Stones Bitter - History

History

The head brewer Edward "Ted" Collins first produced Stones Bitter at the Cannon Brewery in 1948. It was designed for the steelworkers of Sheffield's Lower Don Valley. The product was formulated as the working classes began to favour bitter over the dark mild style of beer. The beer's straw colour made it reasonably unique for the time, and its individuality helped it to become an immediate success. By the 1960s its local reputation was "colossal", and it accounted for 80 per cent of William Stones' sales. Stones had such a strong local following that it was described as being "more of a religion than a beer."

From 1979, keg Stones began to be promoted heavily nationwide, and the beer was introduced to the South of England for the first time. Originally the beer would be produced at the Cannon Brewery and then transported to Bass' Hope & Anchor brewery, also in Sheffield, for pasteurisation and kegging, but eventually demand for Stones Bitter became too great for the Cannon alone, and production was also extended to other Bass breweries. In the early 1980s it was produced at Bass' Runcorn brewery, although this was quickly halted after drinkers complained of headaches from the poorly manufactured beer.

By 1989 Stones was the ninth most popular beer in the United Kingdom, with 2 per cent of all beer sales. Demand was such that the Cannon Brewery was paying up to £1.5 million per month in duty by 1991. Cask conditioned Stones won silver in the Bitter category in the CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain in 1991. By 1992 Stones was the UK's highest selling bitter, a million barrel a year brand, with Bass describing it as "a tremendously important brand with untapped potential". That same year, Bass were criticised for reducing the ABV of Stones from 4.1 per cent to 3.9 per cent ABV in order to reduce the impact of beer duty. The current packaging was introduced in 1994, and evokes Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and blacksmiths, and protector of craftsmen.

In 1997 the Yorkshire Post described the beer as "one of Sheffield's most famous exports", and "a name which carries as much pride as the Made in Sheffield stamp." In 1997, Bass decided to deprioritise Stones in order to concentrate on promoting Worthington as their national ale brand. Stones' ABV was further reduced to 3.8 per cent in August 1998, and then to 3.7 per cent a few months later leading to its derision in the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Following the closure of the Cannon Brewery in 1999, canned Stones has been brewed in Burton upon Trent and keg Stones in Tadcaster. The cask conditioned variant is currently brewed by Everards of Leicester, having been previously brewed by Highgate Brewery of Walsall and Thwaites Brewery of Lancashire.

Cask conditioned Stones was restored to 4.1 per cent ABV and its original recipe in August 2006, with Coors claiming that it would be "like Stones used to taste." That same year Off License News identified the canned variant as "continuing a slow but sure decline that has seen its status redefined from national brand to Yorkshire regional over the last decade." As of 2011 Stones Bitter is among the twenty highest selling ales in the United Kingdom.