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Pub Guide

Opening Times

Issue 129 Winter 2006

Download a copy of Opening Times 129 as a PDF file - 1.7 MB

HALF PINTS

Wells & Youngs




In Bedford, the newly formed Wells & Youngs brewing company was due for official launch in early October, to become the third largest regional brewer in the UK behind Greene King and Wolverhampton & Dudley breweries. Youngs merged its brewing operation with Charles Wells to allow the sale of its Wandsworth brewery site for residential and retail use. The company is to install a new cask racking line and build a new distribution centre close to Bedford. Matching trials of the Youngs beers at Charles Wells has been under way for around five months, and the company is confident of a good match for all the Youngs brands.

Hertford brewers McMullens have sold their Victorian brewery and surrounding land to Sainsbury’s for a supermarket development. McMullens beers will continue to be brewed in their new brewery adjacent to the old brewery site.

Greene King has dropped the strength of its Old Speckled Hen cask beer from 5.2% to 4.5% alcohol by volume. The Bury St Edmunds brewers have tried a succession of cask brands in the mid strength range, including Rayments Special Bitter and Triumph bitter, to fit between their IPA biter at 3.6% and Abbot Ale at 5.0%. And the strength of Ruddles County was dropped to 4.3% to attempt to fill this gap.

Theakstons of Masham is to launch new advertising and promotions for its cask Theakston’s Mild. Over 300 outlets will receive point of sale material and chances to win pub games.

Brewers InBev UK have urged British pub companies to charge higher prices for beer. InBev, the Belgian and Brazilian owned company who run former Bass and Whitbread breweries in the UK, take the view that prices are based more on what consumers are prepared to pay than the traditional way of charging to recoup a specified margin.

A 12-day beer festival in Wetherspoon pubs during October was set to feature a million pints and a choice of 35 cask beers. The ‘Full Moon’ beer festival, from October 20 to October 31 promised beers including two from overseas, Ecaussinnes Fruit Beer from Belgium and Herold Black Chalice from the Czech Republic. UK cask beers include Bateman’s Strawberry Fields, a fruit beer, Marston’s Wicked Witch, Highgate Lone Wolf, Moorhouses Broomstick and JW Lees Ruddy Glow.

Kent brewer Shepherd Neame has uncovered evidence that its Faversham home was the oldest British working brewery site, dating from 1573 or earlier - even before the closure of Youngs’ Wandsworth site, previously thought to be the oldest, having been used for brewing since 1581.

The hot dry summer has led to a poor hop harvest across Europe, with shortages of some varieties and low levels alpha acids, which produce bitterness, in others.

Everards' Pitch Black, the 4.3 per cent cask-conditioned stout is to be produced for this November’s rugby internationals following its earlier success during the Six Nations championship.