Mitchells & Butlers Brewery

For the pub and restaurant company, see Mitchells & Butlers.

Mitchells & Butlers

Mitchells & Butlers brand over the door of the 1932 Blue Gates pub, Smethwick
The Cape Hill brewery, on a 1925 postcard
Industry	Brewing
Founded	1898 (1898)
Defunct	1961 (1961)
Fate	Merged with Bass
Headquarters	Cape Hill, Smethwick , England 52.4872°N 1.9508°W / 52.4872; -1.9508

Mitchells & Butlers Brewery was formed when Henry Mitchell's old Crown Brewery[1] (founded in Smethwick in 1866, and in partnership with Herbert Glendilling Bainbridge, former partner in Young's and Bainbridge from 1888[2]) merged with William Butler's Brewery (also founded in Smethwick in 1866) in 1898.[3] Henry Mitchell had moved to the Cape Hill site in 1879[1] and this became the company's main brewing site. It had its own railway network,[4] connected to the national railway system from 1907 to 1962, via the Harborne line.[4]

The derelict Springfield Brewery, seen through its entrance arch in 2013

Another brewery, opened by a completely different William Butler, in 1874, at Springfield in Wolverhampton, also became part of M&B in 1960. Brewing at this site ceased in 1990 and the site closed in 1991. It was badly damaged by fire in 2004. The site is now occupied by a campus of the University of Wolverhampton, with some original buildings, including the ornate entrance arch, retained.[5]

An original Mitchells & Butlers Brewery pub, The Queens Arms, in central Birmingham

Other acquisitions included Holder's Brewers, who owned Birmingham's Midland Brewery, in 1919,[6] and the Highgate & Walsall Brewery in 1939.[7]

The company merged with Bass in 1961.[3] With the brand under ownership of Coors Brewers, the Cape Hill brewery closed in 2002 with production switched to Burton upon Trent.[8] The brewery was demolished in 2005,[4] and the site is now a housing estate, although the Mitchell & Butler war memorial, built in 1920, has been retained and restored.[9]

Their most famous beer was Brew XI (using Roman numerals, and so pronounced Brew Eleven), advertised with the slogan "for the men of the Midlands".[10] It is now brewed under licence for Coors by Brains of Cardiff.[10]

A descendant company, which manages pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom, is still known as Mitchells & Butlers, and is based in Birmingham.[11]

See also

• List of breweries in Birmingham

References

• Davies, K. (2002). Mitchells & Butlers: A History of Cape Hill Brewery 1878-2002. Smethwick: Smethwick Heritage Centre Trust. ISBN 978-0-9546296-1-8.
• Chinn, Carl; Maxam, Andrew (2002). Time Please! - A Look Back at Birmingham's Pubs: Based on the Mitchells and Butlers Archive. David R. Hassall (ed.). Crown Cards. ISBN 978-0-9543913-0-0.

1. Fifty Years of Brewing, 1879-1929. Mitchells & Butlers. 1929.
2. https://www.blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB146_BS-MB
3. "Our history". Mitchells & Butlers. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
4. "M&B Brewery, Cape Hill". Rails Around Birmingham. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
5. "Heritage of Springfield". University of Wolverhampton.
6. Richmond, Lesley; Turton, Alison (1990). The Brewing Industry: A Guide to Historical Records. Manchester University Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-7190-3032-1.
7. "http://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=Highgate_%26_Walsall_Brewery_Co._Ltd". Retrieved 2 July 2023. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
8. "Brewery at Quaffle". Directory of Real Ale Breweries. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
9. War Memorial at Mitchell & Butler Brewery ^[dead link‍]
10. "Brum's best beers". Birmingham Mail. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
11. Press Association (22 September 2015). "Mitchells & Butlers calls time on chief executive Alistair Darby | Business". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2015.