Wychwood branches out

Marston’s is eating up outstanding British regional breweries faster than Beers of the World can visit them. But could this guarantee the future of some of England’s best premium ales? Dominic Roskrow reports

Don’t look now, but a giant is stirring and it’s got its eyes set firmly on the future.

Whatever you might think of Marston’s and the way it is eating up English brewers there’s no denying two things: one, that it is exhibiting exceptionally good taste, and two, that maybe, just maybe, it’s positioning to preserve Britain’s brewing heritage rather than destroy it.

For the second time in less than a year it has snapped up a regional brewery in between the time Beers of the World visited it and interviewed the key personnel and the time we actually put the finished story to print. And for the second time in less than a year the magazine has concluded, after getting over the considerable surprise, that the move isn’t necessarily a negative one.

The last purchase was Ringwood in Hampshire. Before that the growing company took on Jennings, Burtonwood and Eldridge Pope. And now it has acquired Rupert Thompson’s Refresh, and with it Wychwood Brewery, the Brakspear Brewery operation, and partnerships with among others, Wadworth.

So how can this be considered good news, or at least not necessarily bad news? You can view it both emotionally and rationally.

On the emotional front, the natural response is to mourn the passing of a great name into the hands of a particular player. But the economy is a mess, many regional breweries are struggling because they’re squeezed by the big players above them and by the tax breaks granted to the smaller players below them.

While readers of th.....

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By Dominic Roskrow

Section : Brewery Focus

Page number : 18