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VOL. XXIII NO. 20, February 1-15, 2014
Brewing, breweries and Brewery Road
(Pages from History' by Dr. A. Raman (araman@csu.edu.au))

Front view of the B.B.B. Brewery Company Limited in Brewery Road, Amanjikarai. Bullock carts carting hogshead.

While in Madras recently, staying in my house on Brewery Road in the postal zone Shenoy Nagar, I had some time to investigate the source of its name. There are one or two breweries in the outskirts of the city (e.g. Valasaravakkam), but there is none anywhere near Brewery Road.

Brewery Road connects Shenoy Nagar and Anna Nagar (the Anna Arch Road). It extends westward from West Club Road in Shenoy Nagar. Curiously, it is one of those rare roads that forks into two, along its western extension, both arms bearing the name Brewery Road. A few older residents in the area suggested that the road is thus named because it forks – Tamil name pirital – since, when written in Tamil, ‘pa’ and ‘ba’ are hard to distinguish! That’s an explanation for us to chuckle over.

I interviewed a long-time resident of the area, Usha Madan, who was born and has lived there for long. Usha was clear that Brewery Road got its name because of a beer factory. She recalled seeing beer barrels carted from here in bullock-drawn carts. I would place Usha’s description in the late 1950s-early 1960s.

* * *

There were several breweries in the Madras Presidency. The Castle Brewery was set up in the Nilgiris in 1857. So was the Nilgiris Brewery Company. The British Brewing Corporation in Madras (1902) catered to the elite of Madras, whereas the Bangalore Brewery Company supplied beer for the army units stationed in Pune and Bangalore from 1885.

* * *

The B.B.B. Brewery Company Limited, an offshoot of British Beer Breweries Limited of London, was established in 1913. The managing agents were McDowell & Co. Limited, Second Line Beach. The brewery’s first concern was a copious supply of pure water and this was achieved after 14 months of search. No fewer than 14 bores were sunk; a well of 18 foot diameter was constructed, and 6000 gallons (about 26,000 L) of water per hour obtained. The Government analyst certified that this well water was pure.

The brewery was constructed to a design by George Adlam & Sons, Bristol, with facilities to expand, when needed. Sole rights were secured to use the yeast species Saccharomyces thermantitonum . This yeast species was specifically selected for fermentation in the brewery because it could tolerate the heat of Madras. A qualified English chemist and a brewer and 40-odd workers were employed. The brewery produced some fine quality liquor using Scottish malt and Kent hops. Pilsener, a light beer, was made from Bavarian hops and Bohemian malt. The overall supervision of this brewery was by W. B. Prosser in the beginning.

* * *

Thomas Leishman, a Scot, purchasing the five breweries located in different parts of the Madras Presidency, formed the United Breweries Limited [UBL], which was first registered at 17 Armenian Street on March 15, 1915. UBL’s bullock carts transporting casks, known as ‘hogdshead’, of beer, became a familiar sight on the roads of Madras and beyond, after locally-brewed beer and lager became popular in the early 20th Century.

Leishman was born in 1850, and he married Mercy Mary Abraham, who was born in Bellary in 1867. The Leishman–Mary Abraham marriage took place in Ooty in 1886. They had three girls (Louisa, b. Ootacamund, 1887; Muriel, b. Vepery, 1894; Daisy, b. Vepery, 1895). The Leishmans lived in Vepery, it would appear, from the 1890s.

I do not think the 18’ wide well exists today. But Usha Madan told me that parts of the beer factory building still survive on Brewery Road, although it is now used as a residece. I could not visit this building to take a photograph.

In the 1910s, central Madras’s outer limits stopped at Kilpauk, and Amanjikarai was in the outskirts. Water availability and distance from populated areas (where would linger the ‘foul’ smell that emanates from breweries because of fermentation) would have been reasons for selecting this site for the brewery.

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A Doyen of Philately
Saviour of a Dance in Distress
A Great Romance cut Short
Brewing Breweries and Brewery Road
Whats there in a Name
What is it that ails Tamil nadu Cricket

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Short 'N' Snappy
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Quizzin' With Ram'nan
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