Food & Drink

Record-breaking Christmas sales for North Bar group

17-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Leeds-based North Bar Group saw record-breaking sales across its seven sites over the Christmas period with a year-on-year rise in turnover of 21%.

Beer sales over Christmas flat lined

16-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Beer sales in pubs across the Christmas period flat lined in 2016, according to analysis by beer quality and insight expert Vianet.

BrewDog reveals head of new sour facility site

16-Jan-2017 By Sara Hussein

BrewDog has announced Richard Kilcullen as the head of its standalone sour beer facility, Overworks.

Coke Zero reveals £4.5m ad campaign

16-Jan-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar will be at the centre of a multimillion-pound advertising campaign to emphasise its low-sugar, but Coca-Cola Classic taste, credentials.

Trade bodies join forces against beer duty

16-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Leading trade bodies have teamed up to campaign against beer duty ahead of the March Budget and are calling on MPs for support.

Salmon prices could double as parasitic sea lice ravage global supply

16-Jan-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

Salmon prices are expected to reach new highs thanks to bloodsucking parasites affecting fish stocks.

North Bar Co switches to fully printed cans

16-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

The brewing arm of North Bar Co is set to move away from its current paper labels after updated designs were approved for printed cans.

Pete Brown: why it's time to say no to bad cask ale

16-Jan-2017 By Pete Brown

Beer writer Pete Brown explains why he has turned his back on the drink he has obsessed over for many years.

Outraged Hindus denounce brewery for 'frivolous' branding

16-Jan-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

Angry Hindus have called on an American brewery to withdraw three beers with “highly inappropriate” branding featuring the religion’s god of destruction.

CAMRA boss defends cask quality in face of Brown's snub

16-Jan-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Beer writer Pete Brown’s shocking confession that he’s mostly stopped drinking cask ale has drawn fire from Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) national chairman Colin Valentine.

Masons Dry Yorkshire Gin celebrates triple-digit growth for third time

13-Jan-2017 By Sara Hussein

Masons Dry Yorkshire Gin has achieved a 100% increase in sales since last year, meaning the company has accomplished a triple digit growth for the third year in a row.

Beer prices to rise in 2017

13-Jan-2017 By Michelle Perrett

The first wave of brewers have unveiled their price increases for 2017, highlighting the ongoing pressures on the beer industry.

BrewDog

BrewDog hits out at council over land price row

13-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

BrewDog has slammed Aberdeenshire Council after claims the price of land BrewDog had earmarked for development was more than “60 times fair market value”.

Punch Takeover

‘Don’t be fooled’: SLTA slams Heineken’s ‘dismissing concerns’ on Punch bid

12-Jan-2017 By Sara Hussein

The Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) claimed Heineken was trying to “dismiss concerns” regarding the ongoing bid between the Dutch company and Punch Taverns.

Dry January

More than half of consumers want more support from pubs for Dry January

12-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

More than 50% of consumers have said pubs and bars should promote non-alcohol drinks to help support non-drinkers through Dry January, according to reports.

Punch Taverns

‘We can’t be replaced’: Brighton’s ‘only alternative pub’ given new five-year lease

10-Jan-2017 By Sara Hussein

Punch Taverns has agreed to give Brighton’s “only alternative” site a new five-year lease after fears that the venue could have been converted into part of a pub chain.

Beer

Camerons raises a glass to Head of Steam anniversary with new beer

10-Jan-2017 By Sara Hussein

Camerons Brewery has released a special cask beer to celebrate three years of its ownership of the Head of Steam division.

Punch Takeover

Heineken hits back at SLTA’s Punch deal concerns

09-Jan-2017 By Sara Hussein

Heineken has played down Scottish industry fears it would become a pub company “monster” north of the border.

Crown stamps

UKIP MEP demands traditional stamps on UK pint glasses

09-Jan-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

The UKIP Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands has called for the return of traditional British crown stamps on pint glasses.

Beer

Hawkshead clocks up a million litres of beers in 2016

09-Jan-2017 By Sara Hussein

Hawkshead Brewery has brewed more than a million litres of beer last year, an 8% rise from 2015 thanks to its £175,000 fermentation investment.

Health

Alcohol 'good for body and mind'

09-Jan-2017 By Sara Hussein

Moderate and low-alcohol consumption could “improve” people’s personal and mental wellbeing, according to a recent study.

Beer

Brewers pump another £5m into There’s A Beer For That

06-Jan-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Brewing heavyweights Heineken, Molson Coors, AB InBev and Carlsberg have backed the There’s A Beer For That (TABFT) campaign for another year to the tune of £5m.

Beer

‘We’re taking Meantime’s head brewer,’ says Hop Stuff boss

06-Jan-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Hop Stuff Brewery has hired former Meantime head brewer Andrew Dickson to oversee its £1.5m expansion plans and will announce two more big-league appointments soon.

Beer

Craft Beer Co to expand in London after reporting double-digit growth

06-Jan-2017 By Sara Hussein

The Craft Beer Co hopes to open more sites across London over the next year after reporting a rise in like-for-like sales of 11.3% in 2016.

