Taking Stock
With the enormous changes recently in breweries and pub chains, this
seems a good time to summarise the situation (as of November 2003).
- Interbrew
- At long last is promoting Draught Bass after years of neglect
but is promoting 'new recipe' Boddingtons (ABV increased to 4.1%) much more.
- However Stella Artois is still its leading brand.
- Scottish Courage
- Has sold the Masham brewery and its brands such as Old Peculier back to the Theakston family
(having bought the business in 1987 from Matthew Brown Ltd., who bought out the family in 1984).
- Bought HP Bulmer (the cider producer) in the summer.
- Brands include John Smith's, Newcastle Brown, Fosters, McEwan's, Courage. Kronenbourg, Beamish.
- Coors
- Launched a new premium ale
Worthington 1744 (4.4%).
- Brands include Carling, Grolsch, Caffreys.
- Continues to support its Brewing Museum in Burton-on-Trent.
- Carlsberg-Tetley
- Rarely seems to show much interest in real ale but its Tetley Mild and Dark Mild are well-regarded, for instance.
- Brands include Carlsberg, Tetley, Skol, Ind Coope Burton Ale.
The big pubcos
- Spirit (managed pubs) - around 2,500
- Has bought Scottish & Newcastle's pubs (including the T&J Bernard and
John Barras branded chains) plus its Premier Lodge hotel chain.
- Likely to sell many pubs and Premier Lodge off.
- Mitchell & Butler (mainly/entirely managed pubs) - around 2,100
- Demerged from Six Continents (Bass)
earlier this year.
- Punch Taverns (tenanted pubs) - around 7,400
- Once its purchase of Pubmaster is complete.
- Enterprise Inns (tenanted pubs) - around 9,000
- Once its purchase of the Unique Pub Company is complete.
The lesser pub chains such as JD Wetherspoon, Laurel and Yates are mostly
in the hundreds of pubs.
These still believe in "vertical integration" - brewing beer and selling it to
the free trade and to their own pub estates (numbered in the low thousands).
- Greene King
- About 1,100 pubs
- Now selling its beers more-or-less nationally
- Strongly promoting its IPA and Abbot beers
- Investing in its pub estate
- Is having a lot of success with larger bottles of beer (more like a wine bottle)
- Is promoting bottled beer as an alternative to wine via its Beer to dine for campaign
- Wolverhampton & Dudley
- About 1,600 pubs
- Its most widely-known brand is Marston's Pedigree, still brewed
using the unique Burton Union cask system
and it's investing millions in that brewing plant.
- Has just launched Old Empire, a genuine recreation of a 19th-century India Pale Ale.
- Charles Wells
- The Publican's Regional Brewer of the Year 2003
- Its pioneering Mini Cask provides over 8 pints of fresh real ale at home
- It's particularly strong in championing the revival of
St George's Day
- A huge brewing operation, as it makes a wide range of beers including
Red Stripe and Kirin
ALE Winter 2003/04 No. 312
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