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Pub Guide

Opening Times

Issue 130 Spring 2007

Download a copy of Opening Times 130 as a PDF file - 1.0 MB

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Courage Directors

Bedford brewers Wells and Youngs have acquired the Courage brands from Scottish and Newcastle, including cask Directors and Best Bitter. The annual production of Wells and Youngs, set up after the amalgamation of the brewing interests of Bedford’s Charles Wells and London brewer Youngs, is expected to reach half a million barrels following the deal. The Courage brands will contribute 100,000 barrels to this. S&N’s Tadcaster brewery, which has produced Courage ales since the closure of the Courage Bristol brewery, will now concentrate on S&N’s core brands, with John Smiths being the only cask brand produced there.

Fullers London Pride

London brewers Fullers are looking at further possible acquisitions of family brewing companies, following their £83 million takeover of Hampshire brewers Gales and closure of their brewery last year. Gales contributed to a 35% increase in 6-monthly turnover last year for the brewers of London Pride.

Regional brewers are lobbying the government to change beer duty rules. A group of twenty brewers are asking for a review of progressive beer duty, introduced in 2002 to encourage competition and small brewers by giving tax relief to brewers producing less than 5000 hectolitres a year. The regionals believe this unfairly penalises small and medium sized brewers producing more than this, and are looking for a more level playing field.

Grolsch Weizen

Brewer Coors is launching a new wheat beer in the UK under its Grolsch brand name. Grolsch Weizen is a 5.3% wheat beer, brewed in Holland in the German weiss beer style. Coors expect this difference to provide a boost in competition with rival InBev’s leading Hoegaarden wheat beer brand, which is in the Belgian white beer style. Grolsch Weizen will be sold in swing top bottles and on draught with a matching branded glass. And like Hoegaarden, it contains a yeast sediment with pouring instructions for the bottled version to provide the vital cloudy appearance, characteristic of wheat beer.