CMBC cuts cask offering

Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) has revealed that it will be cutting eight of its cask and three of its keg beer brands by the end of this year, with the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) dubbing the move “a tragedy”.

Citing falling demand, CMBC has announced that it will axe a total of 11 brands by the end of the year.

In cask: Eagle IPA, Banks’s Sunbeam, Banks’s Mild, Ringwood Old Thumper, Ringwood Boondoggle, Marston’s 61 Deep, Marston’s Old Empire, and Jennings Cumberland Ale.

And in keg: Mansfield Dark Smooth, Mansfield Original Bitter, and Bombardier.

The move comes shortly after CMBC confirmed that it would closing Banks’s Brewery “as part of a restructuring of its brewery network” next year, which would also happen to mark the Wolverhampton brewery’s 150th anniversary. Ringwood in Hampshire was closed in January after 45 years in business, with some critics accusing CMBC of “corporate vandalism”.

In the summer, Marston’s sold its 40% stake in CMBC, which included its production of heritage ales, to a Carlsberg subsidiary for a sum of £206m. CMBC has also been a keen proponent of the idea of a ‘fresh ale’ category, which is effectively beer from a keg served using a cask handpump.

‘Difficult choice’

“As the UK’s largest cask ale brewer, CMBC is passionate about cask ale and delivering a sustainable, successful future for this important part of British beer culture,” a spokesperson for the brewing giant explained with regards to the decision. “Like any brewer, we are always reviewing our lines to best appeal to our consumers and help grow cask ale while delivering the highest quality brews. Understandably, where demand has sadly declined we do have to make the difficult choice to delist beers”

“We continue to invest in and launch new cask ales as well as support popular traditional cask ales ranging from Banks’s Amber Bitter to Marston’s Pedigree,” they added.

‘Tour of destruction’

Pressure group CAMRA offered a damning assessment of CMBC’s cutting of the lines.

“CMBC’s decision to stop selling eight cask beers to pubs is a tragedy for British beer heritage and consumers, who will no longer be able to order their ‘usual’ behind the bar, leaving the end of an era for many,” national chairman Ash Corbett-Collins told the drinks business.

“While pubs and their consumers will be forced to bid farewell to many of CMBC’s cask range, we hope more beers produced by independent breweries will fill up the vacant spaces CMBC has left behind the bar to ensure pub-goers find their favourite drink again,” Corbett-Collins continued. “CMBC’s axing of so many beers and breweries in recent years only heightens our concerns for the brewing industry and the global brewers’ stranglehold over access to market. We hope this will be the end of CMBC’s tour of destruction for the sake of customer choice and what’s left of our brewing heritage.”

The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) declined to comment on the issue.

While CMBC is cutting back on cask, some smaller brewers are going in the opposite direction.

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