HSD, a legendary ale.

Very few beer brands manage to survive for a 50 year history so its remarkable to note that St Austell Brewery HSD is not that far from reaching this momentous anniversary. It was first brewed on 4th June 1975, an idea from the then Head Brewer, Alan Izat. His rationale was that most of St Austell's other brands at this time were at the lower end of the abv scale so decided to brew a beer at 1050og, hence the 5% abv. HSD would also appear in different uniforms over the years, examples including St Austell Jubilee Ale and Royal Wedding Ale, both of which were bottled conditioned HSD. 

HSD, or to give it its full name, Hicks Special Draught, is a beer that has become legendary. Talk to a tourist who visited Cornwall in the 1980s/90's and it seems many will have a fond but respectful memory of drinking HSD! Named after Water Hicks, St Austell's founder, locals have even given the HSD initials new names with High Speed Death, High Speed Diesel or Hang Straight Down to name but three.  A full bodied strong ale, HSD packs plenty of caramel toffee and dried fruit flavours. As I sit here writing this post on a cold winters day in December, its hard to think of a more suitable day to enjoy a pint of HSD. 

When I first joined St Austell Brewery in early 2002 the original plan was that HSD was the beer we hoped to turn into the next Old Speckled Hen. The abv was similar, the flavour of the beer was similar and we had a sizeable marketing budget to invest in its launch. However, the market had changed and HSD was not the right beer - consumers were now more interested in golden hoppy beers and the citrus flavours they gave. HSD is brewed with English hops, Progress and Golding, both great hop varieties but they gave bitterness and balance to brews rather than big hints of tropical citrus notes. Fortunately St Austell Head Brewer Roger Ryman, had another beer up his sleeve called Tribute that did play the new tunes required and the rest as they say is history. However HSD did not fade away, far from it in fact.

Head Brewer Roger Ryman in 2012, meeting of St Austell's Taste Panel

The one thing that HSD had going for it was its reputation for being a fine beer locally. It was untainted by the St Awful or Thinners nicknames (a play on Tinners which was St Austell's house bitter at the time) - if we are honest, St Austell had become known for questionable beer quality and unexciting brands towards the latter half of the 20th century, but HSD rose above this and continued to hold its place at the top table for local beer lovers. Of course under Roger Rymans leadership St Austell's brewing reputation would quickly recover and prosper.

HSD has had a few scares over the years to its longevity. I recall we were once challenged by Gales Brewery of Horndean who implied that St Austell were passing off HSD as their own HSB (Horndean Special Bitter).  Of course that was quite ridiculous, not least because the two brands paths barely crossed each other on a geographical basis. Several Solicitors letters were swapped over that particular accusation which thankfully eventually came to nothing, bar some expensive solicitors bills!

Another threat came internally as St Austell once pondered replacing HSD on draught with Admirals Ale. We were looking at the future of Admirals Ale and decided there was not room in our portfolio for two strong beers at 5.0% abv. We deemed Admirals as the more marketable as it had earned many brewing awards and also had some good listings in supermarkets. The plan was to carry on brewing HSD in bottle and perhaps the occasional appearance as a guest beer on draught. However we reckoned without the local CAMRA branch and other beer enthusiasts who were dead against this idea. We quickly came to our senses and to avoid a PR own goal changed our plans. Sadly Admirals Ale was eventually culled as we could find no place for it in our draught ale portfolio and the supermarket bottle listings eventually fell away.

From a marketing perspective the HSD pump clip and label designs always seemed to play second fiddle to St Austell's main brands i.e. Tribute and Proper Job were the focus. HSD always received its new uniform at the various rebranding exercises over the years but never quite got the same attention as other brands. However the very latest rebranding which took place a couple of yeas before I left, I'm pleased to say I was very happy with the new look HSD, giving improved shelf standout and solid pump clip design that reinforces the strong ale character.

Last St Austell rebranding showing latest HSD pump clip design

Roger Ryman also increased the abv to 6% in bottles for while. He rightly argued that its description of Strong Ale was no longer relevant as 5% was now the norm for beer drinkers. Bottled HSD at 6% was a really good beer and I certainly drank my share, the increased abv complemented and enhanced the flavours. Sadly the increase in abv also came with an increase in paying beer duty which made HSD somewhat borderline in terms of profitability as supermarkets would not accept the price rise being passed on. HSD was therefore reduced back down to 5% in bottles - there are few decisions I'd disagree with from my St Austell days but this was one. Roger was right, the higher abv beer was a better beer and we had such few supermarket listings that it was not really relevant. Disappointingly many of those listings would disappear anyway.

