Drinks

Unique twist: Gungho! cocktail bar owner Julien Barnett breaks down one of the site's best-selling serves (Credit: Getty/SolStock)

Drinks Masterclass

How to make a 'unique' Bramble cocktail

By Rebecca Weller

Marking the first serve in The Morning Advertiser's new Drinks Masterclass series, licensee of GungHo! cocktail bar in Brighton, East Sussex, Julien Barnett, explains how to make one of the bar’s best-selling products.

New products: this week's round-up includes the launch of Staropramen 0.0 alongside a coronation cider from Sandford Orchards and a new spirits range from Seven Bro7hers

NEW PRODUCTS ROUND-UP

Molson Coors releases alcohol-free Staropramen

By Rebecca Weller

This week's round-up includes new products from Molson Coors, Fourpure, Sandford Orchards, Whitebox, Seven Bro7hers, Bareksten and Lost Boys Brewery.

Brewhouse & Kitchen cask and experiences sales up

B&K reports 5.3% lfl cask sales boost

By Gary Lloyd

Brewpub multiple operator Brewhouse & Kitchen (B&K) is bucking the trend on declining cask beer sales by recording a 5.3% like-for-like (lfl) growth across its range.

Erosion of margins: cost of a pint of draught lager increased 1.3% between October 2022 and January 2023 (Credit: Getty/10'000 Hours)

Pint price up 8p in 3 months

By Rebecca Weller

The average cost of a pint of draught lager increased by 1.9% in the three months to January 2023, the latest data from the Office For National Statistics (ONS) has revealed.

Craft beer brand Northern Monk talks about its love for cask

The Cask Project - feature

FEATURE: The Northern star watching over cask

By Gary Lloyd

As more cool craft brewers turn their hand to making cask beers, Leeds-based Northern Monk admits there has been some clamour for it to do the same.

Rising costs: CMBC is increasing its prices by at least 11% (image: Getty/simonkr)

CMBC hikes draught beer prices by 11%

By Nikkie Thatcher

Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) is set to increase wholesale selling prices across its portfolio by a minimum of 11% for draught products and from about 6% for packaged products, which the company put down to rising cost pressures.

Disruption is Brewing wins gold at SIBA south-east final

The Cask Project

Disruption is Brewing wins SIBA regional final

By Gary Lloyd

A cask beer with flavours of mango, blueberry and tropical fruit from Disruption is Brewing has scooped top prize at the SIBA South-East Independent Beer Awards.

New products: this week's round-up includes new serves from Adnams, Silent Pool and Small Beer Brewery

Adnams releases new cask stout

By Rebecca Weller

This week's new products round up features two new offerings from Adnams, a super-premium gin expression from Silent Pool and a new IPA from Small Beer Brewery alongside Amazon's first wine collection and cask strength whisky from McNair's....

Out of control: Breweries weather 111% rise in packaging recycling costs (Getty/ Mike Harrington)

Breweries crushed by extreme packaging costs

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Brewers saw prices for obligated recycling fees more than double in 2022 and trade bodies warn further rises are likely unless reforms come into place immediately.

Crowdfunding campaign: Exmoor Ales is looking to expand from the south-west of England

Two breweries bid to raise extra finance

By Gary Lloyd

Award-winning brewery Exmoor Ales and start-up business Havabier are both seeking crowdfunding to expand and launch their companies respectively.

How Robinsons is ensuring better quality cask at its pubs

The Cask Project

Robinsons rewards pubs for cask quality

By Gary Lloyd

Stockport-based brewer and pub operator Robinsons has rewarded 88 of its pubs after they achieved 90% or above in their 2022 cask beer quality audits.

Sad news: message of support have come from a variety of brewers (credit: Getty/VictorHuang)

Unity Brewing Co enters liquidation

By Gary Lloyd

Hampshire craft brewery Unity Brewing Co has gone into liquidation, according to a tweet by the Southampton-based business.

Lesser impact: consumers becoming accustomed to adjusting plans due to rail strikes (Credit: Getty/South_agency)

Feb rail strikes had 'lesser impact' on sector

By Rebecca Weller

Recent rail strikes had a “lesser impact” on drinks sales than previous ones as consumers become accustomed to “adjusting plans”, the latest Drinks Recovery Tracker from CGA by NielsenIQ has revealed.

Temporary situation: C&C Group customers unable to place orders for several weeks due to system upgrades

C&C Group clients unable to place orders for weeks

By Rebecca Weller

Customers of drinks distributor C&C Group have been struggling to order stock for several weeks due to “major system upgrades”, forcing some operators to “waste time” scrambling between high-street shops to avoid shortages.

What is happening to Titanic Brewery?

The Cask Project

SOX acquires White Horse Brewery

By Gary Lloyd

South Oxfordshire Brewery has acquired neighbouring White Horse Brewery for an undisclosed sum.

