Beer
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You can tell it's pub crawl season!! Sat with my mate down the local and groups of 10+ people - in differing degrees of sobriety - keep arriving very quickly and leaving after a single drink.
Either that or the beer here is shit. And I'd disagree with the criticism of the Holdens.
Either that or the beer here is shit. And I'd disagree with the criticism of the Holdens.
Boozad
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I think I might have to give Millionaire another go, had a Buxton/Omnipollo Texas Pecan Ice Cream last night and it was very similar. All salted caramel and pecans, very sweet with a big saltiness to it and I really enjoyed it.
leedswolf
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machin05
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Not subscribed. Any chance of a copy & paste?
leedswolf
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Traditional brewers squeezed by rise of ‘craft beer’
Mid-sized brands lack tax breaks of microbreweries or efficiencies of big operations
The rise of “craft beer” and microbreweries is forcing Britain’s traditional brewers to change decades of tradition as they compete for space at the bar.
Brewers such as Moorhouse’s, Black Sheep and Camerons, many family-owned, say they are an increasingly “squeezed middle” between multinational drinks companies and trendy, but state-subsidised, microbreweries.
The number of microbreweries has risen dramatically since 2002, when Gordon Brown halved beer duty for companies that make less than 5,000 hectolitres (3,055 barrels or 880,000 imperial pints) a year. The duty rises on a sliding scale to full tax at 60,000 hectolitres.
In 1970, the UK had 140 breweries. There are now about 1,700 of them, according to accountancy group UHY Hacker Young.
Mr Brown intervened after a spate of brewery closures from Stones of Sheffield and the Brakspear brewery in Henley-on-Thames to Vaux in Sunderland.
Vaux in Sunderland was one of several breweries that ran into trouble, forcing the government to intervene © PA
For small brewers, the tax break can shave about a fifth off their costs and as craft beer sales have grown, the rise in competition has hit midsized brewers hard.
“We don’t have the duty benefit of the small guys or the efficiencies of the bigger ones,” said Ian Parkinson, director of Moorhouse’s Brewery in Burnley.
“Microbreweries have a 25-30 per cent price advantage. It is an unfair playing field. I am unaware of any other market where the government intervenes so directly like this.”
In response, Thwaites, founded in 1807, licensed its popular Wainwright and Lancaster Bomber brands to one of the big pub and beer companies — Marston’s — in 2015. It now only brews niche ales for its pub, hotel and spa estate.
Shepherd Neame has branched out into hotels and food, while retaining brewing volume by supplying unbranded bottles to discount supermarkets.
Shepherd Neame relies on hotels and food
Moorhouse’s, founded in 1865, once had a niche making Black Cat, a mild beer. In recent years it has invested £4.2m in a new brewery, added beers such as White Witch and trebled its capacity to 85,000 hectolitres (15m pints) a year. It now pays about 95 per cent of full duty.
Forty-five per cent of our revenue goes straight to the exchequer
Last year, it turned over £5.2m and made a £300,000 loss but the expansion has given it significantly more capacity, even as it pays more tax. “Forty-five per cent of our revenue goes straight to the exchequer,” said Mr Parkinson.
To compete, it has produced a beer called Stray Dog with the band New Order, following the success that another brewer, Robinsons, had with Trooper beer and Iron Maiden. Camerons brewery has meanwhile launched Motörhead Road Crew beer, in collaboration with members of the band.
“There are advantages to being our size. A microbrewer could not do that. I think there are some big opportunities, especially in exports,” said Mr Parkinson.
Mr Parkinson has also led a marketing push and done deals with pub chains such as JD Wetherspoon.
There are also signs that some microbreweries are struggling. Ben Norman, director of Twickenham Fine Ales, London’s oldest microbrewery after 12 years in operation, said some rivals were giving up.
Cameron's launched launched Motörhead Road Crew beer this month, in collaboration with members of the band
“The problem is that it’s very easy to set up a brewery and make beer — the start-up costs are low. But consistently making quality beer and selling it is tough.
“In the early days, local pubs want to support you, so you get a burst of sales, you buy more kit and brew more beer. But then, a mile down the road, someone more local than you begins brewing.
“And as you get bigger, duty goes up and your cost base rapidly rises.” He said he knew a number of brewers who were on purpose sitting just below the duty threshold.
Mr Norman added that with customers constantly wanting to try new ales, it was difficult to win customer loyalty. “We get a lot of customers saying: I’ve tried you now, I want to try someone else.”
Camerons: the last north-east brewer standing
At the Head of Steam pubs, “it’s about theatre”, said John Foots, finance director of Camerons brewery, which owns the brand. “It’s about the full experience.”
When Camerons was founded in 1865, its priority was slaking the thirst of Hartlepool’s working men.