The Drinks List: Top 100 Brands

MA Drinks List sparks national bingo competition

06-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

The Morning Advertiser’s Drinks List: Top 100 Brands has formed the basis of an Oxford accountants’ internal bingo-style competition for staff.

Licensing

No ‘pleasure or relief’ at Fabric’s reopening tonight, says boss

06-Jan-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Legendary London nightclub Fabric’s reopening has not made director Cameron Leslie feel either pleased or relieved.

BEER

Ditching cask and developing DIPAs: Cloudwater's Paul Jones talks plans for 2017

05-Jan-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

Manchester brewery Cloudwater has made a serious name for itself with a series of high-quality, experimental beers. Co-founder and managing director Paul Jones tells Daniel Woolfson his plans for the brewery in 2017.

BrewDog

BrewDog closes popular London site

05-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Scottish brewer BrewDog has closed a popular London site in a bid to concentrate on its other venues and bottle shops.

Gin

2017 Predictions: the future of gin according to the Gin Guild

05-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Gin Guild general director Nicholas Cook has predicted a continuing rosy future for gin in 2017 thanks to authenticity, heritage and a wide variety of choice for the consumer.

Beer

Hop Stuff Brewery kicks off £1.5m expansion

04-Jan-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Hop Stuff Brewery will expand its brewhouse, open four new bars, hire 40 people and increase its smaller pack offering after raising £750,000 via Crowdcube within three weeks.

Health

Men push women off #DryJanuary wagon

04-Jan-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Men are more likely to push their female partners off the #DryJanuary wagon, goad them into breaking healthy drinking plans and consume more alcohol than the other way round.

Drinks predictions

What 2017 has in store for the drinks category

03-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Last year was a mixed bag for the pub trade, from the shockwaves following the ‘Leave’ vote of the EU referendum, to the heavily delayed pubs code and the anguish at the appointment of the US president-elect Donald Trump.

Beer

‘I always believed in the great British pub’: Titanic Brewery’s Keith Bott to be awarded MBE

03-Jan-2017 By Sara Hussein

Titanic Brewery director Keith Bott is to receive an MBE for his dedication to the brewing industry.

Gin

Pub group urges consumers to Try Ginuary

03-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

The Inn Collection Group has urged drinkers to Try Ginuary as an antidote to the annual campaign of Dry January.

Property

‘We couldn’t see another pub go to waste’: Brighton brewery to save 200-year-old pub

03-Jan-2017 By Sara Hussein

A Brighton brewery has announced today (Tuesday 3 January) plans to save a 200-year-old pub from closing.

Beer

Innis & Gunn targets 'Dry January' market with non-alcoholic beer

03-Jan-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

Scottish brewer Innis & Gunn has launched a non-alcoholic beer to coincide with an increasing number of Brits choosing to abstain from drinking through January.

Food forecast

From Brexit to breakfast: what does 2017 hold for pub food?

03-Jan-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

Is it all doom and gloom for food in the pub sector, or is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

BrewDog

BrewDog announces £70m turnover after crowdfunding success

22-Dec-2016 By Sara Hussein

BrewDog has announced a turnover of £70m after setting up two successful crowdfunding initiatives on Crowdcube this year.

Beer

Castle Rock brewery to use green-energy brewing process

21-Dec-2016 By Sara Hussein

Castle Rock Brewery has launched a new year-long renewable energy scheme to make its brewing process more environmentally-friendly.

Beer

Camerons brewery launches Motörhead beer collaboration

20-Dec-2016 By Sara Hussein

Camerons brewery has launched a new beer, Röad Crew, as part of a collaboration with heavy metal band Motörhead

BEER

“This will hurt us in 2017” – brewery apologises for running out of beer

20-Dec-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

A Scottish brewery has apologised to its customers after running out of its flagship beer.

Hangover Cures

Top 10 strangest hangover cures from around the world

20-Dec-2016 By Sara Hussein

This week, Ebookers has put together 100 Hangover Cures from Around the World. While this couldn’t be a more perfect time to discover alternative methods to soothe that dreaded hangover, we found some remedies that might seem a little unusual.

Drink-driving

Pubs tackle drink-driving with free soft drinks and bus rides

19-Dec-2016 By Michelle Perrett

Pubs are backing the safer drinking message and helping to crack down on drink-driving during the festive period.

Beer

‘A very Cornish brew’: England Rugby star to launch charity ale

16-Dec-2016 By Sara Hussein

England Rugby union star Jack Nowell is set to launch a charity ale next year to raise funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institutions (RNLI).

Greene King

Greene King launches support package to boost cask and keg ale sales

15-Dec-2016 By Sara Hussein

Greene King has launched a support package for pubs to help drive cask and keg ale sales.

Pubs

Wet-led sites fall by 2.1% in the last year

15-Dec-2016 By Sara Hussein

The number of wet-led sites has fallen by 2.1% in the past 12 months compared to the more marginal decrease in the number of food-led premises (0.4%) latest research has revealed.

CAMRA REVITALISATION

CAMRA revitalisation: proposals signal historic change in attitude to keg beer

14-Dec-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)’s revitalisation steering committee has published extensive proposals for the organisation, including a historic loosening of its stance on keg beers and increasing its advocacy of “real” cider.