Worthington Draught bitter
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| Industry | Brewing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1761 |
| Founder | William Worthington |
| Headquarters | Burton upon Trent, England |
| Owner | Molson Coors |
The Worthington Brewery, also known as Worthington & Co. and Worthington's, was founded by William Worthington in the English Midlands town of Burton upon Trent in 1761. It is the second oldest continuously brewed beer brand in the country after Whitbread. The best known Worthington beers are the Creamflow nitrokeg bitter and White Shield India Pale Ale.
When William Worthington died in 1800, his brewery was one of the largest outside London. From 1866 a Worthington chemist, Horace Tabberer Brown, pioneered brewing science in the separation and cultivation of pure yeast strains, and from 1872 the company was the first in the world to systematically utilise a laboratory in the brewing process. The company merged with its major Burton rival Bass in 1927. Throughout the 1920s until the 1960s the brand, in bottled form, ranked alongside Bass and Guinness as one of only three beers with nationwide distribution. However, bottled beer sales declined as keg beer grew in popularity throughout the 1960s, and the Worthington brewery was closed in 1965. The beers continued to be brewed elsewhere, and Bass used the Worthington brand for its principal keg bitter offerings from the 1960s onward, first as Worthington E, then as Worthington Best Bitter from the 1980s, and Worthington Creamflow from the 1990s to the present.
The Worthington brand was purchased from Bass by the American brewing company Coors in 2002, which following a merger became Molson Coors in 2005. Creamflow is the third highest selling ale in the United Kingdom, as well as the highest selling ale in Wales, and is brewed in Burton. Worthington's White Shield IPA has continued to be brewed since 1829, and has been the recipient of a number of awards. In 2010, Molson Coors opened the William Worthington microbrewery, which brews historical and seasonal beers.
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