Today, local shipbuilding has vanished and steelmaking is a shadow of its past self but Camerons is still prominently located in the town’s centre.
The ninth biggest single brewery by volume in the UK and the only survivor of north-east England’s clutch of historic brewers has now launched Motörhead Road Crew beer, in collaboration with members of the band of the same name.
This new brew ties in with an export strategy that Camerons will pursue in the new year. Consignments of the beer have already been sent overseas, from Sweden to Slovenia. China, India and the US are among the export markets that Camerons is eyeing.
After a stable first century, Camerons had a succession of owners, culminating in acquisition in 2002 by David Soley, a north-east businessman. He is now chairman; his son Chris is chief executive. The Soleys own about 76 per cent and Heineken the rest.
Heineken, Carlsberg and Diageo buy the majority of its near-one million hectolitres a year output of ales and lagers from Hartlepool; Camerons’ own products, including Strongarm, Tontine, A-Hop-Alypse Now and Road Crew comprise the rest. As well as brewing, Camerons’ 75 pubs are core to the business.
Customers today, Mr Foots says, are “more choosy” than they were. With this in mind, Camerons says it is training “beer sommeliers” for its pubs. Its Head of Steam pubs offer a huge range of beers and other drinks — the one in Newcastle city centre was this month selling six cask beers, 14 keg beers and 150 bottled beers. A customer drinking Wizards Sleeve cider praised the friendly atmosphere. “And there’s so much choice; something for everyone.” Chris Tighe
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. All rights reserved.
Mid-sized brands lack tax breaks of microbreweries or efficiencies of big operations
The rise of “craft beer” and microbreweries is forcing Britain’s traditional brewers to change decades of tradition as they compete for space at the bar.
Brewers such as Moorhouse’s, Black Sheep and Camerons, many family-owned, say they are an increasingly “squeezed middle” between multinational drinks companies and trendy, but state-subsidised, microbreweries.
The number of microbreweries has risen dramatically since 2002, when Gordon Brown halved beer duty for companies that make less than 5,000 hectolitres (3,055 barrels or 880,000 imperial pints) a year. The duty rises on a sliding scale to full tax at 60,000 hectolitres.
In 1970, the UK had 140 breweries. There are now about 1,700 of them, according to accountancy group UHY Hacker Young.
Mr Brown intervened after a spate of brewery closures from Stones of Sheffield and the Brakspear brewery in Henley-on-Thames to Vaux in Sunderland.
Vaux in Sunderland was one of several breweries that ran into trouble, forcing the government to intervene © PA
For small brewers, the tax break can shave about a fifth off their costs and as craft beer sales have grown, the rise in competition has hit midsized brewers hard.
“We don’t have the duty benefit of the small guys or the efficiencies of the bigger ones,” said Ian Parkinson, director of Moorhouse’s Brewery in Burnley.
“Microbreweries have a 25-30 per cent price advantage. It is an unfair playing field. I am unaware of any other market where the government intervenes so directly like this.”
In response, Thwaites, founded in 1807, licensed its popular Wainwright and Lancaster Bomber brands to one of the big pub and beer companies — Marston’s — in 2015. It now only brews niche ales for its pub, hotel and spa estate.
Shepherd Neame has branched out into hotels and food, while retaining brewing volume by supplying unbranded bottles to discount supermarkets.
Shepherd Neame relies on hotels and food
Moorhouse’s, founded in 1865, once had a niche making Black Cat, a mild beer. In recent years it has invested £4.2m in a new brewery, added beers such as White Witch and trebled its capacity to 85,000 hectolitres (15m pints) a year. It now pays about 95 per cent of full duty.
Forty-five per cent of our revenue goes straight to the exchequer
Last year, it turned over £5.2m and made a £300,000 loss but the expansion has given it significantly more capacity, even as it pays more tax. “Forty-five per cent of our revenue goes straight to the exchequer,” said Mr Parkinson.
To compete, it has produced a beer called Stray Dog with the band New Order, following the success that another brewer, Robinsons, had with Trooper beer and Iron Maiden. Camerons brewery has meanwhile launched Motörhead Road Crew beer, in collaboration with members of the band.
“There are advantages to being our size. A microbrewer could not do that. I think there are some big opportunities, especially in exports,” said Mr Parkinson.
Mr Parkinson has also led a marketing push and done deals with pub chains such as JD Wetherspoon.
There are also signs that some microbreweries are struggling. Ben Norman, director of Twickenham Fine Ales, London’s oldest microbrewery after 12 years in operation, said some rivals were giving up.
Cameron's launched launched Motörhead Road Crew beer this month, in collaboration with members of the band
“The problem is that it’s very easy to set up a brewery and make beer — the start-up costs are low. But consistently making quality beer and selling it is tough.
