New owners promise summer relaunch for Freedom beer
by Ewan Turney
Freedom beer will relaunch this summer with an organic and a pilsner lager, following a long search for a new owner.
Former owner Duncan Watts appealed exclusively to the Morning Advertiser, last August, for help in finding the brand a suitable home. It is understood that no money was involved in the deal for the actual brand.
The new owner is Brothers Brewery, owned by brothers Steve, Richard and Michael Knight. Steve, a former screenplay writer said the deal had been done on "an incredible amount of goodwill".
"Duncan wanted to find it (the brand) a good home and we have promised to continue brewing Freedom to a very high standard," he said.
Freedom Brewing Co was established in Fulham in 1995 and was the first microbrewery to specialise in brewing unpasteurised lager to German Reinheitsgebot purity laws. In 1999, the company started producing organic lager and outsourced its brewing to Germany.
Brewing of the organic lager will continue in Germany but the pilsner form of the beer will be brewed at Abbotts Bromley, near Burton, in Staffordshire, using the famous Burton water. The original Freedom master brewer, Ian Ward, will be in charge of the new brewery. The pilsner lager is set to relaunch at the end of June.
"We will be selling to both the on and the off-trade market," said Knight. "We are not enormous in size, so we will be targeting prestigious venues in a bid to make the brand semi-exclusive. We also hope to tie up sponsorship deals with art exhibitions in London and Birmingham and be a friend to live music."
Knight hopes that old friend Chris Tarrant will assist in a radio commercial campaign.
Former owner Watts said: "They were enthusiastic and are building a bespoke brewery, which is incredibly important. It keeps a great story going."
He has promised to stay on as an ambassador for the product while he continues to concentrate on expanding his Rocket chain of restaurants.
"I love the product and can't wait for the pilsner beer to become available again. I have become thoroughly bored with the range of beers available. I can't find anything new that excites me," he added.
