Mitchells & Butlers Brewery

For the pub and restaurant company, see Mitchells & Butlers.

Mitchells & Butlers Brewery was formed when Henry Mitchell's old Crown Brewery^[1] (founded in Smethwick in 1866, and in partnership with Herbert Glendilling Bainbridge, former partner in Young's and Bainbridge from 1888^[2]) merged with William Butler's Brewery (also founded in Smethwick in 1866) in 1898.^[3] Henry Mitchell had moved to the Cape Hill site in 1879^[1] and this became the company's main brewing site. It had its own railway network,^[4] connected to the national railway system from 1907 to 1962, via the Harborne line.^[4]

The derelict Springfield Brewery, seen through its entrance arch in 2013

Mitchells & Butlers

Mitchells & Butlers brand over the door of the 1932 Blue Gates pub, Smethwick
The Cape Hill brewery, on a 1925 postcard
Industry	Brewing
Founded	1898 (1898)
Defunct	1961 (1961)
Fate	Merged with Bass
Headquarters	Cape Hill, Smethwick , England 52.4872°N 1.9508°W / 52.4872; -1.9508

Another brewery, opened by a completely different William Butler, in 1874, at Springfield in Wolverhampton, also became part of M&B in 1960. Brewing at this site ceased in 1990 and the site closed in 1991. It was badly damaged by fire in 2004. The site is now occupied by a campus of the University of Wolverhampton, with some original buildings, including the ornate entrance arch, retained.^[5]

An original Mitchells & Butlers Brewery pub, The Queens Arms, in central Birmingham

Other acquisitions included Holder's Brewers, who owned Birmingham's Midland Brewery, in 1919,^[6] and the Highgate & Walsall Brewery in 1939.^[7]

The company merged with Bass in 1961.^[3] With the brand under ownership of Coors Brewers, the Cape Hill brewery closed in 2002 with production switched to Burton upon Trent.^[8] The brewery was demolished in 2005,^[4] and the site is now a housing estate, although the Mitchell & Butler war memorial, built in 1920, has been retained and restored.^[9]

Their most famous beer was Brew XI (using Roman numerals, and so pronounced Brew Eleven), advertised with the slogan "for the men of the Midlands".^[10] It is now brewed under licence for Coors by Brains of Cardiff.^[10]

A descendant company, which manages pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom, is still known as Mitchells & Butlers, and is based in Birmingham.^[11]

See also

• List of breweries in Birmingham