“In the early days, local pubs want to support you, so you get a burst of sales, you buy more kit and brew more beer. But then, a mile down the road, someone more local than you begins brewing.
“And as you get bigger, duty goes up and your cost base rapidly rises.” He said he knew a number of brewers who were on purpose sitting just below the duty threshold.
Mr Norman added that with customers constantly wanting to try new ales, it was difficult to win customer loyalty. “We get a lot of customers saying: I’ve tried you now, I want to try someone else.”
Camerons: the last north-east brewer standing
At the Head of Steam pubs, “it’s about theatre”, said John Foots, finance director of Camerons brewery, which owns the brand. “It’s about the full experience.”
When Camerons was founded in 1865, its priority was slaking the thirst of Hartlepool’s working men.
Today, local shipbuilding has vanished and steelmaking is a shadow of its past self but Camerons is still prominently located in the town’s centre.
The ninth biggest single brewery by volume in the UK and the only survivor of north-east England’s clutch of historic brewers has now launched Motörhead Road Crew beer, in collaboration with members of the band of the same name.
This new brew ties in with an export strategy that Camerons will pursue in the new year. Consignments of the beer have already been sent overseas, from Sweden to Slovenia. China, India and the US are among the export markets that Camerons is eyeing.
After a stable first century, Camerons had a succession of owners, culminating in acquisition in 2002 by David Soley, a north-east businessman. He is now chairman; his son Chris is chief executive. The Soleys own about 76 per cent and Heineken the rest.
Heineken, Carlsberg and Diageo buy the majority of its near-one million hectolitres a year output of ales and lagers from Hartlepool; Camerons’ own products, including Strongarm, Tontine, A-Hop-Alypse Now and Road Crew comprise the rest. As well as brewing, Camerons’ 75 pubs are core to the business.
Customers today, Mr Foots says, are “more choosy” than they were. With this in mind, Camerons says it is training “beer sommeliers” for its pubs. Its Head of Steam pubs offer a huge range of beers and other drinks — the one in Newcastle city centre was this month selling six cask beers, 14 keg beers and 150 bottled beers. A customer drinking Wizards Sleeve cider praised the friendly atmosphere. “And there’s so much choice; something for everyone.” Chris Tighe
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. All rights reserved.
FrankMunro-371
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Just had a glass of Plastered Pheasant. I wasn't too sure about it to begin with, but it definitely grew on me.
Tredman
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Pub in Stafford has just been taken over and renovated by Black Country Ales - just been in and had a couple of BFGs and a couple of Stateside IPAs - really nice pub and not bad beer at all. Definitely improves Stafford.
FrankMunro-371
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Would that be the Shrewsbury Arms?
Tredman
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Yes the Shrew - it's got a lot lot better, though that's not that hard, it used to be known as the Star Wars Bar.
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Boozad
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Buxton Single Barrel Rain Shadow - 12.2% Imperial Stout. An absolute heavyweight. Massively boozy, the ABV really shines through in this one. Really complex as well, dark chocolate, roasted coffee, toffee and rum-soaked raisins beneath a bourbon body. Fucking immense.
White Hag Red Doe - 5.6% Red IPA. Not what I expected this one, sort of a cross between a pumpkin IPA and a peppery saison. Decent but nothing special, taste wise it was a little flat.
Brewdog/Omnipollo Flat-Pack Fruit Bat - 6% IPA. My last can of this unfortunately. A proper belter, sweet, slightly tart and juicy as fuck. Full of raspberries and red fruits with just a hint of hop bitterness. Loved this stuff from day one.
White Hag Red Doe - 5.6% Red IPA. Not what I expected this one, sort of a cross between a pumpkin IPA and a peppery saison. Decent but nothing special, taste wise it was a little flat.
Brewdog/Omnipollo Flat-Pack Fruit Bat - 6% IPA. My last can of this unfortunately. A proper belter, sweet, slightly tart and juicy as fuck. Full of raspberries and red fruits with just a hint of hop bitterness. Loved this stuff from day one.
leedswolf
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On Pitcher Bank? It was a shit hole back in the 70s!
Tredman
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That's it!
It's been a shit hole forever as far as I know - it's all been done out now and is really nice inside, a proper pub with a really good selection of beer. Was really busy too.
machin05
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http://cloudwaterbrew.co/blog/looking-back-whilst-pushing-forward
Epic blog post from Cloudwater. Open and honest stuff.
Epic blog post from Cloudwater. Open and honest stuff.
machin05
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Rick Astley is teaming up with Mikkeler to release a pilsner - http://www.irishmirror.ie/showbiz/celebrity-news/rick-astley-gonna-give-you-9546855
Paddingtonwolf
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Went there last valentine's day. Absolutely shite service. Would never go back frankly