Bottle of HSD at 6.0% abv - a very  fine beer

So as HSD approaches its 50th anniversary in mid 2025, I am proud to have been part of its custodianship for a few years during my time at St Austell. HSD was never my most favourite beer, but it was always there and its very presence gave the beer portfolio a solid appearance imparting tradition and heritage that the other brands could not offer. Today, HSD can still be found in many of St Austell Brewery's own pubs and it also regularly pops up as a guest beer in various freehouses in the South West. So, if you come across it, do enjoy a pint as you'll not be disappointed, especially if its a cold day! 

St Austell draught range at a beer festival shown circa 2013,

The story of Old Speckled Hen

Morland Marketing Manager Gerald Pridmore left, with Marc Bishop right

I've often touched on my association with Old Speckled Hen in previous blogs but have never told the story of the brand and how it came to success in its early years. Of course, today Old Speckled Hen (or OSH as I shall refer to it) is well known as the flagship beer brand amongst the Greene King Brewery fleet of ales, but it began life quite differently and was ground breaking in its day. For me personally, having the chance to work on the brand gave me much learning and a life long career in beer marketing so I've much to be grateful for.

Life Begins at 50!

Old Speckled Hen began life as a commemorative beer, brewed by Morland Brewery in Abingdon in association with the towns famous MG plant to celebrate its 50th birthday. It was originally first brewed in 275ml bottles at 5.2%abv and quickly developed a reputation locally as a good beer, mostly being available in Morland pubs. 

Because of the 50th birthday link the beer was brewed at 1050 Original Gravity, which will usually generate a beer of around 5% abv. Then Head Brewer, Bill Mellor, who created the beer says he simply wanted to brew a beer of that gravity with an appropriately full colour and flavour but with a dryness and easy drinkability. Morland used a two strain yeast, originally believed to have come from Charringtons Brewery, London that gave their then house beer, Morland Bitter a distinctive dryness that could even be astringent - it was a great beer once you got the taste for it. When this yeast was used for OSH, the natural full sweetness of the stronger beer perfectly balanced the dryness of the yeast to create a very drinkable strong beer. 

Morland Head Brewer Bill Mellor left, with Technical Brewer Andrew Bowes right

The unique name remembered an old MG motor car - in the mid 1920's the MG plant used to experiment with new paint schemes and this particular car was painted black with flecks of gold paint. The new paint scheme was not a success so the car was used as a factory run-around, where when seen on its travels by the locals was referred to in their broad Berkshire accents as the Ow'd Speckled Un. Hence, when MG were looking for a unique name for the new beer Old Speckled Hen was born.

Sadly, the MG plant in Abingdon closed within 18 months of the new beer coming out so Morland were left with a rather nice bottled beer but no factory of local workers to champion it!

The original MG car, the Ow'd Speckled Un

Opportunity knocks

OSH continued as a bottled beer until the later 1980's by which time sales had declined and its future was in doubt. However, an opportunity combined and never has it been so true with the old adage, right place, right time etc.

Firstly, the Monopolies and Mergers Committee reported into the beer industry with what would turn out to be far reaching changes and alter the brewing and pubs landscape forever. One of the recommendations was that national brewers, all of whom had large pub estates must allow their pubs to offer a guest cask beer. Secondly, Morland had a failing lager brand called Kaltenberg Braumaster (see my other blog for the story), that already had a sizeable marketing budget of £100,000 per annum. Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, the then marketing manager, a very clever man called Gerald Pridmore, was bright enough, bold enough and risk tolerant to take advantage of this situation. 

Morland never had a cask beer suitable to make great strides as a guest beer so they would need to invent one, but Gerald saw the opportunity and duly worked with Bill Mellor to introduce Old Speckled Hen on draught. A new brand also needs a marketing budget so Gerald took a risk and unbeknown to the then CEO, used the existing marketing budget set aside for Kaltenberg to put the building blocks in place for OSH.

Gerald was a lone marketeer in 1990 and needed a number two and it was then that I joined the team shortly after cask OSH had been test marketed - Gerald always said he knew it would be a success when in one of the test pubs, the locals were drinking the beer slops, so good was the flavour. It was then we began to put the marketing support in place for the new brand.

