Aston Manor Brewery
Aston Manor Brewery is a former brewery and current bottling company in Aston, Birmingham, England. Having been started as a beer brewery, the company now produces exclusively cider and perry, trading under the name Aston Manor Cider. In 2008 it was the third largest cider company in the UK by market share, and the fourth largest in the world.
It was managed by Peter Ellis, son of Doug Ellis, until 2013, when Gordon Johncox took over as managing director from Peter Ellis, who is now executive chairman. Cider Production Director is Rod Clifford whose name is used by Tesco to market a number of its cider products.
Its products include the Frosty Jack's brand of white cider,Kingstone Press Cider and 3 Hammers.
The company was formed in 1981 by four ex-employees of Ansells, after Ansells closed its Aston Cross brewery. A new brewery was opened in the nearby Thimble Mill Lane (at 52°29′56″N 1°52′22″W / 52.4989°N 1.8728°WCoordinates: 52°29′56″N 1°52′22″W / 52.4989°N 1.8728°W). In 1984, Herefordshire hop farmer Michael Hancocks, one of the company's suppliers, bought into the business. By 1998, Aston Manor was reporting profits of over £1million, with 70% of its sales being cider. Because of a slump in the market and strong competition, by 2001 profits had fallen to £740,500, but by 2009 had risen to over £3 million, due to a large rise in demand in the UK. In 2009 the company took over the Devon Cider Company, based in Tiverton, Devon and has expanded the manufacturing facilities on that site.
...
Wikipedia