An authentic English ale with a unique taste. Full of flavour, yet easy to drink, it's been drunk and enjoyed since 1927.
Background: In 1890 five Tyneside breweries came together and after the First World War started trading under the blue five point star. Newcastle Brown Ale was launched in 1927 after Jim Porter had spent three years developing this special brew. Almost immediately after its release, Newcastle Brown Ale won the gold medals at the International Brewers' Exhibition in London in 1928. Newcastle Brown Ale quickly established itself as the favourite brew in England's North East, and by 1937 was widely distributed in bottles and in cans to meet the demand. Between the 1930s and 1960s, Newcastle Brown Ale continued to surge in popularity and became a symbol of the hardy working class tradition of the shipbuilding, mining and steel industries that characterise Newcastle to this day. Newcastle Brown Ale sales were still climbing at the start of the Second World War. Wartime controls meant a shortage of staff, fewer raw materials and Government restrictions. Although Blue Star 'utility' beers were introduced, Newcastle Brown Ale hardly changed during this era, and when victory celebrations were held, the 'Broon' flowed on Tyneside. The 1980s saw Newcastle Brown Ale redesign its bottle label and adopt the slogan "The One and Only," an affectionate moniker originally popularised in 1928 by the Newcastle Journal. A new advertising campaign, entitled "The Dog," exploited the North East euphemism of "I'm going to walk the dog" meaning "I'm off to the pub for a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale." By the 1990s, Newcastle Brown Ale had become the best-selling premium bottled ale in the UK. Today Newcastle Brown Ale is the No.1 selling bottled ale in the UK. |
