Refresh UK
The story of Brakspear's may be unique in the long history of the British brewing industry because of the mothballing and subsequent transfer of an entire fermenting room from one brewery to another, where it now operates alongside the second brewery's original fermenting room.
The reason for this expensive operation was to preserve the 'double-drop fermenting method used by Brakspear's at its original home in Henley, Oxfordshire a way of giving the beer an extra fillip halfway through the brewing process that was once quite common but is now rare and which is said to give Brakspear's beers their much-loved flavours.
Transferring the double-drop fermentation system to the Wychwood brewery, also in Oxfordshire, was a marketing move likely to ensure drinkers continued to regard Brakspear's with the same fondness they had before the original owner decided to quit brewing. It also shows the marketing influences on Rupert Thompson, chief executive of Refresh UK, whose company bought Wychwood in 2002 then, a few months later, acquired the rights to build a new brewery to make Brakspear's beers.
Thompson says Refresh is 'a focused sales and marketing company rather than a brewer and 'we're passionate about the brands. He warns brewers not to become hung up on the idea that people are buying their beer because of the dispensing method. 'Is it because it's cask ale, or because of its flavour, character and individuality compared to other products? Brewers also need to look at why some beers, especially the new generation of paler, hoppier beers often with a citrus note from the hops being used, are proving popular. And licensees need to work on the temperature and quality of dispense. 'Cask Marque's work shows that 80% of problems with cask ale in the glass are temperature-related, he says. 'The rest are because the beer is too old, and that shouldn't be happening, it shows the landlord hasn't bothered trying the beer that morning.
The demographics of cask ale 'are not all against us, Thompson says. 'Sadly, every year quite a lot of our customers disappear. But there are a lot of signs that as people's palates mature, they like cask ale more, because it's more complex, more challenging and less sweet.
On price, Thompson says he would like to think there was an opportunity to charge more for cask ale but 'in practice price perceptions are very deeply set. However, he points out that the price of, say, Speckled Hen compared to Stella in the off-trade is roughly comparable, and he suggests pubs should have the confidence to price their beers the same way themselves.