Firstly, the pump clip, We never used an advertising agency for the design, it was done by Gerald and the pump clip supplier (Objex of Abingdon). It was was a quality octagon shaped enamel printed brass clip that felt heavy in the hand. I recall Gerald placing a small MG logo that he'd cut out from a magazine in the centre front of the proof pump clip that was to become part of the final clip design. A little cheeky maybe, but the bottle label had the logo so it was a risk worth taking. The MG connection gave the brand initial credibility, although it was later rightly removed as OSH developed its own personality. Secondly, in marketing terms OSH would have some "firsts" for a regional brewers ale brand - our famous starter kit and advertising in the trade press.

An original OSH pump clip showing the MG logo

All pubs who first stocked OSH received a starter kit, containing a pump clip, bar towels, drip mats, a show card telling the brand story and most importantly some quite unique pint glasses. Including the pump clip in the starter kit sounds so obvious but at the time hand written paper/card pump clips for guest beers were sadly a common sight in many pubs for guest beers. Glassware too was was really important as it set the OSH drinker aside and reinforced the brands premium image.

Large scale trade advertising was a first for a regional ale brand and stimulated demand for the new beer. The ads were very different and again it was all about quality - we even listed wholesaler supplier names on the ads who were always keen to stock the brand as it created demand for them as well as us. This culminated in Morland receiving the Best Trade Advertising Campaign Award from the Publican and Morning Advertiser in 1994. 

OSH Trade Avert

The mid 1990's and beyond

OSH was now beginning to fly. Licensees loved stocking it as it came with a strong marketing package that gave them the confidence it would sell off the bar. Consumers also loved the flavour, people were looking for stronger beers and the premium aura of the pump clip and the glass all felt a little bit special. 

The brewing team had now got a handle of brewing consistency - the abv was known to fluctuate and at a time when it was common place to enjoy a couple of pints at lunchtime, OSH could be over 6% abv in reality, so no wonder work efficiency suffered in the afternoons! Investment had also taken place in a new brewery, logistics and packaging. Bill Mellor had taken an honourable and much deserved retirement and a new Head Brewer, Steve Calderbank was appointed. Morland were now equipped to grow the brand into the 21st century.

The new Morland Brewhouse

Morland had a strong sales team led by Sales Director Paul Bence who really believed in the brand, plus there were no competitor brands within Morland's portfolio so everyone was wholly focused on OSH - a really important advantage when it comes to brand building. I also remember Gerald being challenged by the CEO that sales of OSH would only ever be one firkin (9 gallon cask) per week on average in pubs and was that worth bothering as volumes per pub would be so small. His answer was that we simply needed more stockists and he was right - it was common place for the larger wholesale depots to be ordering up to 500 x 9 gals per week.

By this time OSH had now been launched in a new 500ml clear glass bottle. Again a first, introduced by the new Commercial Director Rupert Thompson that would lead to OSH becoming the leading Premium Bottled Ale for sales in supermarkets for many years. A relationship with the Charles Wells brewery saw cans introduced building the OSH name further.

Morland Senior Management team at opening of new brewery. L to R, Rupert Thompson, Michael Watts, Martin May Smith, Steve Calderbank (Head Brewer), Peter Furness-Smith, Paul Rivers.

However, all was not rosy for Morland, as a public company they were always susceptible to a takeover bid from another brewer, especially now they owned a desirable ale brand in growth along with a valuable large pub estate in the Thames Valley. Greene King duly came knocking in 1992 and although they received their marching orders on their first attempt, a second was to prove successful in 2000 and the brewery in Abingdon was closed with production of OSH moved to their Bury St Edmunds Brewery.

I'm pleased to say that under Greene King OSH has continued to prosper and is now established as a consistent top five Premium Bottled Ale. In truth, Morland had probably reached their limit in growth capability for OSH and the bigger brewer was able to give the brand that extra support and investment taking it to the next level. In todays market although still very popular, it is not considered very exciting and old fashioned compared to many of the new craft beers and innovation in beer styles. However, for me personally it is a brand I am very proud of and thoroughly enjoyed working on. It gave me the chance to work with some lovely people and led to a great career in beer marketing.

Thank you and raise a glass to the Ow'd Speckled Un!

