Stones Brewery

William Stones Ltd

Company type	Brewery
Industry	Brewing
Predecessor	Messrs. Watts & Stones
Founded	1868
Founder	William Stones
Defunct	1968 (takeover by Bass) 1999 (brewery closed)
Headquarters	Sheffield , England
Area served	North of England
Products	Beer
Production output	Brewery: 50,000 hectolitres (1992).[1]Stones Bitter: 1.4 million hl across multiple breweries (1992); 100,000 hl (2012)[2]
Owner	Molson Coors UK
Number of employees	57
Parent	Molson Coors

Stones Brewery (William Stones Ltd) was a brewery founded in 1868 by William Stones in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, and purchased by Bass Brewery in 1968. After its closure in 1999, Stones Bitter has continued to be produced by Molson Coors.

William Stones started brewing in 1847 in Sheffield with Joseph Watts. Following Watts' death in 1854, he continued brewing by himself. In 1868, he purchased the lease of the Neepsend Brewery and renamed it the Cannon Brewery. He continued to brew there until his death in 1894. Stones' success saw him die as one of the richest men in Sheffield, although he lived a modest life. The company was taken over by Bass in 1968. In 2000, Bass sold its brewing operations to the Belgian brewer Interbrew who were ordered by the Competition Commission to sell Stones. In 2002, it was purchased by the Coors Brewing Company, who merged to become Molson Coors in 2005.

Stones Bitter was brewed at the Cannon Brewery from 1948 and was popular with Sheffield's steel workers. It was originally available across the south Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, with distribution extended to the rest of the north of England in 1977, and nationwide from 1979, accompanied by a considerable marketing push. Increasing demand saw it also brewed at other Bass breweries from the 1970s onwards. The beer's popularity reached its apex in 1992 when it was the country's highest selling bitter, selling over a million barrels.^[3] The beer has been lauded as "one of Sheffield's most famous exports". After the Cannon's closure production was continued elsewhere. Stones Bitter (3.7 per cent alcohol by volume) is brewed by Molson Coors at their brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, and the canned product at their Burton upon Trent brewery.

Stones sponsored the Rugby Football League Championship and its successor the Rugby Super League from 1986 until 1997. A series of television advertisements from 1983 until 1991, starring Tony Barton and Michael Angelis, became the longest running bitter advertisements in the country. Since the withdrawal of the majority of marketing support by Bass in 1997 in favour of Worthington, the beer has experienced a marked decline in sales volumes, although it remains among the twenty highest selling ales in the United Kingdom.