Britain's oldest lager re-launched in north Wales

Wrexham Lager, whose brewery was closed down by Carlsberg in 2000, is now back in production thanks to the company’s ex head brewer and a group of local businessmen.

The new company has made a major investment in state-of-the art German brewing plant and secured premises in an old warehouse to revive Wrexham’s lager traditions.

The men behind the move are businessmen John Vaughan and Mark Roberts and former brewery manager Ian Dale who also runs a micro brewery at nearby Plassey.

The revived lager brand is being brewed to its original recipe but comes with a stronger 4% abv in contrast to the old Carlsberg brand strength of 3.2% abv.

The new lager is already being stocked in selected pubs within the Wrexham area where it has been received enthusiastically, according to Roberts.

The re-launch of the brand at the Buck House Hotel, Bangor-on-Dee, saw fourteen 50 litre kegs consumed on the opening day.
“Drinkers could not get enough of it,” revealed licensee Allan Heyes.”Many said its was a wonderful reminder of the good old Wrexham Lager days.”

The original Wrexham Lager Brewery was founded by German immigrants in 1882 and bought by another German,Robert Graesser, four years later.

It was Graesser who pioneered modern-day cooling techniques thanks to mechanical refrigeration at his nearby chemical plant.
Several years later the lager became the first to be served in a pub through cooling lines refrigerated through packed ice at the Cross Foxes pub in Wrexham.

After Carlsberg closed down the brewery local MP Martyn Jones, a former chemist at the brewery, purchased the brand name from Carlsberg for just £1 and later transferred the name to the new company.