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Courage
Industry	Brewing
Founded	1787
Founder	John Courage
Products	Beer
Owner	Marston's Brewery
Website	takecourage.info

Courage Brewery was an English brewery, founded by John Courage in 1787 in London, England.

History

Courage & Co Ltd was started by John Courage (1788-1854) at the Anchor Brewhouse in Horsleydown, Bermondsey, in 1787. He was a Scottish shipping agent of French Huguenot descent.^[3] It became Courage & Donaldson in 1797. By 1888, it had been registered simply as Courage. The company was inherited by his grandson, Old Etonian Raymond Courage, Lord of the Manor of Edgcote (1866-1951).^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

In 1955, the company merged with Barclay, Perkins & Co Ltd. at the nearby Anchor Brewery to become Courage, Barclay & Co Ltd. Five years later, another merger, with the Reading based Simonds Brewery, led to the name changing to Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Co Ltd. In 1961, Georges Bristol Brewery was acquired. By the late 1960s, the group had assets of approximately £100m, and operated five breweries in London, Reading, Bristol, Plymouth and Newark-on-Trent. It owned 5,000 licensed premises in Southern England, South Wales, the East Midlands and South Yorkshire, employed 15,000 people and produced around 75 million imperial gallons (340,000,000 L) of beer annually.^[8] Its name was simplified to Courage Ltd. in 1970 and the company was taken over by the Imperial Tobacco Group Ltd. two years later.

Its vast Worton Grange brewery opened on the Reading/Shinfield border in 1978. The Anchor Brewery closed in 1981 and all brewing was transferred to Reading. Imperial Tobacco was acquired by the Hanson Trust in 1986 and it sold Courage to Elders IXL, the renamed the Foster's Group, in 1990. The following year, the Courage section of Foster's merged with Grand Metropolitan. Its public houses were owned by a joint-company called Inntrepreneur Estates. Scottish & Newcastle purchased Courage from Foster's in 1995, creating Scottish Courage as its brewing arm.

In 2007, the production, marketing and sales rights of the Courage brands were sold to Wells & Young of Bedford, which reverted to Charles Wells once Wells bought out Young's shares in the venture. This is managed by Courage Brands Ltd.^[9] Heineken retained a 17 per cent stake in the venture until 2011, when Wells & Young's acquired complete control. The Berkshire Brewery closed in 2010.^[10] Courage Best has undergone a significant decline in sales from almost 421,000 hectolitres (9.3 million gallons) in 2003 to under 142,000 hectolitres (3.1 million gallons) in 2012.^[11] The decline of Courage Directors has levelled off at around 60,000 hectolitres (1.3 million gallons), which is down from 140,000 hectolitres (3.1 million gallons) in 2003.^[11] Wells & Young's reintroduced the historic brew, Courage Imperial Russian Stout, which was first brewed in the 18th century by Thrale's brewery;^[12] but this has mainly proved to be produced for distribution in the US, with limited amounts available in the UK.

In 2017, Marston's Brewery acquired the brand as part of its acquisition of Charles Wells's Eagle Brewery.^[13]

Beers

Beers bearing the Courage name include:

Courage Best Bitter (4 per cent ABV in cask and keg, 3.8 per cent in bottles and cans).^[14] It is described as "pale in colour, fully balanced with a malty flavour and distinctive hop character, [and] makes for an easy drinking session beer".^[14] Courage Best Bitter sponsors local events within its south west of England heartland.^[14] It remains one of the UK's top ten ales.^[15]
Courage Directors (4.8 per cent ABV in cask, keg, bottles and cans). Available in cask, bottles and cans.^[16] Courage Directors was originally brewed at the Alton brewery under the name of Alton Red and was served exclusively in the Courage's Directors dining rooms. Following the suggestion of Courage's director Peter Rowe, Alton Red was renamed Directors Bitter and marketed to the general public.^[16] It is described as "full bodied with a clean, bitter taste, balanced with a sweet burnt [flavour], malty and fruity notes with a distinctive dry-hop aroma and flavour".^[16] It has a strong following in London and the South East, and across the UK as a whole remains in the top ten premium cask ales, and the top twenty bottled ales.^[17]^[18]^[19] It is brewed with English Target hops, burnt Pale and Crystal malts.^[17]
Courage Dark Mild (3 per cent) A mild ale available in keg form only.
Courage Light Ale (3.2 per cent) 10 fl oz bottles often used to make "light and bitter" with Courage Best Bitter.
Courage Imperial Russian Stout (10 per cent) (retired 2003, reinstated 2011)
Courage Velvet Stout (5 per cent)^[20]
Courage 1945 Ale (5 per cent) (retired)
Courage Ceremonial Ale (4.8 per cent) (retired)
Courage Directors Winter Warmer (5.5 per cent) (retired)

Beers bearing the John Courage name include:

John Courage (4.7 per cent) (retired) Bitter.
John Courage Amber (unknown percentage) (retired) Bitter/Amber Ale.
John Courage Export Lager (unknown percentage) (retired)
John Courage Strong Pale Ale (4.2 per cent) (retired)

Advertising

Since the 1950s the brewery used the slogan "Take Courage"^[21]

The Rockney duo Chas & Dave's songs "Gertcha", "The Sideboard Song", "Rabbit", "What a miserable Saturday Night", "That's what I like" and "Margate" were adapted for a series of television commercials for Courage Bitter shown in the South of England in the 1980s.^[22] Also, the Director's Bitter is a favourite of the British television character Alan Partridge. He shares this passion during his short-lived friendship with Dan, who states that he has it 'coming out of his taps' in the episode "Brave Alan".

Sponsorship

The brewery sponsored Reading FC from 1984 until 1990.^[23] Courage sponsored the English Premiership rugby union league for ten years from 1987 until 1997.^[24] Courage Best Bitter is a sponsor of rugby union club the Exeter Chiefs.^[25]

References

^ Ward, V. "Aristocratic roots of Peter Phillips' NHS nurse girlfriend revealed". UK Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
^ The Publications of the Northamptonshire Record Society. Northamptonshire Record Society. 1996. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-901275-60-8. Retrieved 23 June 2024. Edgecote Hall , built between 1747 and 1752. One wishes that the porch in the centre of the facade had been saved : it is a splendid piece with a mass of decoration with ornamental pilasters , heraldry , statuary and a curved gable with ...
^ International directory of company histories. St. James Press. 2008-09-22. ISBN 9781558622180. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
^ Burke, Bernard (1937). Burke's Landed Gentry. Burke's Peerage. p. 495. Retrieved 24 June 2023. PAGE 495 ... Raymond Courage [1866-1951] of Edgcote Manor ...COURAGE , of Shenfield Place , Brentwood , Essex , b . 10 July , 1832 ; educ ... BURKE's Peerage ) . 1. Helen Beatrice , d . 5 May , 1922 . 2. Evelyne ... Dorothy , m . Herman de Zoete ...
^ "Edgcote House Edgcote, near Banbury Northamptonshire England". Curt DiCamillo. All Rights Reserved. 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2023. Edgcote is a nine-bay two-story house erected between 1747 and 1752 for London merchant Richard Chauncey. Built of local ironstone with gray stone dressings, the interior is notable for its Chinese style drawing room. Edgcote House, together with 1,700 acres, was sold in June 2005 by Christopher Courage (of the brewing family) for £30 million. Edgcote is possibly most notable today as Netherfield, the country seat of Mr. Bingley, in the BBC's 1995 production of "Pride and Prejudice."...Courage family here 1926-2005.
^ "The Market: Mystery buyer lands £30m country pile". The Times (UK). 30 October 2005. Retrieved 13 June 2023. Edgcote was sold by Christopher Courage, 43, scion of the brewing dynasty [as son of Edward Raymond Courage (1906-1982) and grandson of Raymond Courage (1866-1951)], who was born there and had lived there all his life. Courage and his .
^ Ward, V. "Aristocratic roots of Peter Phillips' NHS nurse girlfriend revealed". UK Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
^ "Index". Takecourage.info. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
^ "Wells and Youngs Buy Courage Brands - Wells & Young's Brewing Company Ltd". 25 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-01-25. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
^ "Job fears as brewery set to close". BBC News. 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
^ ^a ^b Alcoholic Drinks: Euromonitor from trade sources/national statistics
^ "Courage Imperial Russian Stout Launched | News | Wells and Young's Brewing Company". Archived from the original on 2013-05-05. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
^ "Charles Wells' Bedford brewery sells to Marston's for £55m". Bbc.co.uk. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Courage Best Bitter | Our Ales | Wells and Young's Brewing Company". Wellsandyoungs.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-06-05. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
^ Euromonitor, 2012
^ ^a ^b ^c "Courage Directors | Our Ales | Wells and Young's Brewing Company". Wellsandyoungs.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-06-05. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
^ ^a ^b "Directors - Courage". Couragebest.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
^ Euromonitor, 2011
^ "Premium Bottled Ale Report 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
^ Richard Boston (1976). Beer and Skittles. Collins. p. 58. ISBN 9780002160667.
^ Zythophile https://zythophile.co.uk/2009/04/18/take-courage-in-the-face-of-idiocy/
^ Hodges, Chas (October 2009). "Chapter 24: No Pleasin' You". Chas and Dave: All About Us. John Blake. ISBN 9781857828269.
^ "Reading - Historical Football Kits". Historicalkits.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
^ "Rugby Football History". Rugby Football History. 1997-11-01. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
^ "Chiefs Sponsors - The home of rugby in Exeter and Devon". Exeterchiefs.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2011-09-03. Retrieved 2011-05-07.