Source:

Independent - Michael Jackson article, 2/1/93

Marc Bishop own archives

Brewers and Brands from yesteryear - Gibbs Mew, Salisbury

Salisbury Horse Racing

Mention the city of Salisbury and likely you'll be thinking of the fabulous Cathedral or perhaps its friendly horse racing track, or indeed most lately on the darker side its been in the news for the Salisbury poisonings. However, for aficionados of beer and brewing history it was once home of long established regional brewer Gibbs Mew. Gibbs, whose pub estate totalled more than 300 no longer exist and their beers apart from Bishops Tipple are long gone. So what happened? In this short blog I'll try to write their story.

Gibbs Mew roots can be traced back to Salisbury from 1858 when Mr Gibbs moved his brewing operation to the Anchor Brewery in Salisbury. Other breweries were acquired over the years including in 1898, Herbert Mews Brewery. Gibbs Mew was then established. Like other regional brewers they serviced the local area and built up a strong pub estate. They also had their own bottling line, (bear in mind most brewers were doing returnable bottles and were primarily for use in pubs), plus a kegging line.

In 1960 they purchased the Lancashire Clubs Federation Brewery Ltd which encompassed the Clough Springs Brewery. Even today a southern based brewer purchasing one based in the north might raise a few eyebrows but in 1960 that would seem a bizarre decision. However, the beer market would have been very different then and against the backdrop of increased sales in keg beers and the rise of beer sales in clubs I can just about see the attraction, but still it seems an ambitious decision. A separate company was formed to run this side of the business called Gibbs Keg Breweries Ltd but was not a success and brewing ceased after two years, the Clough Brewery eventually becoming Hammonds Vinegar Brewery!

The late 1980's bought opportunity in the form of the 1988 Monopolies and Mergers Report which potentially freed up many pubs to take a guest cask ale. Also, some of the bigger brewers sought to rationalise their pub estates to focus on pub retailing and began selling off large packages of the smaller tenanted pubs to regional brewers. Gibbs were well placed to take advantage of the latter but their beer brands apart from Bishops Tipple were less favourable.

Firstly the pubs, in 1988 in a deal worth a staggering 10 million pounds Gibbs purchased 105 pubs from Grand Metropolitan, hugely increasing the size of their pub estate. It seemed a good fit as the pubs were largely based around Wiltshire and Somerset and it meant they could sell their own beers in these pubs more than doubling sales. Having experienced a similar pub acquisition in my days working at Morland in Abingdon when they too bought large packages of tenanted pubs (from Courage), suddenly forcing your beer brand on the bar replacing the local drinkers favourites is challenging and in many cases does not work. At Morland we had the advantage of Old Speckled Hen, a strong brand with an excellent reputation that the new pubs were happy to have, but our standard bitter at the time, Morland Original did less well and we had many problems bedding in the new beers.

Wadworth Bishops Tipple

Gibbs only had Bishops Tipple as a recognisable brand and at 6.5% abv and largely sold in bottles it offered little attraction for drinkers in the newly acquired pubs. Gibbs standard cask brands including Wiltshire Bitter and Salisbury Best Bitter did not fare well and I'm sure their marketing team at the time would have experienced similar to myself in trying to bed these new beers in.

The lack of creditable beer brands led Gibbs to look elsewhere for expansion and they purchased an half share in Bournemouth based Wholesaler Coopers of Wessex. Beer Wholesaling was an opportunity for growth but also a low margin business. I recall applying for a job with Gibbs in the early 1990's and was surprised to find the job was basically working for the Wholesaling part of the business and not the brewery. Perhaps this was a sign they had lost focus and had moved away from trying to create a strong beer brand of their own?

In 1994 Gibbs purchased more pubs acquiring 197 with the Centric Pub Group, a Northern tenanted pub chain. This bought their pub estate to over 300 pubs. However mistakes had been made as Gibbs had been too slow to sell off 40 underperforming pubs and likewise with the closure of the Centric Head Office. A new beer brand launch for Bridgers Gold Ale in the nitrokeg market had also been a flop and this had to be withdrawn. The costs were adding up and profits falling fast for Gibbs, plus the brewery itself was also in need to vital refit.

Gibbs Mew ashtray showing company logo

Ultimately the lack of creditable beer brands led to falling sales and profits and the future of brewing beer in Salisbury came into question. Sadly, the brewery was closed in 1997 and the brewing of its beers moved to Ushers in Trowbridge. That did not last very long as Ushers themselves closed their brewery in 2000. The Gibbs Mew beers apart from Bishops Tipple where then lost. The latter is now owned by Wadworth, a suitable home for a Wiltshire beer brand and although the abv has been reduced to 5.5% abv, its still a worthy and tasty beer.

