KEY DATES IN SPBW HISTORY
1963 SPBW founded, 6 December at Rising Sun, Epsom
1964 First branch established in Ulverston (then Lancashire) area
1965 Campden Hill, oldest surviving branch, founded at Windsor Castle, Kensington
1968 Founder Members concede that traditional draught beer from metal casks is acceptable; decision outrages purist members.
1972 SPBW and newly formed CAMRA gain publicity by protesting at exclusion from ‘Festival of Fraud’, trade-run (keg) beer festival at Alexandra Palace in October.
1973 National Executive Committee founded; Frank Manning is first Chairman.
1974 Wantz branch, second oldest surviving SPBW branch, founded at Cauliflower, Rainham, Essex
1978 SPBW runs a stand at Great British Beer Festival for the first time.
1980 London Pub of the Year competition launched: first winner, Express Tavern, Brentford.
1982 Pint in Hand: first issue in February; published quarterly ever since.
1982 First National Weekend, held in Devizes over late May bank holiday weekend.
1984 21st Anniversary Dinner at Civil Service Club, Whitehall, attended by Founder Members John Gore and John Keeble
1985 Tony Littler Trophy, inter-branch competition, first held on 7 September at Rose & Crown, Blackfriars. First winners Special Branch.
1988 25th Anniversary Dinner, Bonnington Hotel, Bloomsbury
1989 Membership records computerised following purchase of Brother BC-10XT.
1996 SPBW website launched November.
2000 First USA branch, Chesapeake Bay, based in Baltimore USA
2002 London Pub of the Year revived after 14-year gap, won by Dog & Bell, Deptford
2003 Last appearance to date at GBBF
2003 40th Anniversary Dinner at George Inn, Southwark
2013 50th Anniversary Dinner at Magpie, Liverpool Street
2017 First WoodFest, held at Castleford in July
2018 Second WoodFest, held at North Shields in July
2021 First branch in South America, Casktores, founded in July in Lujan, Argentina
2022 Third WoodFest, held at Twickenham in May
2023 Fourth WoodFest, held at Egham in May.
2023 Death of last surviving Founder Member, John Keeble, in July
2025 Fifth WoodFest, held at Brentford in May
ORIGINS
By the early 1960s, a combination of factors – indifferently kept beers in many pubs, the brewers’ desire to attract more custom, more widespread distribution as brewery companies expanded through take-overs, and the growth of commercial television – had led to the spread of keg beers , often at the expense of traditional draught beers.
This was an issue of great concern to seven dedicated beer drinkers – Arthur Millard, Dougie Chamberlain, John Gore, John Keeble, Boyes Lee, Gerry Smith and Penri Thomas – most of whom worked at the Bank of England. On the evening of 6 December 1963 they gathered at their local, the Rising Sun in Epsom. They were concerned about the growing decline in both quality and palatability of beer. This, they felt, was due to the increasing use of gas pressure and the introduction of keg beers. They formed the SPBW with the purpose of drawing intention to their plight.
The Founder Members of SPBW roundly deplored the monolithic policies of the brewers which, accepted with a spineless lack of gumption by many publicans, were forcing the sale of beer from ‘sealed dustbins’ and thereby denying discerning drinkers their traditional tipple which was, and had been for centuries, beer drawn from the wood.
It may have been founded in a mood of mixed bonhomie and militancy but the SPBW provided the first voice to speak up for the consumer and question the actions of the big brewers.
BEERS FROM THE WOOD?
The Society’s name was so chosen since, at that time, all ‘real’ beers were served from wooden casks, as opposed to the metal casks used for keg beers. The founders were of the opinion that, since beers drawn from the wood were then still widely available, they would set it up as the most desirable form of beer to be preserved. As time went by, wooden casks became scarcer and brewers took to using metal casks for traditional ales. It was then plain that the SPBW’s aims were more simply defined as being against gassy processed beers. Therefore, its standing orders were revised in the late 1960s to permit the drinking the drinking of all but ‘dustbin’ beers.
This decree was greeted with outrage by one of the SPBW’s more fundamentalist branches, in Wiltshire, where the opinion was that the only beer worth drinking was drawn directly from the wooden cask by gravity. The Founder Members responded with the view that, if such strictures were applied, many less fortunate members elsewhere in the country would be obliged to go dry.
Despite the change the original name of the Society was retained for the sake of tradition, even if it is rather misleading since we have mostly been more concerned with the contents than the container. Of the historic breweries that still survive today, very few still regularly use wooden casks from which to dispense their beer.
EARLY YEARS
What had started in a somewhat light-hearted manner soon became more serious, and by the end of the 1960s had built up into a fairly large, loosely associated national body. Campaigning was fairly low-key but a useful amount of media publicity was gained, including the holding of ‘mock funerals’ at pubs which had gone over to keg beers.
FESTIVAL OF FRAUD
In 1972 the SPBW organised, with the then emerging CAMRA, a march to protest against its exclusion from a so-called National Beer Festival, following representations from some of the major breweries involved. The event was denounced as the ‘Festival of Fraud’ and proved to be something of an ‘own goal’ for the breweries involved, given the amount of favourable publicity given to the SPBW.
From this time, however, the Society went into something of a recession. The proliferation of keg beers had become more widespread and CAMRA, with its more centralised and aggressive tactics, began to take the forefront in the battle for good beer.
THE SPBW TODAY
Nowadays the SPBW has several hundred members throughout Great Britain and abroad and some twenty active branches. The Society generally is run by a National Executive Committee (NEC) which issues a quarterly magazine “Pint in Hand” to its members and organises a ‘National Weekend’, held in areas of interest which have traditional breweries to visit and fine pubs and beers to sample; recent venues have included Norwich, North Wales and the Isle of Man, The SPBW has largely evolved into a social body with most activities arranged by its branches. However, it does its bit for the cause of good beer by promoting excellence in beers and pubs.
THE WOOD REVIVAL
At the start of the 21st century, there were only a very few breweries producing beers served from wooden casks and only one or two active coopers in the UK. Since then there has been a notable revival in the use of wooden containers for maturation of beers and their dispense. This has been further stimulated by the determination of SPBW activists, mostly in the north east and Yorkshire, to promote the merits of beers from the wood. Whereas, historically, wooden casks were lined with materials to prevent contact between wood and beer, brewers have come to appreciate that the flavour and character of beer can be enhanced in the wood. The SPBW now looks to encourage and support the use of wooden casks.
In recent years, we have observed a significant upsurge of interest from many newer breweries, as well as a few more well-established brewers wishing to revive the use of wooden casks. SPBW has recorded more than 60 such breweries, some of which mature their beers in wood before bottling, while many others supply their beers in wooden casks. More breweries are being added to our list every month, and we are happy to share this with others. SPBW is developing closer ties with these brewers, and also with CAMRA branches and local pubs and clubs running beer festivals to help beers served in wooden casks more widely available.
WOODFEST
In order to showcase the growth of beers from the wood, the SPBW organised its first ‘WoodFest’ in 2017 in Castleford, Yorkshire (the venue was adjacent to the Junction, a pub serving exclusively beers from the wood). There have been 4 subsequent WoodFests, featuring some 40 beers served from wooden casks and attracting considerable interest. We intend that this will be regular annual event.
