Author:
Brains 125 Years
Like Guinness in Ireland, Brains has become the beer of a nation. It is easy to mark the date. When Wales beat Ireland in 2005 to lift the Six Nations rugby Grand Slam, with the brand proudly stretched across the players’ chests, Brains ceased to be just the capital brew of Cardiff and became the beer of Wales.
But how did a brewery, which when the Brains family took it over in 1882 was little more than a three-storey stone building behind a pub, rise to be the toast of a nation in less than 125 years?
Leading beer writer Brian Glover traces the turbulent tale in a pint glass, as Brains not only beat off attempts by the powerful temperance movement in Wales to close down the industry, but also outlasted larger local rivals like Hancock’s and Rhymney Breweries and then British giants Bass and Whitbread.
He highlights significant milestones along the way, including the merger with Crown Buckley of Llanelli and Pontyclun in 1997, and the move from the city centre Old Brewery two years later into Hancock’s former Cardiff site.
It is a flowing liquid history of triumph against the odds. Just like the Grand Slam.
