It’s fun to look back.

This section is devoted to Inside Beer’s trip down Memory Lane, highlighting the major events that were shaping the brewing world 10, 20 and 30 years ago.

10 Years Ago
May 2003

Pop diva Madonna reveals that her favourite beer is Timothy Taylor's Landlord during an interview for BBC 1's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross chat show.

Scottish & Newcastle announces that it is to put its remaining 1,450 pubs on the market and to become just a brewing company. The giant also agrees to buy cider maker HP Bulmer, in a £278 million deal that includes The Beer Seller wholesaler business.

Marston's unveils plans to extend its Burton-on-Trent brewhouse by incorporating two mash tuns, three coppers and other equipment from Mansfield Brewery that it closed a year ago. The refurbishment will cost £1.7 million.

20 Years Ago
May 1993

Britain's most famous pub returns to selling real ale. Handpumps are restored to the bar of the Rovers Return, the pub featured in the television soap Coronation Street.

Changes are taking place at one of the UK's most famous brew pubs. The lease of the Blue Anchor at Helston, Cornwall, goes up for sale as 73-year-old host Sid Cannon decides to retire after 15 years at the helm.

A mild brewed by Fuller's has proved so successful that its availability has been extended for a further six months. The Chiswick brewery's Hock (3.2% ABV) was introduced in March and was scheduled to run until Easter but it will now be on sale until October.

30 Years Ago
May 1983

Courage’s John Smith’s division announces the closure of its Castle Brewery in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire. Most beer brands will transfer to the company’s Tadcaster brewery, but some ales, including AK Bitter, will disappear. Forty-nine jobs will be lost as a result of the closure.

British Rail selects a regional brewer’s beer for sale on trains nationally. Boddingtons Bitter takes its place among the Traveller’s Fare selection of drinks.

Wolverhampton & Dudley withdraws its hostile bid for Midlands neighbour Davenports, conceding defeat. W&D came close to acquiring sufficient shares to take control of the Birmingham brewery but was thwarted by the intervention of Whitbread Investments, which offered a higher price for the outstanding shares. Whitbread Investments now owns nearly six per cent of Davenports, which remains a stand-alone business.

Allied Breweries trials a cask-conditioned lager. Samuel Allsopp’s Gold Cross is a bottom-fermented beer, brewed with continental hops. Unlike keg lagers, it is not pasteurized. The 1040 OG beer is matured for two weeks at the brewery and served via a handpump, although a blanket of carbon dioxide is applied to maintain condition. It is also flash cooled just before service. The beer is produced at Allied’s Wrexham Lager brewery in North Wales.