Jennings overhaul tops Marston's plans for 2014

A new look and feel for the Cumbrian Jennings brewery will be unveiled this spring.

The move follows the success of the Ringwood Brewery rebrand last year, which has increased its market share by “a fair few percentage points,” according to Marston’s Beer Company MD, Richard Westwood.

“The last time we did something with Jennings was in 2008 but then it was more of a makeover than a rebrand. So, we are planning more of a shift than that, buoyed by the confidence we’ve got from doing Ringwood.”

New beers​

Westwood is also overseeing the development of a raft of new beers, including the trial of a “back-to-basics” wheat beer made with a high proportion of wheat and a traditional wheat beer yeast.

“Early indications are that this is a stunning beer and it will probably form part of our Revisionist range (which launched last year with the brewery’s first keg lager in 30 years).”

British hops​

Hops are also an area for innovation as the company is working alongside British hop growers to revive older English varieties common in the 19th century.

“The plants should be ready to use later this year or next and hopefully will create beers with very different characters,” said Westwood.