In a busy couple of weeks, ownership of a number of breweries has changed again.

The former Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, who bought Marston's in 1999 and then adopted the Marston's name in 2007, have this month taken over Refresh UK. Refresh, a company started by former managers of Ushers Brewery, bought Wychwood Brewery and brewing licences for Brakspear ales in 2002. Marston's are already owners of the Banks's, Mansfield (since 1999) and Jennings (since 2005) brands.

Meanwhile Scottish & Newcastle, brewers of John Smith's and Newcastle Brown ale, have recently sold out to international brewing giant Heineken, but not before buying up Caledonian Brewing, owned by Sunderland's Vaux Breweries from 1919 to 1987 and famed for its Deuchars IPA. S&N had already bought Caledonian's Edinburgh brewery and a 30% stake in the company in 2004, and have been brewing their McEwan's ales there.

At the same time, two founders of the post-Vaux Caledonian Brewing have stepped down from their positions in the company to buy out Harviestoun Brewery, makers of Schiehallion and Bitter & Twisted. The Alva-based brewery was acquired by Caledonian in 2006, and now returns to independence.

Confused? You will be!

Dorothy Goodbody Is Wholesome: Official

The Indepdendent Complaints Panel of the Portman Group, an alcohol advisory committee supported by the industry's leading drinks producers, have found in favour of Wye Valley Brewery after a complaint was lodged over the labelling of their Dorothy Goodbody's Wholesome Stout.

Alcohol Concern, the national agency on alcohol misuse, complained that the label was in breach of the Portman Group's Code of Practice as it's image of Dorothy Goodbody - "a young woman, whose dress is pulled back to reveal her thighs" - is "sexually suggestive" and therefore associates the drink with sexual success.

Wye Valley Brewery argued that the brand, in use for over 15 years, was designed to encapsulate the fun and innocence of rural Herefordshire in the 1950s. Vernon Amor, the brewery's MD was "surprised that a complaint of this nature was made against Dorothy."

In summing up the panel's findings, David Poley of the Portman Group said "The independent complaints panel accepted that the image was slightly saucy but in the style of an old-fashioned seaside postcard. Although the drink’s name Goodbody has slight sexual connotations, it also refers to the nature of the drink.

"Overall, the panel decided that because this is just a drawing rather than a real woman, and the sexual connotations are so mild, the drink is not in breach of our code."

Alcohol Concern have yet to release a statement.

Lager Sales Trail Ale

Britain's supermarkets are reporting some surprising and encouraging news. For the first time in living memory, ale sales are improving while lager sales are falling.

Figures reported by UK supermarkets show a drop in lager sales of 0.2% over last year. In the same period, sales of traditional ales, particularly bottle-conditioned ales, grew by an unprecedented 6.6%. Although there is still a massive difference between the overall figures, ale sales only amounting to around one fifth of those for lager, this trend has been noticed and has had some beneficial effects for real ale enthusiasts.

Marks & Spencer recently launched it's own-label range of bottle conditioned ales, including offerings from Buckinghamshire's Vale and Scotland's Black Isle breweries.

Tesco provides a massively increased range of ales, raising its selection from 50 to 200 beers. Like M&S, it also sells a new range of ales specially brewed and badged as "Tesco Finest". Their beers are supplied by Devon's O'Hanlon's, Yorkshire's Black Sheep and Scotland's Williams Brothers breweries.

Aided by the government's 'progressive beer duty', where small breweries pay duty at a lower rate than larger ones, sales from independent micro-breweries have increased by 7.5%. This bucks the trend of an overall decline in beer sales and has resulted in the opening of more than 80 new micro-breweries. CAMRA's Owen Morris said, "People are finding real ale is an artisan product and are starting to care more about taste, not value. They're not so interested in supermarkets selling two crates of lager for the price of one."

A Traditional British Pint - Now in Cans

A recent change of heart by the European Union has allowed Britain to retain its traditional Imperial weights and measures. Sudarghara Dusanj, Chief Executive of Liverpool-based Cains brewery sees the pint as a cornerstone of British culture, and is determined to extend the tradition to the off-trade.

As part of their 'Best of British' concept, celebrating Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture, Cains have launched their FA (Formidable Ale) in one pint cans, 13% larger than the usual 500ml size. Thought to be the first time this has been done, Cains are sure it will prove popular with drinkers.

