Days of the Beer, August 30

The beer for today is Mackeson XXX Stout.

On August 30, 1720, Samuel Whitbread was born. When Whitbread was 14, he left his home town of Bedfordshire and headed to London. There he became a brewers apprentice. In 1742, he bought into a brewery and started making a very popular black porter.

By 1760, his brewery was the second largest in London. By Whitbread's death in 1796, his brewery was the largest in London.

Today, Whitbread PLC is one of the largest hospitality companies in the world. The company (sadly) doesn't brew anymore. They were sold to the company that is now Inbev (or is it ABInbev?) There are some beers with legacy connections to Whitbread though. Apparently, this beer might be from the Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) although it is probably contract brewed through them.

Mackeson Stout was originally made in 1907. Eventually that brewery got bought by Whitbread, and they have since been sold to inbev. The beer pictured to the right is from my wall of beer (sorry for the dark image) It is brewed by the Whitbread Beer Company in Ohio, so the name lives on. They apparently also brew Whitbread Pale Ale, at the Cincinatti brewery.