Brewpubs no longer brewing
Kingston Brewing Co (Flamingo and Firkin, Flamingo Brewery)
88 London Road, Kingston KT2 6PX (Kingston upon Thames)
First sold beer: September 1987 (as Flamingo and Firkin)
Ceased brewing: January 1998 (as Kingston Brewing Co)
The Orange Brewery (The Orange)
37 Pimlico Road SW1 (Westminster)
First sold beer: February 1983
Ceased brewing: February 2001
The Yorkshire Grey Brewery (Yorkshire Grey)
26 Theobalds Road WC1 (Camden)
First sold beer: October 1984
Ceased brewing: mid-2001
The success of brewpubs like the Firkins in the early 1980s prompted some of the big brewing groups to copycat action. The Orange, a handsome Grade II-listed Pimlico pub dating from the 1840s, became the first London venue in Watney’s Clifton Inns brewpub chain in 1983 when its cellar was equipped with a small malt extract brewing kit provided by microbrewing pioneer Peter Austin, also involved in setting up the Firkins. The brewer was Kim Taylor, one of very few professional female brewers at the time, who later became overall head brewer for the whole group.
The Yorkshire Grey, a Grade II-listed landmark pub on the edge of Bloomsbury, became the second London venue in 1984. Like its predecessor, it began with a malt extract brewery.
Brewing at the Three Tuns just outside Kingston town centre, ironically given the original inspiration of Clifton Inns, started under the Firkin name. The pub was rebuilt in 1913 by the Isleworth Brewery, which was bought by Watney’s in 1924 and closed in 1952. In 1987 it was leased to Bruce’s Brewery to become the Falcon and Firkin, the seventh London pub in the this chain. In common with other Firkin openings of the time, this had a full mash brewhouse.
The following year, Firkin founder David Bruce sold the chain to Midsummer Leisure, but the Flamingo was exempted from the deal under the terms of the lease. Instead it reverted to Watney’s, by now owned by GrandMet, who sensibly incorporated it into the Clifton Inns portfolio as the Flamingo Brewery.
Major structural changes in the industry following a regulatory change in 1990 saw many pubs changing hands as the old vertically integrated brewing and pub businesses unravelled. In 1991, Watney’s owner GrandMet sold its brewing interests to Courage in exchange for the latter’s pubs, then began selling off parts of the resulting vast pub portfolio.
Both the Orange and the Yorkshire Grey ended up with Scottish & Newcastle, who initially expanded their brewing activities. During a refurbishment at the Orange in 1995, the malt extract kit was replaced with an 8 hl full mash brewhouse under brewer Peter Smith.
In May 1996, following this example, S&N invested £30,000 in a 5 hl full mash brewhouse at the Yorkshire Grey under brewer John Horne.
Both pubs were sold and brewing ceased in 2001 when S&N thinned out its tied estate. The Orange is now an upmarket gastropub with boutique rooms operated by the Cubitt House group. The Yorkshire Grey is part of Stonegate’s Craft Pubs chain.
GrandMet sold the Flamingo in 1995 to Mercury Taverns, who retained brewing for a while under the name Kingston Brewing Co. It was sold again in 1998 and renamed the Kingston Tup, at which point the brewery was removed. After two more name changes, in 2021 it was converted into a hotel and bar known as Kingston 1.
For more on the difference between malt extract and full mash brewing, see Firkin Brewery.
Last updated 4 August 2022.
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