T&R Theakston Ltd is an independent, family brewing company founded in 1827 located in the Yorkshire Dales market town of Masham, North Yorkshire.
The company is controlled and run by direct family descendants of the founder Robert Theakston. Theakston is one of Britain’s oldest established family brewing companies.
The company is a member of the British Beer and Pub Association, the Independent Family Brewers of Britain and a supporter of the Government’s Drinkaware campaign, CAMRA and Pub is the Hub. The company is renowned as brewing innovators; brewing a wide range of cask conditioned, craft keg and brewery conditioned draught beers, as well as bottled and canned ales for the UK domestic and several overseas markets.
Among the beers produced is Theakston Old Peculier, a beer for which the company is famous. The 19th century brewery is of a traditional ‘tower’ construction, containing many of the original features, thus upholding the great tradition of the English top-fermented brewing method.
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While we’d like to think Theakston ales are legendary in their own right, many other factors contribute to our company’s reputation. To experience these you’ll need to visit our brewery in Masham, in North Yorkshire, where you can taste the brews fresh from the cask and smell the hops in the air! Our Visitor Centre has many other interesting things worth experiencing first-hand.
‘The Black Bull in Paradise’ is our Visitor Centre, a building situated within the brewery surrounds. Its name is derived from elements of our company history, linking the name of the inn, the Black Bull in which Robert Theakston founded his brewery in 1827 with Paradise Field, the land he bought a few years later in 1850 and upon which he built a ‘new’ brewery in 1870, the one we still use to this day.
Today the Black Bull in Paradise is at the core of our activity. Open every day of the year except Christmas, Boxing and New year’s Day, it is used as our company reception, the place in which new beers are trialled and tested and where the many thousands of annual visitors can come and soak up the historic atmosphere whilst sampling any of at least six different cask ales that are on sale all year round. We have a brewery shop stocked with a wide range of high quality branded goods, providing an ideal opportunity to buy gifts and souvenirs.
We have many interesting artefacts and items relating to nearly two hundred years of Theakston brewing tradition on display. We also have a roaring fire burning on all but the hottest days of the year to welcome you. Outside is a small beer ‘garden’ where it is possible to watch the everyday activity of a busy brewery yard and the perfect place for a pint after a trip round the brewery.
We even hire out the Visitor Centre in the evenings for private parties or events a facility which has proved to be extremely popular!