'Brewers By Appointment To His Majesty The King' the label proudly proclaims. It will be a familiar sight to many older drinkers, being very similar to that used for Worthington White Shield until comparatively modern times. The name 'Masseys Burnley' indicates where it was bottled. Massey's was taken over by Charrington United in 1966. Embossed on the reverse is 'J. Grimshaw Ltd. Burnley.' The latter brewery was itself taken over by Massey's in 1928 so the bottle is well over 80 years old.
The bottle is cork drive and there has been little evaporation over the years althoug the beer appears to be hazy. I have another bottle from this batch so I think I'll sample one during the OpenIt! weekend and let you know if it is drinkable.
It'd be interesting to know what it tastes like, but it's probably worth more unopened!
ReplyDeleteWorthington White Shield, in bottles very similar to the one in your picture, used to be my stand-by in pubs that didn't sell decent beer. My friend Alan could never get over the fact that I'd pour it out very carefully to get it nice and clear in the glass, and then just neck the remaining dregs straight from the bottle.
Thanks so much for posting it, its a great looking bottle!
ReplyDeleteI really like the bulbous collar quite robust-looking. really interested to know what it tastes like when you do finally open it...
I purchased four of these on eBay but the seller didn't pack them properly and two bottles broke and ruined the labels of the other two. In fact I didn't bother salvaging the label on one bottle so I'll open it soon.
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