Drinks

Margarita named UK's most popular cocktail

17-Apr-2023 By Rebecca Weller

The Margarita has been crowned the UK’s favourite cocktail, data from event management company MGN events has revealed.

CAMRA axes offensive doll pub from Good Beer Guide

17-Apr-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has deleted the entry of the White Hart from its Good Beer Guide after the pub chose to display offensive golly dolls.

PROMOTIONAL CONTENT

Meet the brand: Thatchers Cider - Serve up the right range and keep your customers coming back for more

17-Apr-2023 By Thatchers Cider

There are untapped opportunities for pubs and bars to unlock by choosing the right cider range to suit your customers.

Beer Report 2023

BEER REPORT: Most popular beer styles revealed

17-Apr-2023 By Phil Mellows

Premiumisation has been the word, if an awkward word, for as long as any of us can remember.

‘Pints on us’ says M&S after ‘ripping off’ pub group logo

14-Apr-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Marks and Spencer (M&S) has withdrawn a shirt from sale after “ripping off” The Craft Beer Co logo, but the pubco’s founder isn’t losing sleep over it.

Expansion targeted as North Brewing secures £375k funding

14-Apr-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Leeds-based brewer and bar operator has secured £375,000 in funding to finance international growth.

NEW PRODUCTS

Edinburgh Gin adds to Experimental Series

14-Apr-2023 By Rebecca Weller

This week's round up features new products from Timothy Taylor’s Brewery, Edinburgh Gin, Shepherd Neame, Shakespeare Distillery, Mahala and Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery.

CAMRA slammed for response on offensive dolls

13-Apr-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has condemned a pub’s decision to display golliwog dolls but its response has come under fire as not going far enough to stamp out racism.

INTERVIEW

Rum category offers 'a lot to discover' as its popularity grows

13-Apr-2023 By Rebecca Weller

Rum has grown in popularity as an increasing number of consumers who traditionally drink other spirits “take a punt” on the category, according to Speciality Brands rum ambassador Dean MacGregor.

CMBC acquires UK rights to Kronenbourg 1664

12-Apr-2023 By Rebecca Weller

Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) has completed a deal with Heineken UK to acquire the UK rights for French beer brand Kronenbourg.

The Cask Project

Fire power launch from Shepherd Neame

12-Apr-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Shepherd Neame has released a sequel beer for its returning Cask Club initiative called Dragonfire (4.5% ABV).

DRINKS MASTERCLASS

How to make a Kiwi Gimlet cocktail

11-Apr-2023 By Rebecca Weller

This week’s Drinks Masterclass showcases a Kiwi Gimlet cocktail (19% ABV) from award-winning sustainable bar Little Mercies in Crouch End, North London.

Black Sheep Brewery considers sale as it appoints financial adviser

11-Apr-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Masham-based brewer and pub operator Black Sheep Brewery has appointed a financial adviser with a sale of the business being an option.

INTERVIEW

Consumers looking for 'discovery' and 'storytelling' from craft beer

11-Apr-2023 By Rebecca Weller

Consumers are looking for “discovery” and “storytelling” from craft beer in pubs, according to Warwickshire-based licensees.

Yorkshire’s first gin distillery weathers rocketing costs

06-Apr-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

The Morning Advertiser caught up with the founders of Yorkshire’s first gin distillery on tackling soaring costs while staying positive for the future.

SIBA: brewery numbers stable in first part of 2023

06-Apr-2023 By Gary Lloyd

The number of breweries in the UK has remained relatively stable despite industry challenges and some regions have even seen growth.

NEW PRODUCTS

Tanqueray announces new alcohol-free variant

05-Apr-2023 By Rebecca Weller

This week's round-up features new products form Tanqueray, Black Sheep Brewery, Chapel Down, Hofmeister, Sharp’s brewery, Heineken UK, Waterford Distillery and House Coren.

DRINKS MASTERCLASS

How to make a strawberry Negroni

05-Apr-2023 By Rebecca Weller

This week's Drinks Masterclass showcases a strawberry Negroni from Edinburgh-based cocktail bar, Hey Palu.

