There were also still quality problems. Metal Box, in its official history by W.J. Reader, admitted that 'the wax lining then used to spoilt the taste of the beer'. When Robert Barlow had taken his party of visitors round the Acton factory, they had been offered a canned light ale which, according to the Brewing Trade Review, 'was not quite star bright'. W.J. Reader concluded that 'by 1939 these difficulties were still unresolved when the whole experiment was overwhelmed by the outbreak of war'.
Canned beer in Britain only scored heavily on one front in its early years - exports. Here the beer was being shipped long distances and so the savings in weight, space and freight charges were significant. And there was no need to worry about getting the bottles back from Singapore.
With the war canned beer production was almost completely usurped for the armed forces overseas. The Americans even camouflaged their cans, painting them in green varnish known as 'olive drab', in order not to attract the attention of enemy snipers. Felinfoel, because of its tinplate industry connections, was the only British brewery allowed to continue selling cans for home consumption. But most batches went to the distant war fronts, shipped out by the NAAFI.
One of the few cargoes that managed to break the German siege of Malta contained cans of Felinfoel for the parched Llanelli Territorials manning the Mediterranean island's anti-aircraft guns. Thirsty 'desert rats' in North Africa had good reason to thank the brewery for a little canned laughter. Thousands of cans reached troops in the Far East.
After the war Felinfoel lost its armed services contracts, but the distant contacts were not entirely forgotten. In 1976, thirty years later, Terry Beynon a native of Port Talbot, visited the brewer to ask for some beer - for his Peacock Bar in Penang, Malaysia. In January 1977, the first 100 dozen cans of Double Dragon were sent out. Terry Beynon wrote after the first shipment, 'It is very popular with the locals. We ran out of your beer before the second consignment left the UK.'
The success rekindled Felinfoel's enthusiasm for overseas markets, becoming the only South Wales brewery with a regular interest outside Britain. Later many beers were brewed expressly for export, like St David's Porter, Prince's Porter, Cream Stout, Heritage Ale and Hercules Strong Ale, with California becoming a major market in the 1980's, accounting for some 650 barrels a year.
But these beers were sold in bottles. Canning did not prove to have a silver lining for Felinfoel, since the market was rapidly dominated by the major brewers. In fact, in the immediate post-war period the brewery struggled to survive.
Fred Cheesewright, who was head brewer from 1951 to 1982, claimed that when he arrived the brewery was on the brink of collapse. 'When I first came here, Felinfoel had a terrible name. In one year the brewery lost 30 per cent of its trade. Some houses were selling as little as one kilderkin (18 gallons) a week. We were close to bankruptcy.' It took a long time to turn the brewery round, as the plant and the seventy to eighty pubs had been neglected for some years, the war starving the company of investment.
The sorry situation was not helped by a bitter disagreement between the John and Lewis families, which came to a head in 1965 when larger neighbours Buckley's bid for the brewery.
The Lewis family had been in charge for a number of years, with most of the members on the board, but it was a distant control. After the Second World War, the brewery's head office had been moved to Knightsbridge in London, when the Lewis family ran other interests, including a motor company. The John family decide to sell out.
Buckley's had privately approached members of the John family before making its £500,000 bid public. So when the attempted take over first became news, in April 1965, they could claim to have secured acceptance from 48.7 per cent of shareholders. By May, this figure had edged up to 49.5 per cent. Buckley's was almost there. 'We have been motivated solely by our determination to ensure that the brewing industry in Llanelli remains under local control', said Buckley's, adding, 'With the interest that Buckleys now have, this objective should be achieved.'
Felinfoel's manager Cyril Marks retorted: 'We have no intention whatsoever of being taken over by anybody, local or national.' Felinfoel's Directors recommended rejection - 'or it could mean the closure of the brewery and our employees losing their jobs'.
A crucial role was played by Lady Davies, who owned eleven shares. She was approached by Buckley's and offered £2,750. If she had sold out, the take-over would have succeeded. Instead she rejected the money and gave the shares to the Lewises.
The family remained firm. Chairman Trevor Lewis said it held the rest of the shares and had no intention of selling. Despite its paper-thin majority, the family kept control, though Buckley's gained a seat on the board. A holding company was established to prevent further family disputes leading to more shares, and the controlling interest, sliding down the road to Llanelli.
The attempted take-over left one strange ritual. As Buckley's had contracted with members of the John family to buy their shares, ending up holding 49.5 per cent of Felinfoel without any influence in the private company, Buckley's shareholders were not amused and regularly asked at AGMs when the take-over was going to be completed. So the Buckley's made frequent offers for Felinfoel, to satisfy their shareholders' demands, which the Felinfoel directors just as regularly threw in the bin.
In the 1970's, the company under Trevor Lewis's son John began gradually to modernise the old brewery. The wooden fermenting squares were replaced with stainless steal ones, and a new copper vat was installed in place of the original, heavily-patched, open coal-fired vessel. 'We don't have to work in a continuos fog any more', said head brewer Fred Cheesewright.
As a sign of renewed faith in the village brewery, when Trevor Lewis died in 1974, the head office was brought back to Felinfoel.
