Fuller's Brewery in Chiswick in the west of London was a family-run business from its foundation in 1845 until 2019. In that year, the brewing division of Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC was sold to the Japanese international beverage giant Asahi. John Fuller's Griffin Brewery dates from 1816; in 1845, his son, John Bird Fuller, was joined by Henry Smith and John Turner. Fuller, Smith & Turner owns and operates more than 380 pubs, inns and hotels across the south of England. History Beer has been brewed on Fuller's historic Griffin Brewery site in Old Chiswick since the seventeenth century. From the original brewery in the gardens of Bedford House on Chiswick Mall, the business expanded and thrived until the early part of the nineteenth century. Money problems forced the owners, Douglas and Henry Thompson and Philip Wood, to seek a partner. John Fuller, of Neston Park, Wiltshire was approached to see if he would inject the required amount of money. In 1829 he joined the enterprise, but the partnership proved a difficult one and in 1841 Douglas Thompson fled to France and the partnership was dissolved. It became apparent that it was difficult for one man with no brewing experience to run a brewery of that size alone. In 1845 John Fuller's son, John Bird Fuller, was joined by Henry Smith from the Romford Brewery of Ind & Smith and his brother-in-law, head brewer John Turner, thereby forming Fuller, Smith & Turner. Reg Drury joined Fullers in 1959 at a time when cask ales were in decline, and worked there for 40 years, becoming the director of brewing. It was thought at the time that it was only possible to cask beer in open fermenters, but Drury experimented and found that it could also be made in more modern, closed conical fermenters. The switchover to conical fermenters improved consistency and allowed Drury to perfect the recipes of Fuller's beers. In 2019 Fuller, Smith & Turner Plc sold its drinks company (The Fuller's Griffin Brewery, Cornish Orchards, Dark Star Brewery & Nectar Imports) to Asahi for £250m. This included the entirety of Fuller's beer, cider and soft drinks brewing and production, wine wholesaling, distribution, and the Griffin Brewery site. Asahi stated that it would continue to brew beer at the Griffin brewery. Griffin Brewery The first record of the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick dates from 1816, when one of the