S.A.Brain & Co. Ltd Square Tin

S.A.Brain & Co. Ltd Round tin tray dating from the 1960s.

The Orginal Old Brewery

The original brewery was established by the Thomas brothers on St. Mary Street in Cardiff in 1713.
Brains was founded in 1882 when Samuel Arthur Brain and his uncle Joseph Benjamin Brain bought the Old Brewery from the Thomas family.
In 1882 the firm owned 11 public houses and this had increased to 80 public houses by 1900.
The Company was registered as S.A.Brain & Co. Ltd in 1897.

The Nora Street Brewery

By 1900 Brains had increased its production tenfold and this success resulted in the construction of a new brewery on Nora Street in Roath, Cardiff, in 1914.
During the 20th century S.A.Brain & Co. Ltd became one of the most recognised brewers in South Wales.
In 1997 Brains took over Crown Buckley PLC of Llanelli which it closed in the same year.

The Cardiff Brewery

In 1999 S.A.Brain & Co. Ltd purchased the old Cardiff Brewery of William Hancock & Co. Ltd from Bass Charrington Ltd and moved all its production to this site.
The Nora Street Brewery was demolished.
In 2003 the original Old Brewery was redeveloped as a bar and restaurant complex.

The Dragon Brewery

The business was moved again in 2019, to a new Dragon Brewery at the Pacific Business Park in Tremorfa, Cardiff.
Hancock's old Cardiff Brewery was closed and is now awaiting redevelopment. The development has been named 'Central Quay'.
In 2020 Marstons PLC took over the running of 156 public houses, owned by Brains, through a 25 year lease-back deal.
99 of Brain's public houses were later put up for sale.
In 2022 the Company sold the freehold and leasehold of 95 of its public houses to Song Capital mainly to pay off a debt caused by the 2020 Covid shutdown.
The Company is still owned by the Brains family.

The manufacturer's mark states - Made in Great Britain by Reginald Corfield Ltd 5066