George Younger & Son Ltd Rectangular Black Backed Steel

George Younger & Son Ltd black backed steel tray dating from the 1930s.

George Younger Early Years

George Younger was brewing in Alloa from 1745.
He established his first brewery, later known as the Meadow Brewery, on Bank Street in Alloa, in 1764,
and traded as George Younger & Son.
After his death in 1788, the business passed to his son, also named George Younger, who passed it on to his son, James Younger, who ran the brewery until his death in 1868.
Younger's leased the Candleriggs Brewery, Alloa, in 1852, when Robert Meiklejohn & Co. moved its operations to the nearby Grange Brewery.
The third George Younger, 1st Viscount Younger of Leckie, became the Company's Chairman when his father James, died in 1868.
The Craigwood Maltings were built in Alloa in 1869.
In 1871, the Candleriggs Brewery was purchased outright from Robert Meiklejohn & Co.
The Meadow Brewery ceased brewing in 1877, and was turned into offices for the business.
A new bottling department was built in Kelliebank, Alloa, in 1889, the same year as the Candleriggs Brewery was badly damaged by fire. The brewery was rebuilt on a much larger scale becoming the biggest brewery, in Scotland, outside of Edinburgh.

George Younger & Son Ltd Expansion

The Company was registered as George Younger & Son Ltd in 1897. It suffered a second, smaller fire at the Candleriggs Brewery, that same year.
The following year Younger's purchased two breweries from the Fenwick family, Robert Fenwick & Co. Chester Brewery of Chester-le-Street, which continued operating until 1934, and R.Fenwick & Co. Ltd Sunderland Brewery, where it continued to brew, supplying the North East of England, until 1952, when it was sold to J.W.Green Ltd.
By the turn of the 20th century the Company was a prolific exporter, supplying its beers to the West Indies, Australia, North America, India, the Far East and South Africa.
During the 1900s the Kelliebank site was developed to include the first chilling and carbonating plant in Scotland, and a new export bottling business was added. The Kelliebank bottling business was sold separately in 1919.
In the same year Younger's purchased the Grange Brewery of Bass Crest Brewery Co. based in Alloa, and continued to brew non-intoxicating beers and stout there, until 1941.
1st Viscount Younger of Leckie died in 1929, and was succeeded by his eldest son, James, the 2nd Viscount, who ran the business until his death in 1946.
More significantly, George Younger & Son Ltd acquired local rivals Blair & Co (Alloa) Ltd, with 20 tied houses, in 1959, and immediately closed its Townhead Brewery.

Acquistion by Northern Breweries Ltd

In 1960 George Younger & Son Ltd was acquired by Northern Breweries Ltd, becoming part of its Scottish operations, Caledonian Breweries Ltd, later named United Caledonian Breweries Ltd.
The Candleriggs Brewery ceased to brew in 1963, and was closed.