I first came across the beers of Joseph Holt when I moved to Manchester as a student in the 1970's, particularly when I lived in Salford which was in those days one of the family-owned brewery's strongholds. Having been weaned on the gentler flavours of beers from the likes of Websters and Tetleys, when I moved over the Pennines, I was struck by the bitterness of some of the local beers I discovered like Boddingtons, and more particularly Holts, whose bitter really was eye-wateringly bitter when I first tried it in the Grafton Arms, just round the corner from the university.
The brewery had been founded in 1849 on Empire Street in the Cheetham Hill area of the city in the days when Manchester was expanding rapidly and demand for beer was high. Other breweries in the city were also thriving at that time including Boddingtons and Wilsons, whilst nearby but not based in the city itself were Lees of Middleton Junction and Robinsons of Stockport. Holts gradually built up their own estate of pubs which in those days were mostly in North Manchester suburbs like Cheetham Hill, Crumpsall, and Blackley, All was going well for the growing brewery until the American Civil War broke out in 1861 which cut off the supply of cotton for the local textile industry, which as a significant employer in the area, led to economic hardship and a consequent steep decline in demand for beer. But the company weathered what was the first of several storms which affected it over the years, and returned to steady growth once the supply of cotton resumed and the mills became busy again. Over the years it didn't stray too far from its local roots, gradually acquiring parcels of pubs in neighbouring areas like Salford, Prestwich, and Whitefield, whilst also supplying a number of independent free houses. Its simple offer of just bitter and mild sold in great quantities; deliveries to some of the biggest pubs were often in huge 36 gallon barrels, and sometimes even larger ones called hogsheads holding 54 gallons of beer, which is 6 times greater than that of a standard firkin used for most cask beer deliveries these days!
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| The Eagle Inn, Salford |
The Holts pubs I found in the area in the 1970's were often large redbrick buildings dominating the surrounding area; inside they were of traditional design and would typically spread over various rooms, often with a basic vault, a posher lounge, and a games room which in some cases would have a snooker table (pool was not especially common in those days) but certainly a dartboard, usually a local Manchester board, black in colour, made out of wood, and with no section for scoring trebles. There would be a tiled or wooden floor, with any carpet normally only in the lounge. The bar would have a number of hand pumps dispensing mild and bitter, the only draught beer Holts produced at that time, with other options available in bottles behind the bar. Any food on offer would be limited to pies or a number of curling ham or cheese sandwiches kept in a glass display cabinet on the bar. Despite the growth of lager generally, at this point it was not a big thing within the company's pub estate; if there was any lager on, it would be one of the big brands of the day, although the company did finally relent and brew their own. I have vague memories that they did originally produce a lager called Regal (which is of course an anagram of lager) but I have not been able to find anything about it online, my Google search for Regal Lager bringing up instead a distributor of baby and children's products in the USA and Canada!
Even back in those days, I did come across a different class of Holts pub when I used to go with a girlfriend of the time to the Griffin in Heaton Mersey, Stockport. Here was a more upmarket pub, smarter but still with a multi-room format. We would often go on a Saturday night, when the guys would put on a suit to drink their pints and the ladies would be dressed in their best frocks and finery as they enjoyed a Babycham or Martini and lemonade. If you sat in the lounge, there was a bow-tied waiter in a waistcoat who would come and take your order when you rang the pushbell in the wall behind your seat, collect it from the bar, and then deliver it to your table a few minutes later for a charge of a couple of pence.
Over the years, Holts who never, publicly at any rate, seemed to be under threat of takeover from a larger rival, have adapted to the changing market for drinkers and pub visitors. The brewery has been modernised. The estate of just over 120 pubs has extended into a wider area to take in Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire, and Derbyshire, with a healthy free trade accounting for around a third of the business. Older pubs have been modernised and refurbished and new pubs have been added to the portfolio, whilst as is the way these days, food has become a significant part of the offer. Some pubs even offer overnight accommodation. The cask beer range has been extended, but only slightly; a 3.8% IPA has been added, along with Two Hoots, a 4.2% golden ale. They also sell cask beers under the Bootleg brand, which they acquired when they bought the Horse & Jockey in Chorlton which had its own in-house microbrewery. And they have even started to brew some modern keg beers too!
