Reid & Co

Reid & Co was a large British brewery based in London.

History

The business was established in 1757 when Richard Meux and Mungo Murray acquired Jackson's Brewery on Mercer Street.[1]

Following a major fire, the Griffin Brewery at Clerkenwell was built in 1763.[1]

Andrew Reid, a wealthy merchant and distiller, became a partner in 1793, and the firm began to trade as Meux Reid & Co.[1]

Production amounted to over 100,000 barrels for the first time in 1795.[2] The firm was the largest of the London porter breweries in 1807-1808.[3]

The firm began to trade as Reid's Brewery from 1816.[4]

Reid was the fourth largest brewer in London in 1853, as measured by the amount of malt used.[5]

The Griffin Brewery was reckoned to be the largest brewery under a single roof in London in 1862.[5]

In 1888 the firm became a limited liability company with a registered capital of £2 million.[6]

Reid merged with rival London brewers Watney and Combe in 1898.[7] The Griffin Brewery in Clerkenwell was closed.[7]

The Reid brand name continued to be applied to stout until the 1950s.[8]

References

1. Lesley Richmond; Alison Turton (1990). The Brewing Industry: A Guide to Historical Records. Manchester University Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-0-7190-3032-1.
2. R. G. Wilson, ‘Meux family (per. 1757–1910)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oct 2007; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 19 July 2017
3. "Shut up about Barclay Perkins: Let's Brew Wednesday - 1837 Reid P". 19 July 2017.
4. Janes, Hurford (1963). The Red Barrel, A History of Watney Mann. John Murray.
5. The Engineer, 18 April 1862, p233
6. "Reid's Brewery Company, Limited." Financial Times [London, England] 26 July 1888: 2. Financial Times. Web. 19 July 2017.
7. "Goodbye to the last of London's million-barrel breweries". 3 December 2015.
8. "Shut up about Barclay Perkins: Watney, Combe Reid (part one)". 8 May 2015.