Fergus McMullen McMullen
McMullen & Sons has had its wobbles in the past few years, with some family members deciding, just as they have at other regional brewers, that they would rather see their money invested somewhere else. But it came successfully through that episode and is now showing its confidence in the future by building a new £1m brewing plant for its cask ales at its site in Hertford.
Fergus McMullen, the company's production and sales director, and part of the seventh generation of the family to be involved in the business since it started almost 180 years ago, believes there is more pain to come in the short term for the cask-beer sector. 'There are still too many outlets serving cask ale that do not care about the way it is looked after or presented, he says.
However, he adds: 'As soon as we are left with a hard core of outlets that are passionate about quality, so that consumers regularly and consistently receive an excellent pint, the sooner we will see real and exciting levels of growth.
The collective task for the country's cask ale brewers, he says, has to be to attract customers to cask ale, 'but this will only be achieved by being able to reassure customers about the consistently-excellent quality of the cask ale offering.
McMullen's own efforts on this front include a new £200,000 training centre, where one of the many courses and qualifications on offer to its tenants and managers teams is an Award in Beer and Cellar Quality. 'Our passion and commitment to training will help to ensure that our ales are stored and served correctly, consistently serving the perfect pint, McMullen says.
At the same time the new brewhouse will enable the company to brew small-volume runs, 'which will help us satisfy the range of different demands from our customers. McMullen is also planning to buy more pubs and expand its free-trade sales. 'We believe that an increasing number of consumers will look for local ales, he says, 'and as a small regional craft brewer with heritage we expect to benefit. We see no reason why we can't add 50% to our current sales of cask ale.
He believes it is 'essential for retailers to push up the price of cask ale in the pub: 'Cask-ale yields for the retailer are currently some five percentage points below that of lager or Guinness.
But making yields the same as, or better than, lager 'will only happen over time, and is heavily dependent on our ability to ensure all pubs that offer cask ale, consistently serve the perfect pint. If you produce quality consistently, people don't mind paying extra for it.
The Society of Independent Brewers of which McMullen is a member, since it currently brews less than the Progressive Beer Duty cut-off point predicted recently that cask-beer sales should stop declining by 2008. 'I suspect that this will happen as poorly-run pubs come under financial pressure and opt for products that are easier to serve and have better yields, McMullen says.
'This is being aided at the moment by some of the larger brewers, who don't have either the passion or the right image to sell cask ale. This will leave cask-ale brewing to those who really care about it and who will only sell it to outlets who are equally passionate.