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| The brewery tap |
One day last week I decided I would take a 10 minute walk up Cheetham Hill Road from Victoria to take a couple of pictures of the brewery and then have a pint in the brewery tap next door, the Derby Brewery Arms, prominently situated on the corner of Empire Street. I arrived as a number of guys were leaving at the end of their shift, with the bulk of the brewery rising up behind the impressive gates. Photos duly taken, I went to get a pint in the brewery tap which is a large, imposing building typical of the older Holts pubs. However my plans were thwarted as it was closed, the call for a midweek mid-afternoon pint presumably not strong enough to justify opening up. So I trooped off instead back down towards the city centre in the grey afternoon drizzle, passing low-level warehouse units and wholesalers stocking textiles and lighting.
I decided to try a couple of pubs to try some of the Holts beers. There have never been many of their pubs in the actual city centre, and there are only four now: The Lower Turks Head on Shudehill, the Crown & Anchor on Cateaton Street, the Ape & Apple on John Dalton Street, and the Old Monkey on Portland Street. Mindful of my plans for the rest of the afternoon, I decided to visit one of those, plus another popular pub nearby that whilst not run by Holts sells a lot of their beer.
So I headed to the Lower Turks Head on Shudehill just across from the bus station and tram stop. It was acquired by Holts a few years ago and has a beautiful tiled exterior which was today partly obscured by many a pub photographer's pet hate, scaffolding. It was first a pub in 1745, and has a spacious, roomy interior with plenty of nooks and crannies, whilst facing the bar is a row of seating with narrow tables the width of a pint pot. Comfortably furnished it attracts a wide cross-section of visitors and is a place which I have used regularly as a meeting-up point with some of my old workmates. There is a decent selection of the Holts beers on the bar, from which on this occasion I opted for a pint of the bitter. It is certainly a lot less bitter these days than it used to be, more in line with today's market, but still retains its own distinct character. Amber-brown in colour, it is clean-tasting, well-balanced, and refreshing, and on today's showing I rated it NBSS 3. There was a great atmosphere in the pub this afternoon; a DJ was playing a good selection of classic Northern Soul tunes in the area at the back of the pub to an appreciative group of seniors no doubt basking in a wave of nostalgia. I know I was; there is something deeply comforting about the genre that draws you back towards its cracking tunes as you get older.
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The Lower Turks Head, Shudehill, minus scaffolding It was only a short walk to the next pub, a couple of minutes further up Shudehill. Here is the Hare & Hounds which, unlike the vast majority of pubs in Manchester city centre, still has the feel of a traditional locals' pub. This is a historic place, Grade ll-listed as a result of its spectacular preserved interior which dates from the 1920's. Because of its location, unfortunately many walk past every day completely oblivious to the attractive dappled tiling on the exterior wall of the ground floor. |
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| A classic: The Hare & Hounds, Shudehill |
I walked in, as I have done many times before, to a warm, cheerful, alcohol-fuelled fug, the tiled lobby a sway of patrons of a certain age singing along to a familiar yet slightly distorted tune performed via karaoke in the room at the back. I wormed my way through to the bar, and was served very quickly by a lady I remembered from a previous time, a pint of Holts bitter was mine for £3.30 (cheaper than down the road). There was nowhere to sit in the lobby, in front of the bar, or the vault; there were spaces in the karaoke room but it would have meant the potential risk of being drawn into the action in there, which I didn't want. So I leant on a wall at the end of the corridor to the toilets and out back, shuffling around whenever someone needed to pass (I think that's what they said). And then Like a Rhinestone Cowboy started up. The beer was in great form (NBSS 3.5), not surprisingly considering the bar was selling so much of it. Another voice. I did it My Way. A lady's voice started to sing. First I was afraid, I was petrified. Having had a thoroughly enjoyable 15 minutes of the craic in this belter of a pub, I just turned around, and walked out the door.
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| Battling through to the bar at the Hare & Hounds Holts may not be the most fashionable of breweries, but as the city of Manchester's oldest surviving brewery who this year will reach their 175th anniversary, they should be celebrated. They have generally stuck to their guns, gone about their business in their own way, survived several sticky patches, and managed to grow and prosper, and adapt to modern demands. And whilst many beer drinkers when asked to name Manchester breweries will most likely come up with the likes of Marble, Cloudwater, and Track, as good as they all are, there has to be something to admire in a brewery that has survived as long as Joseph Holt.... Follow me on twitter/X: @realalemusic |
Really a great read. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dave, much appreciated
DeleteThose American pub connoisseurs love the Hare and Hounds. As do I !
ReplyDeleteI think I'd rated the Holt Bitter the same as you on last visits. I also had a good half of it in the Victoria Tap recently.