The company was founded by Pickering Phipps in 1801 in Towcester. The Northampton Brewery was built in 1817 and the company registered in 1881, which makes it an early convert to raising capital through a stock flotation. After the 1957 merger with the Northampton Brewery Co, the new concern was styles Phipps Northampton Brewery Co. After the 1960 takeover by Watney Mann, the name was changed to Phipps Brewery Ltd from 1964 until closure in 1974.