This year is a crucial one for Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire, marking the start of a new era. Dominic Roskrow reports
Is the glass half full or on its way to being threequarters empty?
If ever there was an example of cold wet post- Christmas reality it came in the shape of the British broadsheet business pages in early January. The turkey had hardly gone cold when the economists poured cold gravy all over the cele...
By Dominic Roskrow
from Issue 16 published on 25/01/2008
Daniel Thwaites is celebrating its 200th anniversary but as Dominic Roskrow reports, the company's keener to look forward than to look back.
After 200 years of successfully making and selling beer Daniel Thwaites must have a pretty good idea as to what does and doesn’t make a great beer. But everyone likes a pick-me-up from time to time, so even after two centuries the following review from a local paper of the brewery’s celebratory Doub...
By Sally Toms
from Issue 14 published on 04/10/2007
The Caledonian Brewery is the last brewery in Edinburgh and after some tough times it is in fine form.
Dominic Roskrow visited it
They’re a modest bunch at the Caledonian Brewery in the heart of Edinburgh.
Ask them how they have managed to succeed as a brewery when so many others failed, and how they have survived against the odds and outlived 40 other beer makers in the city and you’d think they would take a bit of credit fo...
By Dominic Roskrow
from Issue 13 published on 03/08/2007
St Austell Brewery is celebrating after winning a supreme champions award from the South West Independent Brewers’ Association. Dominic Roskrow joined in the celebrations
Have you heard the theory about Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon and the classic film The Wizard of Oz?
Some very sad person discovered that if you start the album on the third roar by the MGM lion at the start of the film, the music is perfectly co-ordinated with events on screen. I’ve never bee...
By Dominic Roskrow
from Issue 12 published on 25/05/2007
Our man takes a tour round one of Germany's great pilsener success stories
It is a story of a small country brewer ahead of its time that has made Veltins one of the most respected names of pilsener beer in Germany. This is no mean job in a country where there are some 1200 breweries producing 5000 beers. Most are bought and drank within a few miles of the brewery so you h...
By Rob Allanson
from Issue 12 published on 25/05/2007
Greene King has grown from its Suffolk base to become a national company. Dominic Roskrow went to Bury St Edmunds to rediscover its roots
The two huge businesses that dominate the Suffolk town of Bury St Edmunds have much in common.
They are both massive employers in the town.
They both have large production centres there.
They both enjoy a reputation for quality that stretches far beyond the Suffolk border. And they have both achi...
By Dominic Roskrow
from Issue 11 published on 23/03/2007
Gary Monterosso visits Dogfish Head in Delaware, a brewery synonymous with the Extreme Beer movement
currently taking the USA by storm
The key to the success of any business is establishing a niche in the marketplace. This can be achieved in a couple of ways. One type of entrepreneur sees a need and fills it; another creates the excitement for the product, then releases it to meet the demand of the public.
Profiling the American b...
By Gary Monterosso
from Issue 11 published on 23/03/2007
Hook Norton in Oxfordshire is part visitor attraction, part brewery. It also makes great beer. Sally Toms went for a
look round
Mention Hook Norton to a real British beer enthusiast and watch what happens. Their eyes will mist over with fondness and they’ll stare off into the distance.
“Ahhh, Hook Norton,” they’ll murmur, smiling to themselves as if remembering a long lost love.
By all accounts, this is a rather special br...
By Sally Toms
from Issue 10 published on 26/01/2007
Liverpool brewery Cains seemed to be going nowhere fast until two brothers turned it on its head. Andrew Catchpole reports
When two Asian brothers of Kentish origin bought the loss-making Cains brewery in Liverpool in 2002 more than a few eyebrows were raised.
With no experience of brewing, no local ties, a background in wholesale retailing and only a negligible grasp of Scouse footballing lore, there were dark mutteri...
By Andrew Catchpole
from Issue 7 published on 28/07/2006
Sharp's is challenging St Austell as Cornwall's biggest brewer. Roger Protz visited it
My wife and sons are all too familiar with the following episode during our annual summer holiday. It begins with my saying: “On the way to the beach, can we make a small detour to look at a new microbrewery that’s just opened?” It continues, some three hours later, with the sun gone and rain fallin...
By Roger Protz
from Issue 6 published on 18/05/2006
Few breweries dominate their locality the way Adnams does in Southwold. Adrian Tierney-Jones visited it
Early morning in Southwold and a massive plume of white steam pours from a tall chimney at Adnams. The first brew of the day is underway, supervised by head brewer Mike Powell- Evans and assistant Fergus Fitzgerald.
The sweetish aroma of gristy maltiness hangs in the air. Elsewhere in the brewery y...
By Adrian Tierney-Jones
from Issue 3 published on 12/01/2006
Everards is a family brewery with lots of plans. Dominic Roskrow paid it a visit
First impressions can be deceptive.
Drive up to the Everards Castle Acre Brewery in Leicester and you’re not exactly writing missives back to your family.
It sits on the edge of the city’s newest and biggest retail park, just after a busy motorway intersection. It is neighboured on one side by a s...
By Dominic Roskrow
from Issue 2 published on 16/11/2005
London brewer Fuller’s is launching innovative new beers while keeping its core drinkers happy. Dominic Roskrow reports
When London brewer Fuller’s decided to launch an all-new permanent cask ale to its core range for the first time in more than 20 years it was fitting that it called it Discovery.
For what it set out to do was to find the perfect hybrid beer – a beer with the properties that would appeal to a lager ...
By Dominic Roskrow
from Issue 1 published on 26/08/2005
