Pro le - Family Values

Felinfoel – keeping it in the family

Wales’ oldest brewery, Felinfoel, to this day remains a family-run and entirely independent business – something which is increasingly rare in the brewing world. A company with a long and storied history, Felinfoel was founded in the village of the same name in 1856 by local man David John, to capitalise upon the increasing popularity of the ales he brewed for his pub, The Union Inn.

Sources tell us that the brewery soon became a focal point within the community of Felinfoel, employing upwards of fifty people, with one local man commenting that the village’s people would often find ‘any excuse to go into the brewery for a drink’. Over 140 years on, Felinfoel’s beers are still brewed in that same building overlooking the River Lliedi.

In addition to being a publican and a brewer, David John was the owner of a number of iron and tin works in the area surrounding Llanelli. It was largely a result of his family’s interests in that industry – which was facing serious decline in the early- to mid-20th century – that Felinfoel decided it would be the first brewery in the world to offer real ales in cans, rather than bottles. By this time, the running of the brewery had been taken over by David’s sons, Martin and David, and his daughter, Mary Anne – beginning a line of family ownership which continues today.

Although canned beer may be something we now take for granted, it was at the time a momentous innovation within the industry. Only in America had canned beer been available to consumers, and with questionable results in terms of quality. The main issue facing brewers on the other side of the Atlantic was that they had not found a suitable material to line the can with, to preserve the beer’s flavour. As a result, they had to resort to pasteurising the beer before it was canned. Later, Felinfoel Head Brewer Sidney John said that: ‘the Americans had brewed a beer to suit the can, while Felinfoel found a can to hold the perfect beer’.

This was finally achieved in 1936, providing a muchneeded boost to South Wales’ struggling tinplate industry, and heralding in what papers at the time called an ‘epoch-making’ revolution in the history of brewing.

In the 1960’s Felinfoel would face one of the biggest challenges in its history, as the Llanelli brewery Buckley’s sought to take over control of the company. The Johns (direct descendants of founder David John’s sons) and the Lewises (descended from his daughter Mary Anne) worked together to retain a family majority within the company, thereby allowing it to remain independent despite constant attempts by outside interests to take over. The shares previously purchased by third parties have all since been brought back into family hands.

Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, Felinfoel continued to modernise. The old open coal-fired vat was replaced with a modern copper one, much to the delight of the Head Brewer at the time, Fred Cheesewright. He said: ‘We don’t have to work in a continuous fog any more.’ Some of Felinfoel’s most celebrated beers were created in the 70s and 80s, including their iconic Double Dragon.

The brand’s most recent ale, Felinfoel IPA, was released earlier this year, and the brand continues to grow its line of real craft ales as it passes on the baton to the next generation of the family. The company stands as an example of the values both of tradition and of innovation, and retains the forward-thinking spirit that led to a revolution in the world of beer.

Jeremy is the 6th generation of the family to work at the brewery, and he will continue to brew award winning Welsh beers here in Felinfoel. “I look forward to teaching my children the value of community and how the pub brings people together. We must continue to use local quality ingredients to make excellent beers that everyone will enjoy.”