UKC

An appropriate topic for down the pub, this!
According to this months CAMRA Warwickshire newsletter, InBev (who were known as Interbrew until taken over by the Merkins) who own the name Draught Bass, have moved the contract to the other side of Burton on Trent, to the Marston brewery. This means Coors, who own the Bass brewery (!?!?!) no longer make the Ale that made Burton famous. Also, the world famous 'Burton Union' system, that made Bass what it is, won't be used in the future. Especially as, now they've lost the contract to brew Bass in the Bass brewery, Coors are closing the brewery… Taking out cask Worthington, and 1744 as well.
Bloody Merkins killing our beer, so they can sell more of the gassy shite they call beer?
Time to protest, and go small I say!
80% of ALL the beer in the UK is sold by just SIX US run multinationals, now.
I say we should pull the troops out of Iraq as retaliation!

Oh, and anyone who is under the illusion that Theakston brew their own, think again. Scottish and Newcastle still produce most of the Theakstons out there...

Don't blame me when you can't get the beer you love anymore, I'm drinking as much as I can, you know!

Tim, The Depressed.

In reply to O Mighty Tim:


But the Black Sheep ales are still brewed by the family and very nice they are too

In reply to the sheep: so is theakstons after a buy out buy back last year

In reply to O Mighty Tim: Aaaah.. that sucks.. although I have thought for quite a while that the beers coming from the Burton breweries have been going downhill... and haven't really drunk the stuff in years..

Luckily we have a nice range of good local breweries around here in Nottingham, and I am always encouraged by the reach of some of the other regional breweries these days.. which I am sure is helped by the Weatherspoons pubs..

But it is still a pity that most of the recognisable order beers are now owner by just a few mega-breweries..

Roll on the new brews I say though..

In reply to O Mighty Tim: I thought Bass stopped using the Union system a while ago. A cursory Google suggests anywhere between the 1960s and the 1980s. I'm pretty sure I heard that the Unions weren't replaced last time the brewery was refurbed.

On the other hand it appears that Marstons do still use the Union system. So moving Draught Bass production to Marstons could even mean it'll be Union brewed again?

I agree that the ignorant corporate interference with our ales is deplorable.

Does Worthington White Shield still exist? That used to be my Sunday lunchtime tipple, with the roast.

In reply to Martin W: They stopped brewing White Shield when they closed the Worthington Brewery back in the nineties sometime... but there was a big outcry about it and they restarted brewing it again, but different brewery...

But it's not as good, and I believe it's not a live beer anymore either..

In reply to sloper: So you may have thought...
Several Theakstons brews, such as Theakston Best, is NOT from Masham, but John Smiths at tadcaster...

I thought lawyers checked before saying things...?

8^)

In reply to O Mighty Tim:

Tim (+ others)
Lets get a few facts correct

InBev (the owners of the Dr Bass name) have moved Dr Bass production from Coors Burton Brewers to the Marstons Burton Brewery. Marstons is owned by Wolverhampton & Dudley
(InBev was formed by Interbrew and AmBev - both Global Beer producers)

Dr Bass has not been made with the Burton Union system for the last 15-20 Years.
Marstons Pedigree is the last beer to be produced using the union system (maybe this is where confusion may be coming in)

Coors no longer produce cask ales in Burton, but have contract brewing agreements with other smaller regional breweries aroung the UK.

Coors has withdrawn 1744 cask due to low demand.

Worthington White Shield is still available (currently in Morrisons/seafeway, Sainsburys, Tesco and Coop to name a few) and is Brewed and packaged by the Coors Visitor Centre in its own Micro brewery

The Coors Burton Brewery will certainly NOT be closing due to the volume switch of Dr Bass. Dr Bass accounted for only approx 1.5% of total volume output.

About 78% of the UK beer volume is produced by the biggest 4 Brewers (Coors/Scotco/IUK/Carlsberg UK)

Hope this helps to clear up any confusion
Martin

In reply to O Mighty Tim:

so there.

In reply to RockinJellybean: Hey, I was only quoting from a CAMRA diatribe, edited down, as I didn't want to spend an hour copying it all out!

Anyway, I mainly drink Wychwood these days.

TTG

In reply to FunkyNick:

I went in a nice little pub in Notts once called 'Fellows, Morton and Clayton' or something, where they've got cheap beer and a micro brewery on site.

In reply to Sarah_Clough: I didn't know that pub had a micro brewery... hmmmm.. I might have to inspect it one of these days then..

Ta

In reply to Sarah_Clough: FM&C??? Famous canal carrying company them!
I never knew they had a pub too...

In reply to O Mighty Tim:

Interesting; I hadn't heard this. However, I have been living in the US for the last nine years and during that time Bass Ale has been one of the only UK beers widely available. Nothing special, just bog-ordinary, rather dark brown, English beer. But Lo! in the last year it has changed (in a series of small steps) to a totally different beer. It is now a translucent golden color (sic) and tastes pretty different and sweeter than hitherto. Is this a result of the change(s) in ownership/brewery, or simply a local adaptation to suit the American taste better?

In reply to O Mighty Tim: Its like that for everything know though init? the music business is now controlled by 4 multi-nationals, the independant companies get very little airplay on either radio or tv, with the passing of people like Peel, it will only get worse. I have made a token stab at protest, have stopped shopping in supermarkets, and only drink proper beer. HIH

In reply to John Stainforth:

John

Bass in a Bottle shipped to the US was one of the brands retained by Interbrew when it bought the Bass brewing operation in the UK.

Bass Pale Ale (to give it the correct name) was brewed and packaged in the Capehill brewery in Birmingham for many years. This brewery has since closed in the last year and volume transferred to another of the Interbrew sites (possibly the Strangeways brewery - home of Boddingtons)

This may explain the not so good flavour matching

Hope this helps
Martin