Black Sheep Brewery in Sweden, being in the top 20 of bottled ales sold in that country. Black Sheep Brewery The Black Sheep Brewery is a brewery in Masham in the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. The Black Sheep Brewery was established by Paul Theakston in 1991. Following a successful launch as a Business Expansion Scheme, it became a public limited company (plc) in 1992. Theakston had been managing director of Theakston Brewery, also in Masham, since 1968. He began at the age of 23, taking over from his father, Frank. Matthew Brown bought Theakston Brewery following disagreements between members of
Black Eagle Brewery over the following 200 years. By 1748 the Black Eagle Brewery was the third largest brewery in London, and likely the world, with 40,000 barrels produced annually. In the mid-18th century Huguenot immigrants introduced a new beverage flavoured with hops, which proved very popular. Initially, Truman's imported hops from Belgium, but Kent farmers were soon encouraged to grow hops to help the brewery meet growing demand. Sir Benjamin died in March 1780 and, without a son to take on the business, it passed to his grandsons. In 1789, the brewery was taken over by Sampson Hanbury (Hanbury had been a