The brewery was founded by Joseph Ansell, a hop merchant and maltster, in 1858 at Aston Cross on the site of several artesian wells (the later HP Sauce factory was adjacent).

[1] Holt's logo, a red squirrel seen in side profile, was subsequently adopted by Ansells to identify its own beers.

In 1961, Ansells merged with Tetley Walker and Ind, Coope & Co to form Allied Breweries.

[2] At the time, Ansells had an estate of 1,088 primarily managed houses in Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Ansells Mild and Best Bitter are currently produced for Allied's successor Carlsberg by JW Lees.