John Young, long the chairman of the family run Young’s Ram Brewery in London, died Sunday. He was 85. The obituary from the British Guild of Beer Writers points out:
. . . his most successful brainwave was a decision, against all contemporary trends and advice, to promote traditional draught beer instead of the keg beers that most brewers were heavily supporting in the 1960s. The ploy paid off and Young’s sales rocketed well before the foundation of the Campaign for Real Ale in 1971.
His death comes in the week when Young’s beers are being brewed for the last time at Wandsworth. In May Young’s announced it would merge brewing operations with Bedford-based Charles Wells.