chain and former brewery . for the producer and distributor of fish and seafood see young s bluecrest . young and co. s brewery p.l.c. industry hospitality industry and alcoholic beverages founded 1831 founder charles young and anthony bainbridge headquarters wandsworth uk area served london & southeast products public houses and beer website http www.youngs.co.uk young s young & co. s brewery plc is a british pub chain operating nearly 220 pubs . 1 the company was founded as a brewery in 1831 by charles young and anthony bainbridge when they purchased the ram brewery in wandsworth . the company closed the ram brewery in 2006 and the brewing operation was transferred to a new company wells & young s brewing company ltd which was a joint brewing venture with charles wells brewery . young s held 40 % of the shares in the new company until the sale of its stake to charles wells was announced in august 2011 . 2 3 there is a rolling contract for young s to take beers produced by wells & young s. 4 5 6 until its closure in 2006 the company s ram brewery in wandsworth was claimed to be britain s oldest brewing site in continuous operation with a history dating back to the 1550s when a humphrey langridge beer brewer at wandsworth leased the ram pub . 7 contents 1 history 2 ram brewery 3 wells & young s 4 references 5 external links history edit a ram pub on young s brewery site was recorded from a survey around 1550 which details the owner as elizabeth ridon who leased out the premises . the first indication of brewing at the ram are from 1576 when a humphrey langridge beer brewer at wandsworth then a village in surrey had his house broken into and the thief was tried at the local assize court ; this humphrey langridge is also recorded as being landlord of the rame in 1581 and so it is surmised by young s historian that langridge would have been brewing at the ram in 1576 . 8 the site of this inn is today the brewery tap . records from 1675 show that the brewery was run by the draper family and in the 18th century the trittons purchased the brewery . it was purchased by charles allen young and anthony fothergill bainbridge in 1831 . since then it has been associated with the young family and until 2006 the last chairman of young & co belonging to the young s family was john young the great great grandson of the founder . the brewery supplied young s public houses in london and the area to the south west which still number over 200 . it also sold to many other pubs and supermarkets . beer was also exported to many european countries canada the united states and japan . the company produced three regular and a series of seasonal and occasional cask ales keg lagers and several filtered and pasteurised bottled beers . young s also contract brewed several beers for inbev such as courage best and mackeson stout . on 23 may 2006 the company issued a press release announcing that the ram brewery was to close and brewing was to be moved to the eagle brewery in bedford then owned by charles wells . 9 wells & young s brewing with charles wells having a 60 % stake and young & co 40 % went into operation on 2 october 2006 . wells & young s was then responsible for brewing distributing and marketing charles wells s and young & co s brands at the jointly owned eagle brewery in bedford . the company was operated at arms length from both young s and charles wells . however a combination of directors from both companies sat on the wells & young s board . chairman john young died on 17 september 2006 days before the closure of the brewery whilst the final brew was being run at the ram brewery wandsworth . beer from the last brew was served at his funeral on 29 september 2006 . young & co is still based in wandsworth . until june 2007 it was based at offices at the ram brewery but after that it moved into its new head office around the corner from the former brewery site . on 9 august 2011 the company issued a press release announcing the sale of its stake in wells & young s brewing company ltd to charles wells . 10 ram brewery edit ram brewery in wandsworth shortly before closure young s claimed that the ram brewery was the oldest british brewery in continuous operation . 11 at the time of its closure in 2006 the brewery was a mix of ancient and ultra modern plant including a steam engine which had been installed in 1835 and had been in regular use until the 1980s . a number of animals were resident in the brewery including a ram a number of geese and about a dozen working draught horses usually a shire horse . until the closure of the brewery in 2006 the horses and drays were still used for local deliveries of beer to locations within a mile or two of the brewery . the ram brewery officially closed at the end of the business day on monday 25 september 2006 . the brewery closing story was carried by bbc london news and as of 4 december 2008 the old ram brewery has been approved for redevelopment into a new shopping business centre . 12 the new owner of the site property company minerva plc has hired one of the former young s brewers john hatch 13 as site manager . one of his jobs is to keep brewing going on the site via a nanobrewery set up in the old young s laboratory . 14 hatch s new ram brewery brews at least once a week in order to maintain the oldest british brewery claim . 15 in july 2013 the redevelopment of the site was announced to provide new residential and commercial properties alongside shops bars restaurants and public open spaces . 16 as part of the redevelopment historic buildings on the site will be retained and restored ; among other things they will house a new micro brewery and a museum of brewing history in which the coppers and beam engine will be displayed . the banks of the river wandle which flows through the site will also be opened up to the public as part of the new development . 17 wells & young s edit main article wells & young s brewery wells & young s brewing with charles wells having a 60 % stake and young & co 40 % went into operation on 2 october 2006 . wells & young s is now responsible for brewing distributing and marketing charles wells s and young & co s brands at the eagle brewery in bedford . in august 2011 charles wells purchased young s stake in wells and young s. following a full rebrand in early 2015 the company went back to its roots and now trades as charles wells once again reuniting the different arms of the business under its founding name . references edit young & co. s brewery plc ynga stock quote & company profile businessweek . investing.businessweek.com . retrieved 13 july 2009 . disposal of 40 % minority stake in wells & young s brewing company limited pdf . youngs.co.uk . retrieved 31 august 2011 . charles wells ltd purchases 40 % stake in wells & young s brewing company limited from young & co plc . charleswells.co.uk . retrieved 31 august 2011 . about wells & young s wells & young s brewing company limited www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk . wellsandyoungs.co.uk . retrieved 13 july 2009 . young s history . youngs.co.uk . retrieved 13 july 2009 . last orders for uk s oldest brewery . the guardian . london . 23 may 2006 . retrieved 13 july 2009 . milmo cahal 24 may 2006 . takeover calls time on britain s oldest brewery this britain uk the independent . the independent . london . retrieved 13 july 2009 . helen osborn britain s oldest brewery the story behind the success of young s of wandsworth page 33 young & co. 1999 isbn 0 9518167 2 1 response to any questions on project duck prior to any announcement disposal of 40 % minority stake in wells & young s brewing company limited pdf . youngs.co.uk . retrieved 31 august 2011 . helen osborn britain s oldest brewery the story behind the success of young s of wandsworth pp 31 49 young & co. 1999 isbn 0 9518167 2 1 minerva s wandsworth towers get green light john hatch on linkedin interview with john hatch on youtube report on a visit to the new ram brewery press release project website bibliography helen osborn inn and around london . surrey fine art press . isbn 0 9518167 0 5 . helen osborn britain s oldest brewery the story behind the success of young s of wandsworth young & co 1999 isbn 0 9518167 2 1 john young acting up autobiography published by the memoir club durham external links edit young & co s website wells and young s company website photographic documentation of the last year of young s brewing in wandsworth coordinates 51 27 26 n 0 11 34 w 51.45719 n 0.19288 w 51.45719 ; 0.19288 wikimedia commons has media related to ram brewery . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title young % 27s & oldid 742545917 categories pub chainscompanies established in 1831brewing in londonhistory of wandsworthfood and drink companies established in 1831hidden categories use british english from february 2012use dmy dates from february 2012coordinates not on wikidatacommons category with local link same as on wikidata 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 in other projects wikimedia commons languages add links this page was last modified on 4 october 2016 at 09 57 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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