 1986. Immediately the Hanson Trust sold off the Courage brewing arm to Elders IXL, later renamed the Foster's Brewing Group in 1990. In 1995 Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd purchased Courage from Fosters creating Scottish Courage Ltd. Four years later, in 1999, Scottish Courage Ltd closed the Old Porter Brewery transferring brewing to John Smith's Tadcaster Brewery Co. Ltd, the last remaining brewery in the old Courage empire.