London calling: Satan's Whiskers in Bethnal Green was named the number one cocktail bar in the UK

Top 50 Cocktail Bars

UK’s Top 50 Cocktail Bars revealed

By Nikkie Thatcher

The 2023 Top 50 Cocktail Bars sponsored by Franklin & Sons have been unveiled, with London’s Satan’s Whiskers taking the top spot.

Advice provided: the report shows how operators can identify counterfeit wine and spirits (image: Getty/draghicich)

How to spot fake alcohol

By Nikkie Thatcher

Advice on how to spot fraudulent alcohol has been unveiled in a new report from the Fraud Advisory Panel.

Drinks Recovery Tracker: latest data shows a dip in spirits sales (Credit: Getty/Sarah Mason)

Spirits sales 'flattened' during last week of January

By Rebecca Weller

Spirit sales “flattened” in the seven days to 28 January as consumers continued to reduce big nights out at the weekends, the latest Drinks Recovery Tracker from CGA by NielsenIQ has revealed.

Raising a glass: Greene King and Jeff Stelling partner up to celebrate cask

THE CASK PROJECT

Greene King teams with Jeff Stelling to celebrate pubs

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Greene King has recently hosted its fifth event with sports presenter Jeff Stelling as part of a series of evenings that celebrate British pubs, cask beer and quizzes.

Something new: BrewDog announces stout headliner Black Heart

BrewDog releases new draught stout

By Rebecca Weller

Independent Scottish brewer and operator BrewDog has expanded its portfolio with the addition of a new draught stout, Black Heart, to its headliner range.

Beer focus: The MA's Ed Bedington urges operators to put cask back in the heart of business

The Cask Project - opinion

Are we missing the best footfall driver?

By Ed Bedington

As January makes way for February and the colder miserable months continue to bite, pubs will be eager to look for ways to drive punters over the threshold.

Year-on-year growth: drinks sales up but comparisons difficult due to disrupted trading during the pandemic in January 2022 (Credit: Getty/pjohnson1)

Soft drinks powering sales in January

By Rebecca Weller

Soft drinks were the driving force behind sales at managed venues in the seven days to Saturday 21 January, the latest Drinks Recovery Tracker from CGA by NielsenIQ has revealed.

Government asks: the Campaign for Real Ale is urging the Chancellor to reveal support for pubs and breweries in the Spring Budget (image: Getty/Klaus Vedfelt)

CAMRA demands support to save further closures

By Nikkie Thatcher

Consumer organisation the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has called on the Government to deliver a support package to save the nation’s pubs and breweries from shutting.

Initiative comeback: The Shepherd Neame Cask Club was launched in 2019

The Cask Project

Shepherd Neame’s Cask Club returns

By Nikkie Thatcher

Kent brewer Shepherd Neame has announced it is bringing back its real ale initiative Cask Club next month (February).

New products: this week's round up features new serves from VK, Black Sheep Brewery, Sandford Orchards and Cawston Press

new products round-up

VK launches new sugar free range

By Rebecca Weller

This week's round-up features new products from RTD brand VK, Sandford Orchards, Cawston Press and Black Sheep Brewery.

Drinks Recovery Tracker: latest data shows drinks sales in pubs were 1% behind pre-pandemic levels in seven days to Saturday 14 January (Credit: Getty/Henrik Sorensen)

Drinks sales 1% down vs pre-pandemic levels

By Rebecca Weller

Average drinks sales in Britain’s managed venues in the week to Saturday 14 January were 1% down vs 2020, the latest Drinks Recovery Tracker from CGA by NielsenIQ has revealed.

What will it take to save the cask ale category?

The cask project – opinion

Seeking the silver bullet(s) to save cask

By Gary Lloyd

Writing and compiling stories for The Cask Project has led me to believe the under-threat category of cask ale could be improved vastly with a handful of changes.

Why does SIBA want draught beer discount rise from 5% to 20%?

SIBA calls for 20% draught duty discount

By Gary Lloyd

The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) has urged the Chancellor to expand the draught duty relief to 20% to help the ailing pubs and brewing sector.

New products: this week's round up features new serves from Uncle Nearest, High Point, Provence Wine, Lockdown Liquor & Co. and Hogs Back

NEW PRODUCTS

Uncle Nearest whiskey launches in the UK

By Rebecca Weller

This week's round up features a UK launch from American whiskey brand Uncle Nearest alongside new products from Hogs Back, Provence Wine, Lockdown Liquor & Co, and High Point.

Drinks list: non-alcoholic beer was the second most popular no-ABV drink, according to the research (image:Getty/Instants)

1 in 5 opting for alc-free beer

By Nikkie Thatcher

Some 21% of UK adults would drink booze-free beer as an alcohol alternative at a social occasion where others were drinking alcohol, new research has found.

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