I also had a friend who worked at the Mortlake brewery - I think he was in Sales or Admin (offices anyway). He used to get a daily beer allowance of 3 pints of Red Barrel - which had to be drunk on the premises. I guess all the management employees got the same. Don't remember him ever drinking it outside socially though.

All our gang used to favour Youngs mainly, otherwise it was Whitbread, Ind Coope and the dreaded Friary Muck! Come to think of it, there were loads of small breweries back then, all later to be swallowed up, and most purveying what we now call 'real ale'. Only back then, we rather disparagingly referred to it as 'cooking bitter'. Oh how times and fashions change.