The cans will be available in 180 Asda stores around the country.

10% More Tax on Doctor's Orders

The newly formed Alcohol Health Alliance is lobbying the Government for a 10% tax hike on alcohol along with a ban on pre-watershed advertising and large cigarette-style warnings on packaging.

The Alliance, made up of 24 medical bodies and anti-alcohol campaigners, aims to reduce the damage to health caused by alcohol misuse. They are deeply concerened by the average of 13 children per day admitted to hospital as a result of alcohol abuse and that liver cirrhosis has increased by 95% in the last 7 years. Their proposed 10% tax increase could cut alcohol-related deaths by 10-30%.

On behalf of the drinks industry, Rob Hayward, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, has written an open letter to the Alliance's chairman Prof. Ian Gilmore that invites the Alliance to discuss some of the assumptions upon which their campaign is based, such as:

• If current policies are insufficient, why are the numbers of people drinking in excess of the daily unit guidelines falling?

• If high taxes reduce harm, why does the UK, which has the second highest alcohol tax rates in Europe, have worse drinking behaviours than low tax countries?

• If alcohol advertising encourages people to drink more, why has alcohol consumption in the UK fallen for the last two years?

Jeremy Beadles of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association says that, "Raising taxes further will just hit the vast majority of drinkers that enjoy a quiet drink responsibly."

Poor Harvest May Put 15p On a Pint

The price of beer brewed in Britain looks set to rise. This summers heavy rains have badly affected harvests, driving up beer production costs. Barley prices have increased by nearly 40% over the last year, and some varieties of hops have doubled in price. SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers, has warned that the price of British beer could rise by as much as 15p, and jobs in breweries could be under threat because of escalating costs.

"After wages, raw materials represent the biggest expenditure by small brewers," said SIBA's chairman Peter Amor. "[they] now face the dilemma of whether to put up their prices and lose trade or absorb the higher costs and take the risk of their businesses becoming economically unsound."

A survey carried out by CAMRA's 197 branches across the UK in March this year showed that the average price of a pint of real ale has risen by 4.61% in the last year from an average of £2.22 to £2.34. The new price rises would bring the average to within a penny of £2.50 a pint.

Women Taste Better

Sharp's Brewery in Rock, Cornwall, brewers of Doom Bar and Eden Pure Ale, has recently started running a 4-week beer tasting course.

Pupils on the course are paid in beer and are tested on their ability to identify key flavours and aromas in what they taste. Graduates will be used to help the brewery in its quality control.

The brewery is keen to attract more women to the course. "Because women tend not to drink as much beer they approach tasting with no preconceptions, which is useful in the quality control process," said head brewer Stuart Howe.

Sharp's are currently looking for recruits for the second running of the course.

Lucky Cows

Greene King are planning to build a beer recovery facility at their Bury St Edmunds site. The facility will handle firkins of ale that have passed their 3-day "best before" period in an environmentally friendly way.

As ale contains only natural ingredients, rather than simply tipping the leftover ale away, the brewery intends to recycle it for spraying onto crops or turning into cattle feed.

Brown May Reverse Licensing Laws

In a move likely to anger drinkers in England and Wales, Gordon Brown has said he may reverse recent changes in the law giving pubs more flexible opening hours.

Less than two years since the Labour government introduced the changes to the law to encourage a more relaxed, European-style attitude to drinking, the new premier has announced that he has begun a review of extended licensing hours in an attempt to tackle binge-drinking.

Despite predictions from some that the new laws introduced in Novenber 2005 would increase levels of binge drinking and alcohol-related violence, the majority of reports suggest that the new regime has either had little effect or has improved the situation. In practice, very few pubs adopted 24 hour opening, and most police forces have reported that the staggered closing times encourage calmer behaviour and make policing easier.

CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, actively promotes responsible drinking, and has consistently supported the relaxation in opening hours. It has maintained that the previous licensing restrictions contributed to drink-related problems on town centres, and unnecessarily penalised the vast majority of responsible, well-behaved drinkers. It came as no surprise that the chaos anticipated by some opponents of the changes failed to materialise.

A report on the subject is expected from the Home Office by the end of the year.

BBC news article

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