Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Ltd ceramic jug dating from the 1910s.<\/p>\n
Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Established in 1777 by William Bass in Burton-on-Trent, within 100 years the Company, with its ‘Red Triangle’ Bass Pale Ale, was famous on every continent. Expansion in the 19th Century<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The expansion of the railways greatly benefitted the growing business, and a second (Middle) brewery opened on the North side of Station Street in 1853. A third (New) brewery, on the South side of Station Street, started operating in 1864. A Public Company Losing its Way<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n In 1888 it was reconstructed and incorporated as a Public Company. Large Mergers in the 1960s<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The need to develop a pub estate resulted in a merger with Mitchells & Butlers Ltd of Smethwick in 1961, when Bass, Mitchells & Butlers was formed. The Modern Era<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n In 1997 most of its public houses were sold and Punch Taverns was formed. The manufacturer’s mark states – Mintons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Ltd ceramic jug dating from the 1910s.
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\nWhen William Bass died in 1787 his son, Michael Thomas Bass, inherited the business.
\nIn 1796 John Ratcliff joined Michael Thomas Bass as a partner in the Company.
\nIn 1821, Bass became one of the first brewers to export its Pale Ale to India. Its East India Pale Ale was soon imitated by many other brewers.
\nMichael Thomas Bass died in 1827 leaving his son, also named Michael Thomas, to run the business. He was responsible for the Company’s worldwide reputation for its superb ales, and Bass became the largest brewer in Britain.
\nIn 1835 John Gretton joined the firm which was renamed Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton in 1837.<\/p>\n
\nThe Old Brewery, on High Street, was completely rebuilt in 1876.
\nBy 1877 Bass was the largest brewery in the world and its Red Triangle became the first product to be registered under the Trademark Registration Act.
\nIn 1880 Bass was registered as a Limited Liability Company, and traded as Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Ltd.
\nFollowing the death of the second Michael Bass in 1884, his son, Michael Arthur Bass, later the 1st Baron Burton, took over control of the firm.<\/p>\n
\nJohn Gretton’s son, also called John Gretton, joined the business in 1888, becoming its Chairman in 1908.
\nThroughout the first half of the 20th Century, the conservative Gretton pursued a strategy of mergers & acquisitions and opted to focus on the free trade rather than to develop its own tied estate.
\nThe largest merger was with Worthington & Co. Ltd in 1927, both were famous brand names and both continued to trade separately.
\nBass also purchased another Burton-on-Trent giant, Thomas Salt & Co. Ltd in 1927, which it closed immediately.
\nAfter Gretton died in 1947, Arthur Manners, a lifelong Bass executive, assumed the title of Chairman. Manners management style, also like Gretton’s, was conservative and he too rejected the need to modernise the business.
\nAfter numerous takeovers of breweries across Britain, the Company became unwiedly, putting a strain on its profits.<\/p>\n
\nThe Company merged again in 1967, becoming Bass Charrington Ltd, after amalgamating with London based Charrington United Breweries Ltd.
\nDuring the 1960s many additional breweries were purchased across Britain, including the Welsh brewer William Hancock & Co. Ltd with 505 tied houses.
\nMost of the breweries Bass purchased were later closed.
\nIn 1971 the original Bass brewery was demolished leaving two others, the Middle and the New, to continue operating in Burton-on-Trent.
\nIn 1983 the Company became Bass plc.<\/p>\n
\nIn 2000, the Belgian Company Interbrew, later named AB InBev, purchased the Bass brewing operation, whilst the remaining retail estate consisting of pubs & hotels became Six Continents plc.
\nAs a result of a Competition Commission review, Interbrew was forced to dispose of the brewery and certain key brands to Coors, later becoming Molson-Coors Brewing Company (UK) Ltd, however they did manage to retain the rights to the Bass Pale Ale brand.
\nAB InBev chose not to brew Bass Pale Ale, or Draught Bass as it is better known, preferring to grant Coors Brewers Ltd the licence to brew it.
\nIn 2005, when this licence came to an end, it was transferred to Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries PLC, later named Marstons PLC, now the Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company.
\nDraught Bass is still being brewed at the old Albion Brewery of Marstons, Thompson & Evershed Ltd.
\nAB InBev continues to brew Bass bottled and keg brands for export at its Samlesbury brewery near Preston.
\nBass is brewed separately in the USA and Belgium.
\nThe site of the Middle Brewery is still used for brewing albeit in a much altered form. The New Brewery site has retained much of its original buildings.<\/p>\n
\nThe brewery is based in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":11262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[269],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5037","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-jugs","8":"first","9":"instock","10":"shipping-taxable","11":"purchasable","12":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/5037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=5037"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=5037"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brewerytrays.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=5037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}