Wednesday, December 08, 2010

In memory of Grafton beer

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This and the following beer label come from a beer label collection.

Growing up, Grafton was the first beer I drank.

Most people now don't remember Grafton beer. The Grafton Brewing Company was taken over by Tooheys in 1961. At first, they maintained the Grafton label, but then it went.

For the life of me, I cannot remember when. I was away. When I left it was still there. When I came back, it was gone. 

Social Change in New England 1950-2000 9: Grafton Brewing Company Limited tells a little of the story of Grafton beer, set in the context of my continued exploration of social change in New England in the period of 1950-2000.

As I remember it, Grafton was quite a bitter beer. I know that some people didn't like for that reason. I guess I learned to like it. Even today, I find some beers to sweet.

The story of Grafton beer is an interesting one, because it shows how difficult it can be to break into a marketplace when you faGP001ce entrenched opposition.

New England once had a lot of local beers. With the coming of the railways, the smaller breweries vanished in the face of mass-produced beers.

To my knowledge, Grafton is unusual because it was a later attempt to enter the commercial marketplace.

Today at least some New England beers are back in the form of boutique beers.

It would be interesting to know how many there are. 

5 comments:

Mark said...

Hi Jim
I have a follow up to your Grafton Lager post on my blog tomorrow. Have had this picture to post, you have given me a good reason. Cheers to Grafton Lager it was a great and much missed beer.
http://clarencevalleytoday.blogspot.com/
mark Bellamy

Jim Belshaw said...

Hi Mark. Look forward to seeing the photo. I hadn't caught up with your blog yet. You have some great photos.

Julie said...

Hello Jim. Visiting from Mark in Grafton.

Interesting read. I do not know much about regional brewing, but like the idea of regionalism.

You have quite a few blogs there, and I will check out some of the more general ones.

Cheers

Jim said...

This is fascinating.

Jim Belshaw said...

Thank you, JB