Firkin Brewery

The Firkin Brewery was a chain of pubs in the United Kingdom. The original UK chain is now defunct, but a number of pubs operate under the Firkin name in other countries. The chain took its name from the firkin, an old English unit of volume.

Established in 1979 by David Bruce as Bruce's Brewery, the Firkin Brewery grew as a chain of mostly brewpubs offering cask ale. It was acquired by European Leisure in 1988 and then by Allied Domecq in 1991, rapidly expanding thereafter. [ [http://www.armfield.freeserve.co.uk/travel/firkin.htm The Firkin Pubs ] ] In 1999, Punch Taverns bought the entire chain and the rights to the Firkin brand, [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1999/07/21/cnall21.html Allied says yes to Punch but leaves door open to bidders ] ] and then sold 110 of the pubs to Bass, leaving 60 Firkin pubs under Punch ownership. [ [http://www.cambridge-camra.org.uk/ale/296/industry1.html Industry Watch 1 - the Major Players ] ] The brewery side of the chain was wound up, and in March 2001 Punch announced that the Firkin brand was to be discontinued. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2000/09/01/cnfir01.xml Firkin chain to go as Punch Taverns looks to future - Telegraph ] ]

Most of the pubs are now owned by Mitchells and Butlers (formerly Bass), and many have been rebranded as Scream, O'Neills or Goose pubs. Some of the Punch Taverns-owned Firkins were rebranded as Mr Q's or Bar Room Bar pubs. A small handful of establishments still retain the Firkin branding.

The pubs were distinguishable because they all followed the same naming convention: "The ---- and Firkin", where ---- was usually a word, beginning with either "F" or "Ph", which had some connection to the pub building or to the local area.

Firkin pubs outside the UK

North America

Firkin pubs in Canada and the United States operate under the Firkin Group Of Pubs franchise, a chain of English theme pubs founded in Ontario, Canada in 1987. [ [http://www.cfa.ca/FranchiseDetail.aspx?item=Firkin+Group+of+Pubs%2C+The Company Details ] ] The naming scheme for the pubs is similar to that of the UK chain (for example, "The Crown and Firkin", in Whitby, Ontario, Canada), and many Firkin Group pubs in fact share their names with former UK Firkin Brewery pubs.

The pub chain credits itself as being the "largest and fastest growing" group of pubs in North America. The Firkin Pub in Miami that closed in Coconut Grove vanished overnight. Also, there are a vast list of pubs on the company website, there are countless units throughout the world catering to a very blue-collar demographic.

Australia

A number of independent English-style pubs in Australia use "Firkin" in their names, such as the Firkin and Hound in Alice Springs. [ [http://www.firkinhound.com/index.html fox hound alice springs british at firkinhound.com ] ]

List of Firkin pubs

UK pubs

"Note:" The full name of the Ferret and Firkin, in Chelsea, was "The Ferret and Firkin in The Balloon Up The Creek". This referenced the original name of the pub - The Balloon - and its location, Chelsea Creek.

European pubs

References

External links

* [http://www.firkinpubs.com/ Firkin Group Of Pubs home page (US and Canada)]
* [http://www.quaffale.org.uk/breweries/firkin.html List of Firkins with histories]
* [http://www.pubjury.com/chain/7/Firkin Pub Reviews at PubJury.com]