Whitbread & Co. Ltd (Mackeson Brewery) Round Black Backed Steel

Whitbread & Co. Ltd black backed steel tray dating from the 1930s.

Foundation of the Hythe Brewery

The brewery was founded on High Street in Hythe by James Pashley in 1669.
It was acquired by two brothers, Henry Mackeson and William Mackeson, in 1801.
When William Mackeson died in 1821 he left his widow and nine children destitute. Henry Mackeson supported them thereafter.
In 1848 the partnership, which included six members of the Mackeson family, was dissolved leaving Henry Mackeson as the sole owner of the business.
Henry died in 1860 and he passed a thriving business to his son, Henry Bean Mackeson.
Like his father, Henry Bean Mackeson ran a successful business until his death in 1894.
The Company was registered as Mackeson & Co. Ltd in 1900.
Henry Bean Mackeson's sons, Henry and George, embarked on a programme of modernisation, investment and expansion.
They purchased land, built hotels, and built a new maltings with its own railway sidings in Canterbury.
In Hythe, the brewery was upgraded with latest technology and a telephone line was added.
In 1907 Mackeson & Co. Ltd acquired the Sun Brewery of Humphrey E De Trafford in Littlebourne.

Mackeson's Milk Stout

Mackeson's Milk Stout was introduced in 1909 to celebrate the 240th anniversary of brewing in Hythe.
It was patented and licensed to breweries across the country.
The beer was launched with a new booklet which claimed that the beverage gave drinkers 'energy, stoppped distension, fulness, indigestion, prevented rheumatism, and was ideal for nursing mothers and invalids'. The claims were entirely unproven.
Milk Stout was a runaway success and demand soon outstripped the brewery's capacity to supply it.
In 1919 the Company purchased the Moor Brewery of Charlotte Wicken in Hawkhurst.
Despite the success of Milk Stout, the grim years of the First World War had taken its toll on Henry and George and they decided to sell the business.
The Company was acquired by H.& G.Simonds Ltd in 1920 which sold it to Jude, Hanbury & Co. Ltd in 1929.

Whitbread & Co. Ltd Takeover

In the same year the Company, with over 100 public houses, was taken over by Whitbread & Co. Ltd.
During the 1930s Mackeson's Milk Stout was promoted by stressing the advantages for women's health.
In 1934 the registered office of Mackeson & Co. Ltd was transferred to Chiswell Street Brewery in London.
Whitbread's employed an advertising agency to promote the Milk Stout brand to women, and by 1939 it accounted for more than 10% of the Company's production.
The name was changed to Mackeson's Stout in 1942 and after the Second World War it was sold in bottles.
By 1955 demand for Mackeson's Stout was so high that Whitbread's was forced to subcontract 20% of its bottling production.
By 1960 Mackeson's Stout accounted for half of Whitbread's sales.

The Hythe Brewery Closure

It continued to be brewed at Hythe until 1968 when the brewery was closed.
The brewery was demolished for housing but the offices remain on the High Street.
Thereafter, brewing of Mackeson's was relocated to Fremlins Ltd in Maidstone until the end of 1972, when it too was closed by Whitbread & Co. Ltd.
In 1971 Mackesons Stout was first manufactured in cans.
Since 1972, Mackeson's has been contract brewed at Tennant Brothers Ltd Exchange Brewery in Sheffield, Young & Co.'s Brewery Ltd in Wandsworth, the Castle Eden Brewery in County Durham, Ridley & Sons Ltd in Chelmsford, Whitbread's own Samlesbury Brewery in Lancashire, J.W.Cameron & Co. Ltd in Hartlepool, and until recently Hyde's Anvil Brewery Ltd in Manchester.

Interbrew UK Own the Mackeson's Brand Name

After several mergers and acquisitions, the Mackeson's brand name is now owned by Interbrew UK a subsidiary of AB InBEV.
It is still brewed in the UK, USA and Trinidad, and imported into Hong Kong.

The manufacturer's mark states - Reginald Corfield Ltd Lombard Road London S.W.19.