Please note, this is an archived story. Please check the date above.

Over a hundred years ago, before the tied house system took over, the big brewers competed with the locals to get their beers on sale in Manchester's pubs and hotel bars. Agents for Burton brewers (such as Bass and Allsopp), London (Trumans, Watneys) and Edinburgh (McEwans) brewers had offices in the city centre and the big companies also maintained ale and porter stores in railway aches near London Road, Central and Exchange Stations. Scottish brewers were dependent on the free trade the longest and the sign above the entrance to McEwans store under Exchange Station approach could still be seen in the 1980s.

Ind Coope's beer store on Great Bridgewater Street in the 1930s. The premises are still there, opposite the end of Watson Street

There were many other local breweries, now long gone, when Henry Boddington and Joseph Holt were in short trousers. A number of these were across the river in Salford and some had tied houses in Manchester. In the 1820s a Mr Ratcliffe of the Sandywell Brewery was advertising that his pale home-brewed ale and table beer could be ordered at the Crown & Anchor on Cateaton Street for delivery in barrels, half-barrels and quarters. When James Hardman's brewery in Greengate was sold in 1833 he owned four public houses, including the Briton's Protection on Great Bridgewater Street. Benjamin Joule was a respected Salford brewer and when his business was sold in the 1850s there were freehold pubs and beerhouses in Manchester, Salford and Stockport. Among these was the Rams Head (Paddy's Goose) on Bloom Street.

Most of Manchester's pubs had their own brewhouses in the early days and some were still in production later in the nineteenth century. The local well water seems to have been suited to the brewer's art, and when the Angel & Trumpet was sold in 1780 the advert mentioned a brewhouse, large yard, pump and plenty of soft water. A new owner extended the property and built over most of the yard, but the remains of the well may still be there, somewhere under what is now the King on Oldham Street.

The Salisbury Hotel, once equipped with its own brewhouse

The contents of the brewhouse at the Rising Sun on Queen Street were offered for sale in August 1848 and included a six-and-a-half-barrel copper brewpan, copper pump, malt hopper, mash tub, underbeck, cooler, working square and 36 and 18-gallon barrels. Other pubs similarly equipped were the Churchill on Chorlton Street (then called the Mechanics Arms), the Crown & Anchor on Hilton Street, the Ducie Bridge, the (New) Union, the Salisbury and the Waggon & Horses (Mulligan's).

When a pub owner decided to call it a day with brewing, the brewhouse was sometimes rented to an individual who was in the business in a small way. One local man who started off in a pub brewhouse and went on to bigger things was Joseph Holt. The brewhouse was on Oak Street and probably the one at the Butchers Arms (Wheatsheaf). Another of today's local brewers, Hydes, was in its early years based at a brewery behind a Manchester pub - the Bridge Inn on Fairfield Street - which was demolished a few years ago.

The brewhouse behind the Lord Nelson on Newton Street suffered an unexpected half in production in February 1854. During a hailstorm the chimney was blown down into the backyard and took the brewhouse roof with it. Two men who were shovelling spent grains from the upper floor into a cart in the yard were escaped unhurt and when the dust had settled a third employee was found on his knees in the stable, praying for forgiveness for all his past offences, as he thought the world had come to an end!