Until the 1960s the Worthington brand, in bottled form, ranked alongside Bass and Guinness as one of only three beers with nationwide distribution.

In 2010, Molson Coors opened the William Worthington microbrewery, which brews historical and seasonal beers.

[1] Throughout the eighteenth century, Worthington sales were mostly of porter, directed towards the Baltic market, which was transported via narrowboat through the River Trent to the Port of Hull.

[1] Worthington's eldest son, also named William (1764–1825), assumed control of the company following his father's death.

[9] Worthington pioneered brewing science from 1866 by employing a chemist, Horace Tabberer Brown, who led the world in separation and cultivation of pure yeast strains.

[10] The company had previously resisted employing a laboratory, for fear that the public would perceive the scientific apparatus as a means of doctoring the beer.

Worthington was the third largest Burton brewer by 1888, behind Bass and Allsopp, with an annual output of 220,000 barrels per annum.

[8] In order to raise capital for this expansion, the firm became a public company in 1889, and Horace Brown was created joint managing director alongside William Posnette Manners (1846–1915).

Apart from greater co-operation in bottled beer production and distribution, there were few economies and the two companies continued to operate as separate entities.

[19] Brewing industry mergers from the late 1950s onwards damaged Worthington sales, as tied house ownership became increasingly concentrated with brewers intent on promoting their own products.

[citation needed] Worthington regained its position as the leading ale brand for Bass from 1997, predominantly through the Creamflow variant.

[25] Worthington's Creamflow (3.6% ABV) ale is the twelfth highest selling beer in the United Kingdom, with an estimated 640,000 hectolitres sold in 2012.

Modest amounts of a four per cent ABV keg bitter known as Worthington's Ale continue to be brewed for the Teesside market.

Worthington's White Shield (5.6% ABV) was an India Pale Ale available principally in bottle conditioned form, but also in casks.

It was exported to British expatriates across the Empire, mostly officers and civil servants, as the soldiers tended to drink the cheaper porter.

By the 1960s White Shield had become a cult drink brewed in small quantities for a dedicated following; production in 1965 was just 15,000 barrels as drinkers switched to filtered and pasteurised bottled and keg beers.

[34] The Hope & Anchor brewery closed in 1992, and production was moved to Cape Hill in Birmingham, before being contracted to King and Barnes of Sussex in 1998.

[35] The King and Barnes brewery closed in 2000, and production moved to the Bass owned White Shield microbrewery in Burton upon Trent.

[39] 1920s print advertisements linked the brand with Englishness alongside classic images of the Lake District and other national areas of beauty.