The decision to close the brewery had been long in coming and many would ask why it had not happened sooner. Gibbs had fought fiercely for their brewery and business which included repelling a hostile takeover bid in 1994 from Brierley Investments. However in 1998 Enterprise Inns came calling and in what would have been the year of its centenary, the Gibbs Mew pub estate then mustering 310 pubs was acquired for £48m, with the deal making instant millionaires of three Directors including Ron Gibbs, the last surviving family member. 

So there lies the tale of Gibbs Mew. In truth their beers never had a great reputation and are not much missed. However, its always sad to see nearly 100 years of brewing history in a city come to an end. Today, brewing in Salisbury is upheld through some new brewers and both Dark Revolution and Hopback Breweries produce some fine beers. I particularly enjoy the Hopback Summer Lightning, a superb beer. Just imagine, if only Gibbs Mew had managed to brew a Hopback Summer Lightning then perhaps things might have been different!

Hopback Summer Lightning

Sources and thanks

Wadworth Brewery; Salisbury Journal; Richard Percivals Breweriana; Independent online; Brewery History online

Brewers and Brands from yesteryear - Mansfield Old Baily

Old Baily ashtray

Whilst working on Old Speckled Hen in the 1990's, part of my role was to attend Licensee Trade Shows where we would showcase our beers to landlords and beer buyers alongside other brewers. One such brewer was Mansfield Brewery and the main beer they were promoting was called Old Baily. I did not know Old Baily very well, but the people who worked for Mansfield were good people and apart from selling lots of  Old Speckled Hen, I was always pleased to hear if they'd had a good day as well.

Mansfield Brewery had only recently returned to brewing cask ales after a ten year break . This was driven by the resurgence in popularity of cask ales which was partly down to the efforts of CAMRA. The opportunity was further enhanced by the Monopolies and Mergers report in 1988 whereby many pubs became free of tie for a guest cask ale. Prior to this Mansfield had focused on keg and and lager brands, including Marksman lager. The bread and butter cask ales for Mansfield were its Mansfield Bitter and Riding Bitter, both fine beers with a strong local heritage and following, but were not overly marketable on a national basis. Mansfield identified this weakness in their portfolio and realising they would have to introduce a new beer if they wanted to succeed in this growing market, rebranded a beer called 4X into Old Baily.

The pump clip featured an image of an Old Baily judge but in fact, apart of the name the beer had no connection with the famous London law courts. The name came from one of Mansfield's original investors and founders, William Edward Baily. He joined the business in 1855 and was one of the driving forces behind its initial success. However, for the consumer naming a beer after Baily and then liking it to images of a bewigged judge on the pump clip and POS must have caused confusion. The imagery implied the link to the famous London law courts and I always felt some sympathy for the Mansfield marketers in trying to give Old Baily a personality because of this puzzling and misleading link.

Unfortunately despite the hard work of the sales and marketing teams, Old Baily was not to survive. Sadly Mansfield Brewery went the same way as a number of other Regional Brewers in the late 1990's including the likes of Breakspear, Morrells and Morland and it was acquired by a much larger competitor. In the case of Mansfield it was Wolverhampton and Dudley who made the acquisition in 1999. W & D's main focus at the time as to build Marstons Pedigree into a strong national brand and as both beers were similar in abv and style there was not room for both. In truth there was only going to be one winner here between the two brands as Pedigree had more credibility and potential so Old Baily was quietly withdrawn from sale.

Within two years of the take-over the brewery was also closed and all brewing was moved to Burton. Sad as it was to lose Old Baily, W & D had made the right decision as to have two competing brands in the same sector would cause confusion for the sales teams and split resources. An important thing I learned in my time in beer marketing was that focus was one of the key factors in success, there is seldom room for two from the same stable! 

Pedigree pump clip from the 1990s

Its was not quite the end of the story for Old Baily as it has reappeared as a one off brew for Wetherspoons from time to time. The original beer was pleasant enough. It was 4.8% abv, on the sweeter side, a deep bronze colour and eminently drinkable. However I'm doubtful the latter day version brewed at Marstons would have been an exact math of the original. None-the-less, its good to see memories of long gone beers refreshed at times.

I have no insight into the fortunes of Mansfield and it ultimate downfall, however I do have fond memories, not so much of Old Baily, but more for the Mansfield sales teams who were both passionate about beer and worked hard to make their brans a success. 

Mansfield Brewery sign