Eldridge Pope: The best beer in town!

Tracing its roots back to 1837, Eldridge Pope was the staple of Dorchester enterprise. Upon its restructuring and the development of the new brewery site in 1880 by the new owners Edwin and Alfred Pope, ‘Eldridge Pope & Co. Ltd.’ soon became the largest and most important employer in Dorchester. These were successful times, but the ‘golden age’ of Eldridge Pope was to come later, in the 20^th Century, when expansion of brand and product became the priority.

A truly local brand

The Pope brothers understood the importance of the need for the consumers to attach identity to a brand. This is best achieved through creating something which consumers can relate and connect to their own identity, and by extension recognise Eldridge Pope products easily. The Huntsman brand was the personification of the brewery, a symbol of Dorset ruggedness and tradition, found on numerous Eldridge Pope products. Many of these brand designs and patent requests are held by DHC (D-ELP/5M/135).

Success through tragedy

It was from the ashes of disaster that Eldridge Pope & Co.’s golden age of expansion of revitalisation began. Alfred’s son Alex died in 1919 from injuries sustained during the war, and a huge fire in 1922 destroyed most of the brewery and put the company out of action for three years. Both Alfred and Edwin died in the late 1920s and early 1930s, with the ownership of the brewery being handed down to Cecil and Philip Pope. From the struggles of these years, the new owners expanded the brewery greatly; releasing new beers as well as acquiring new brewery sites and pubs across Dorset.

Variety is the spice of life

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the Eldridge Pope brand is the range of beers they produced, tapping (literally) into all tastes and preferences. Bitters, milds, brown ales, stouts, IPAs, and lagers all found their way into the Popes’ recipe books. Many of these books are held at Dorset History Centre, going back to the 1880s (View the 1881 recipe book in display in reception). The brewery was also rather prolific in their ability to break new ground. In the cool 1960s, the new generation of Popes – Christopher and Anthony – working with head brewer Denis Holiday, introduced ‘Konig Lager’ to the Brits, a German-style lager made using more traditional ale brewing methods. They were one of the first breweries in the UK to do so.

In 1978, in commemoration of the 40^th anniversary of Thomas Hardy’s death, the brewery released ‘Thomas Hardy Ale’, at the time receiving the Guinness World Record for the strongest ale in the commercial market, at a whopping 13% abv! The brewing of this ale again demonstrating the stressing of a Dorchester brand.

Despite its decline and eventual dissolution in 2003, the name Eldridge Pope is still synonymous with good Dorset beer and local enterprise. Today, of course the former brewery site is a hustling and vibrant commercial quarter, Brewery Square, but if you still have a thirst for the way it was, then step into the History Centre and view the fascinating documents on display in reception and the collection held in the archives (D-ELP) that highlight the golden age of this local name.

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