Maclay & Co. Ltd Round Tin

Maclay & Co. Ltd tin tray dating from the 1960s.

The Maclay Family

The business was founded in 1830 by James Maclay when he leased the Mill Brewery in Alloa.
The Company traded as James Maclay, Ale, Porter, Table and India Beer Brewer of Alloa, quickly gaining a reputation for the quality of its beers.
In 1870 James gave up the lease to the Mill Brewery and built the Thistle Brewery in East Vennel, Alloa.
The Company grew profitably over the next five years.
When James Maclay died in 1875 his two sons, James and John, took control of the business. Their partnership traded as J. & J.Maclay.

Maclay & Co, Ltd

Following the dissolution of the partnership of J. & J.Maclay, two brothers, Robert and John Ramsay, acquired the Thistle Brewery and its maltings in 1892.
The firm traded as Maclay & Co.
The Thistle Brewery was taken over by the Frazer family in 1896 who registered it as Maclay & Co. Ltd.
The quality of Maclay's ales was recognised when it was awarded brewing medals at Brewers' Exhibitions in Vienna in 1894, Newcastle in 1898, and Paris in 1900.
In 1910 the Thistle Brewery was badly damaged by a fire which destroyed all the Company's archives, and stopped production for one year.
Despite this setback, the Company traded successfully for the next eight decades throughout which it brewed a wide range of beers.
It was however its reputation for dark beers, including its Oatmeal Stout, which enabled it to grow, but when trends changed to lighter ales this led to financial difficulties in the 1990s.
In 1991 the Company was purchased by the Matthews family.

Maclay Inns Ltd Pub Company

The focus of the firm switched from brewing to pub management, and in 1994 the Company was renamed Maclay Inns Ltd in order to reflect the new business model.
In 1999 the Thistle Brewery was closed, and in 2001 Maclay Inns Ltd ceased to use the original office buildings.
Part of the Thistle Brewery is now a pub called the Old Brewery whilst the rest of the buildings were demolished and redeveloped as housing.
In 2015 Maclay Inns Ltd entered into administration and all its properties were sold to other pub companies.

The Forth Brewing Co. Ltd

When the Thistle Brewery was closed, ex employees of the Company formed the Forth Brewing Co. Ltd which brewed its beers in Kellibank, at the Eglington Dyeworks which was converted into an export bottling plant by George Younger & Sons Ltd of Alloa in 1912.
The Forth Brewing Co. Ltd also brewed and bottled beers for Heather Ales Ltd of Strathaven in South Lanarkshire.
In 2003 Heather Ales Ltd purchased the Forth Brewing Co. Ltd and took over its brewery in Kellibank in 2004.
Heather Ales Ltd was renamed the Williams Brothers Brewing Co. when it acquired the Kellibank site and it is still brewing there.

The manufacturer's mark states - Hancock, Corfield & Waller Ltd. Mitcham. London.