Editing Newcastle Brown Ale (section)

==History==
[[File:Newcastle Brewery - geograph.org.uk - 954044.jpg|thumb|right|Tyne Brewery on Corporation Street, ''circa'' 2006, the [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:54.975162,-1.624402&hl=en&ll=54.972078,-1.621524&spn=0.003048,0.009345&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=54.972147,-1.623347&panoid=lDcUuCMO2NJ2VNxKLOfdSw&cbp=12,236.92,,0,2.17 same location] in 2020]]
===Tyne Brewery, Newcastle===
Newcastle Brown Ale was originally created by Lieutenant Colonel James ('Jim') Herbert Porter (b. 1892, Burton upon Trent), a third-generation brewer at [[Newcastle Breweries]], in 1927. Porter had served in the [[North Staffordshire Regiment]] in the First World War, earning his [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]] with [[Medal bar|Bar]], before moving to Newcastle. Porter had refined the recipe for Newcastle Brown Ale alongside chemist Archie Jones over a period of three years.<ref name="Jenkins">{{cite news|last=Jenkins|first=Dan|title=CITY'S STAR HAS FALLEN|newspaper=The Northern Echo|date=28 May 2005}}</ref> When Porter actually completed the beer, he believed it to be a failure, as he had actually been attempting to recreate [[Bass ale]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/cuttings/cuttingpdfs/9793/113_FEATURE%202_NEWCASTLE%20BROWN.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=12 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108201014/http://s3.amazonaws.com/cuttings/cuttingpdfs/9793/113_FEATURE%202_NEWCASTLE%20BROWN.pdf |archive-date=8 January 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> The original beer had an [[original gravity]] of 1060º and was 6.25 [[ABV]],<ref>Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001</ref> and it sold at a premium price of 9 [[shilling]]s for a dozen pint bottles.<ref name="Jenkins"/>

Newcastle Brown Ale went into production at Tyne Brewery in 1927, with Newcastle Breweries having occupied the site since 1890, and brewing on the site dating back to 1868.<ref name=BBC4580171/>

The blue star logo was introduced to the Newcastle Brown Ale bottle in 1928, the year after the beer was launched. The five points of the star represent the five founding breweries of Newcastle.

After the merger of Scottish Brewers with Newcastle Breweries in 1960, Newcastle Brown Ale became a flagship brand of [[Scottish & Newcastle]] alongside [[McEwan's Export]] and Younger's Tartan Special.

By 1997, Scottish and Newcastle claimed that it was the most widely distributed alcoholic product in both [[pubs]] and [[off licences]] in the country.<ref>The Evening Standard (London)  12 February 1997 Wednesday  'NEWKY' ON TAP SECTION: D; Pg. 21</ref>

===Move to Federation Brewery, Gateshead===
Despite investing £16.6 million in a new bottling plant at the Tyne Brewery in 1999,<ref>{{cite news|page=17|title=Bobby opens Geordie bubbly|newspaper=THE JOURNAL (Newcastle, UK)|date=1 December 1999}}</ref> Scottish and Newcastle announced its closure on 22 April 2004, in order to consolidate the brewing of beer and ale at the [[Federation Brewery]] site in Dunston, [[Gateshead]], which was to pass to them with their £7.2m purchase of the Federation Brewery.<ref name=BBC3648627/> The purchase and consolidation at Dunston created the new brewing company, Newcastle Federation Breweries.<ref name=BBC4580171/>

The last production run of Brown Ale in Newcastle came off the Tyne Brewery line in May 2005.<ref name=BBC4580171/> Pre-production trial brews were conducted at Dunston to ensure there was no change in its taste after the move.<ref name=BBC4580171/>

The Tyne Brewery site was bought by a consortium of [[Newcastle University]], [[Newcastle City Council]], and the regional development agency [[One NorthEast]], as part of the wider [[Newcastle Science City]] project.<ref name=BBC4417318/> [[Demolition]] of the former brewery began on 8 March 2007.<ref name=BBC6431255/> The triggering of the controlled demolition of the former Barrack Road bottling plant opposite [[St James' Park]] was ceremonially performed by [[Sir Bobby Robson]] on 22 June 2008.<ref name=BBC7468798/>

===Move to John Smith's Brewery, Tadcaster===
Bottling of Newcastle Brown Ale moved to the [[John Smith's Brewery]] in [[Tadcaster]], North Yorkshire, in 2007.<ref name=BBCTVNews13Oct09 />

Heineken bought Scottish and Newcastle in a joint deal with [[Carlsberg Group|Carlsberg]] in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|title=Carlsberg and Heineken buy Scottish & Newcastle |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=4195730&page=1|access-date=13 December 2020|publisher=ABC News}}</ref>

In 2010, Scottish and Newcastle closed the Dunston brewery, moving production of Brown Ale to the John Smiths Brewery in Tadcaster.<ref name=BBC8304274 /> The company cited the general fall in the market for beer, over-capacity in its plants in general, and the fact that the Dunston site was operating at just 60% capacity—despite the fact that sales of Newcastle Brown Ale had never been higher—as reasons for the closure.<ref name=BBC8304274 /><ref name="ncl" /><ref name=BBC8632846 />

In 2015, the caramel colouring, which has been used since the beer was launched,<ref>{{cite web|title=Newcastle Brown Ale Will Stop Using Caramel Coloring, Start Using Roasted Malts Instead|url=https://firstwefeast.com/drink/2015/02/newcastle-brown-ale-will-stop-using-caramel-coloring-start-using-roasted-malts-instead|access-date=13 December 2020|website=First We Feast}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=7 February 2015|title=Newcastle Brown Ale: Recipe change amid US colouring concerns|agency=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-31196933|access-date=13 December 2020}}</ref><!-- specifically, the next citation states that it formerly used roasted malt. --> was removed for health reasons.<ref name="usatoday.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/01/26/newcastle-ale-heineken-beer-brewer-caramel-coloring/22371053/|title=Newcastle removing caramel coloring|website=[[USA Today]] |access-date=6 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112054136/http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/01/26/newcastle-ale-heineken-beer-brewer-caramel-coloring/22371053/|archive-date=12 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Instead, roasted malt was used to darken the beer.<ref name="usatoday.com" />

===Move to Zoeterwoude Brewery, the Netherlands===
In 2017, Heineken moved some production from the John Smith's Brewery, Tadcaster, to the Zoeterwoude Brewery in the Netherlands. The company claimed this would allow for shorter order lead times and faster transportation to the U.S. and allow distributors to purchase by the pallet rather than the container.<ref name="chilledmagazine.com">{{cite web|url=http://chilledmagazine.com/newcastle-brown-ale-unveils-new-look|title=Newcastle Brown Ale Unveils New Look|date=15 November 2017|access-date=12 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113093428/http://chilledmagazine.com/newcastle-brown-ale-unveils-new-look|archive-date=13 January 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, the company started making a different version in America and ceased importing Brown Ale from Europe. Newcastle Brown Ale is still brewed in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, for the UK and some EU markets, and also in the Netherlands for the export market. Lagunitas Brewing Company (a Heineken subsidiary) produces a product named Newcastle Brown Ale for the US domestic market.  The recipe for this variation has a noticeably different taste compared to the original.