Our Brewing History

At Batemans, innovation is at the heart of our craft. We thrive on a culture that embraces experimentation, whether crafting speciality beers or pioneering fairer pub agreements, and we’ve always fearlessly charted our own course.

Pioneering innovation has been ingrained in our brewing ethos since the early days. As one of the early British brewers exploring seasonal and unique ingredients, we ventured into uncharted territory. This journey began with Mr George’s Unique Flavours – an assortment of beers infused with strawberries, vanilla, liquorice, and other seasonal delights. Whilst well-received by customers, the essence of strawberries proved a challenge to cleanse from pub beer pipes afterwards!

Among our other inventive brews, the introduction of Combined Harvest marked a significant milestone. This creation is the UK’s inaugural multigrain beer, crafted using a blend of malted oats, rye, and wheat alongside the customary barley—a tribute to Susannah Bateman’s bread-making.

The bottled rendition of Combined Harvest is readily available through our online shop, joining the ranks of our esteemed bottled brews: Triple XB, Victory Ale, Mocha, Dark Lord, and Vintage Ale. Additionally, during the festive season, we offer the beloved Rosey Nosey—a delightful Christmas speciality.

Our journey with Mr George’s Unique Flavours pioneered flavoured beers and laid the foundation for a tradition of themed monthly beer specials. We recognised a niche for quirky brews that captured the mood of the moment, celebrated big occasions or told fun stories that people could relate to. So we continued that tradition over the years by brewing all sorts of ideas.

One of the first was Mystic Brews, a series of beers that embodied the distinct characteristics of star signs. Virgo, brewed with virgin hops, exuded purity. Aries was infused with Ginseng, an aphrodisiac for a sense of allure. Aquarius utilised well-water, infusing the essence of the water-bearer. Sagittarius, featuring smoked malt, evoked fiery passion. Gemini underwent a double fermentation process. Libra was a harmonious blend of balance. And for Leo, a bold and golden strength prevailed.

The innovative concept caught the attention of Beer Seller, a national wholesaler who committed to a minimum sales volume in exchange for exclusive selling rights. We seized the opportunity and launched the beers with grandeur at their national sales conference.

Jolly’s Jaunts was born after this success—an homage to the ninetieth ‘birthday’ of the Jolly Fisherman of Skegness, a beloved figure from one of the UK’s iconic vintage tourism posters. This series revolved around Jolly’s participation in special events.

Our range expanded from Jolly’s Three Lions for the World Cup to Jolly’s Deuce for Wimbledon and Jolly’s Rugby Special for the Five Nations (now Six Nations). Not stopping there, we introduced Jolly’s Trick or Treat for Halloween and Jolly’s Rocket for Bonfire Night, further fuelling the spirit of celebration through our innovative brews.

The overwhelming popularity of Jolly’s Jaunts spurred us to extend the thematic range – this, coupled with the millennium celebrations in 1999, led to the inception of Jolly’s Generations, which celebrated pioneers of history.

Here, our intrepid, Jolly fisherman assumed the role of various historical figures. The series included Jolly’s Lightening (honouring the invention of electricity), Jolly’s Giant Step (commemorating the moon landings), Jolly’s D-Day Landings, and Jolly’s (Millennium) Dome.

Jolly’s Follies followed in 2000, along with a ground-breaking innovation—Bateman’s became the first brewery to introduce three-dimensional pump-clips. The clips created more visual impact for beers, including Hair of the Dog (January) and Kiss Me Quick (February), ensuring they stood out boldly on the beer pumps.

Another cherished line was Good Honest T’Ales, delving deep into British myths and folklore. Utilising different malt and hop styles, we crafted an assortment ranging from Loxley’s Liquor, a premium bitter, to Owd Nessie, a Scottish peated beer.

Earning a reputation for our playful pump clips, the release of The Calendar Girls film in 2003 provided us with inspiration for a theme celebrating the traditional landlady in a distinctly tongue-in-cheek manner that became a memorable talking point for customers.

Celebrating the British love of biscuits, we created the Biscuit Barrel Beers – an ode to the shared ingredients between biscuits and beer. This concept resulted in the lovely biscuity flavours from brewing particular malts. Our delightful brews matched classic biscuit flavours to traditional brewing recipes, and we created one for each season. The series featured Oatmeal Biscuit Beer (spring), Barley Biscuit Beer (summer), Bourbon Biscuit Beer (autumn), Chocolate Biscuit Beer (winter), and Fruit Biscuit Beer (Christmas), each becoming a delightful treat for our audience.

Staying true to our ambition for our beers to reflect significant events, we created England Expects for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. This brew encapsulated the nation’s combined optimism and trepidation for their football team’s fate. Since it was initially brewed, it has made many regular appearances in the Batemans lineup.

However, our drinkers’ all-time favourite remains Rosey Nosey. This original Christmas brew debuted in 1998. It became an instant festive classic with its fruity Christmas cake flavour and distinctive bar visuals – including a Santa beard and flashing nose on the pump clip. To this day, it remains one of the nation’s most beloved Christmas libations.

Rosey Nosey has rightfully earned its place among our Legends. To add to this range, we reintroduced some of our most cherished beers from previous years—East Coast Screamer, Pilgrim Fathers, Valiant, and Hooker.