1838 founder frederic robinson headquarters stockport united kingdom products beer production output 35 000 barrels owner frederic robinson ltd website www.robinsonsbrewery.com robinsons brewery is a family run regional brewery founded in 1838 at the unicorn inn in stockport england . the company continues to brew cask ales from the unicorn brewery in lower hillgate in stockport and has done for over 177 years . the company owns more than 300 public houses mostly in north west england alongside several managed houses . contents 1 history 2 distribution 3 brewery 4 beers 5 seasonal ales 5.1 2014 5.2 2015 6 references 7 bibliography 8 external links history edit william robinson purchased the unicorn inn from samuel hole on the 29th september 1838 . his oldest son george brewed the first robinsons ale there in 1849 . 1 in 1859 frederic robinson took over from george and bought a warehouse to the rear of the inn to expand brewing capacity . as a result robinsons ale became available at pubs around the stockport area . to control the quality of ale sold frederic began to purchase public houses . from 1878 until his death in 1890 frederic established twelve pubs which exclusively served his ale . this was the beginning of what was to become an estate of over 300 pubs across the north west of england and north wales . the unicorn brewery still rests on the foundations of the public house on lower hillgate in stockport greater manchester . 2 the brewery continues to be run by the fifth and sixth generations of the robinson family . the company took over hartley s brewery in ulverston in 1982 closing it and transferring the brewing of hartley s beers to stockport in 1991 . 3 robinsons have acquired a number of other breweries over the years including john heginbotham stalybridge 1915 ; t. schofield & son ashton under lyne 1926 ; kays atlas brewery ardwick 1929 and bell & co stockport 1949 . 4 distribution edit the brewery supplies its own estate of just over 300 public houses mostly in north west england but including more than 30 in north wales 5 . it also sells to the free trade . in addition the company provides casking kegging and bottling services to other brewers from their site at bredbury a short distance from the main unicorn brewery . brewery edit the unicorn brewery the unicorn brewery is a traditional tower type and is one of the few such buildings still being used in its original capacity . it is possible to tour the brewery at the robinson s brewery visitors centre in stockport beers edit unicorn 4.2 per cent abv a bitter available on draught or bottled . 6 hartleys cumbria way 4.1 per cent abv brewed since 2001 this bitter takes its name from the cumbria way footpath linking the towns of ulverston and carlisle . 7 hartley s xb 4.0 per cent abv a cask conditioned bitter . 6 cwrw r ddraig aur 4.1 per cent abv golden dragon ale a bitter brewed for robinsons welsh pubs . old tom 8.5 per cent abv a strong ale that has been brewed since 1899 . available bottled or on draught . 6 chocolate tom and ginger tom are also available in bottle 6 per cent abv . dizzy blonde 3.8 per cent abv a golden ale that has been available following its stint as a seasonal ale since 2012 . available bottled or on draught . 8 double hop 4.8 per cent abv an india pale ale . cheshire black 4.1 per cent abv a bottled stout inspired by a 19th century recipe . trooper 4.7 per cent abv a premium bitter brewed since may 2013 to a recipe created by bruce dickinson the singer of iron maiden . 9 wizard 3.7 per cent abv an amber bitter first brewed in 2015 . 10 seasonal ales edit 2014 edit hannibal s nectar 3.9 per cent abv available through january and february a ruby bitter available on draught . 11 hoptimum prime 4.1 per cent abv available through march and april a golden ale available on draught . 12 brazilian 4.2 per cent abv available through may and june a blonde ale available on draught . 13 citra pale ale 3.8 per cent abv available through july and august a crisp pale ale inspired by american craft beers available on draught . 14 south island 4.2 per cent abv available through september and october a blonde ale brewed with new zealand nelson sauvin hops and available on draught . 15 indulgence 4.4 per cent abv available through november and december a mahogany coloured old ale available on draught . 16 2015 edit voodoo dawn 3.9 per cent abv available through january and february a ruby bitter available on draught . 17 mojo 3.7 per cent abv available through march and april an amber ale brewed with east kent goldings and first gold hops available on draught . 18 dizzy s twisted sister 4.0 per cent abv available through july and august a blonde ale available on draught . 19 hop & under 4.2 per cent abv available through september and october a golden ale inspired by the rugby world cup available on draught . 20 frosty frolics 4.4 per cent abv available through november and december a mahogany coloured ale for the festive season available on draught . 21 references edit notes frederic robinson ltd robinsonsbrewery.com http www.robinsonsbrewery.com about us our heritage retrieved 9 august 2016 missing or empty title help frederic robinson ltd robinsonsbrewery.com http www.robinsonsbrewery.com about us our heritage retrieved 9 august 2016 missing or empty title help hartley s brewery the brewery history society http www.breweryhistory.com breweries cumbriaulverstonhartleys.htm retrieved 3 november 2014 missing or empty title help history frederic robinson limited https www.robinsonsbrewery.com about us our heritage retrieved 17 january 2016 missing or empty title help frederic robinson ltd pubs inns and hotels robinsonsbrewery.com retrieved 9 august 2016 a b c pearson 1997 pp. 132 33 . cite error invalid ref tag ; name footnotepearson1997132.e2 .80.9333 defined multiple times with different content see the help page . hartleys cumbria way ratebeer http www.ratebeer.com beer hartleys cumbria way 16232 retrieved 17 december 2012 missing or empty title help web site robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com catalog product view id 11 category 22 retrieved 17 july 2014 missing or empty title help facebook post robinsons brewery limited https www.facebook.com ironmaidenbeer posts 363664547080844 retrieved 12 march 2013 missing or empty title help robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com catalog product view id 103 category 22 retrieved 23 august 2015 missing or empty title help web site robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com index.php catalog product view id 43 s hannibals nectar category 22 retrieved 6 august 2014 missing or empty title help web site robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com index.php catalog product view id 82 s hoptimum prime category 22 retrieved 6 august 2014 missing or empty title help web site robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com index.php catalog product view id 42 s brazilian category 22 retrieved 6 august 2014 missing or empty title help web site robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com index.php catalog product view id 92 s citra pale ale category 22 retrieved 6 august 2014 missing or empty title help web site robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com index.php catalog product view id 93 s south island category 22 retrieved 6 august 2014 missing or empty title help web site robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com index.php catalog product view id 94 s indulgence category 22 retrieved 6 august 2014 missing or empty title help web site robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com index.php catalog product view id 96 s voodoo dawn category 22 retrieved 12 march 2015 missing or empty title help web site robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com index.php catalog product view id 97 s mojo category 22 retrieved 12 march 2015 missing or empty title help web site robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com index.php catalog product view id 99 s dizzys twisted sister category 22 retrieved 12 march 2015 missing or empty title help web site robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com index.php catalog product view id 100 s hop and under category 22 retrieved 12 march 2015 missing or empty title help web site robinsons brewery limited http www.robinsonsbrewery.com index.php catalog product view id 101 s frosty frolics category 22 retrieved 12 march 2015 missing or empty title help bibliography edit pearson lynn f. 1997 the history of robinson s brewery morrison nicholson cartwright isbn 978 0 9529461 0 6 external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title robinsons brewery & oldid 742546657 categories beer in englandcompanies established in 1838companies based in stockport1838 establishments in englandfood and drink companies established in 1838hidden categories pages with reference errorspages with citations lacking titlespages with citations having bare urlspages with duplicate reference namesofficial website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 4 october 2016 at 10 04 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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