Craft breweries going bust rises threefold

05-Apr-2023 By Gary Lloyd

The number of craft breweries going bust jumped more than threefold in 2022 as rising production costs and reduced consumer spending took their toll.

Consumers will 'vote with their feet' to find purpose-led brands in pubs

04-Apr-2023 By Rebecca Weller

Stocking purpose-led brands presents a “massive opportunity” for operators, according to Brewgooder co-founder Alan Mahon.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Heineken UK reveals exclusive on-trade launch

04-Apr-2023 By Rebecca Weller

Heineken UK has exclusively revealed the launch of Cruzcampo (4.4% ABV) in the UK on-trade to The Morning Advertiser (MA).

Warning issued despite independent breweries increasing turnover by 32%

03-Apr-2023 By Gary Lloyd

The top 25 independent breweries in the UK have increased their turnover by 32% but decreased demand and energy prices could put a dent into further recovery.

Premium and craft ciders lead on-trade trends

31-Mar-2023 By Rebecca Weller

Premium and craft ciders offer operators a “great opportunity” for growth as the premiumisation trend becomes more “apparent”, new data has revealed.

BrewDog’s Watt launches funding scheme to find Next Unicorn

30-Mar-2023 By Gary Lloyd

James Watt, co-founder and chief executive of brewer and pub operator BrewDog, has teamed up with funding platform Crowdcube to find the next “billion-dollar company”.

The Cask Project

VIDEO FEATURE: ‘Cask’s challenges are linked with the post-Covid recovery’

30-Mar-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Adnams has a great tradition for brewing beer having done so for 150 years – but the business’s skills don’t end there.

EXCLUSIVE

BBG launches campaign to end harassment in on-trade

29-Mar-2023 By The Morning Advertiser

Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I (BBG) has called for unity in the hospitality industry in taking a stand against harassment and discrimination with its ‘It Stops With Me’ campaign.

BrewDog boss to launch financing concept after Dragons’ Den failures

29-Mar-2023 By Gary Lloyd

BrewDog co-founder and chief executive James Watt is set to launch a concept that will give entrepreneurs a method of raising start-up finance born from rejection on Dragons’ Den.

DRINK MASTERCLASS

How to make a 'Transparency' rum cocktail

29-Mar-2023 By Rebecca Weller

Lab 22 cocktail bar general manger, Matthew Jones, illustrates how to make the venue’s “versatile” Transparency serve.

The Cask Project

Sharp’s launches first nationwide hazy IPA on cask

28-Mar-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Cornwall-based Sharp’s Brewery has launched its first ever nationally available cask hazy IPA, Solar Wave (4.6% ABV).

What does the future hold for mead?

27-Mar-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

Britain’s largest producers of mead got together to discuss the rise of the drink and its place in the market at the London Barrel Project in Bermondsey last week.

Prime Minister visits Carlsberg-owned brewery

27-Mar-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

The Prime Minister got hands on with brewing when he visited West Midlands-based Banks’s Brewery in Wolverhampton.

Promotional content

Pilsner to the people: Brooklyn Brewery brings good times, great pilsner and investment

27-Mar-2023 By Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company

A crisp, bright, and refreshing sessionable lager that’s inspired by Brooklyn, and brewed for all, is set to paint the UK yellow once again with increased investment in 2023.

Promotional content

Variety is key to tapping into the premiumisation trend

27-Mar-2023 By Stephen Groucott, on-trade category controller, Molson Coors Beverage Company

Much has been made of the growing premiumisation trend in beer but tapping into this isn’t as simple as stocking your bar with as many premium options as possible.

The Cask Project

How this brewing director has helped Cask Club take off

24-Mar-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Mike Unsworth, director of brewing at Kent-based Shepherd Neame, has proved be a bit of a maverick when it comes to launching cask beers.

NEW PRODUCTS ROUND-UP

Baileys introduces new light variant

24-Mar-2023 By Rebecca Weller

This week's round-up features new products from Baileys, Silent Pool, Meantime Brewery, Salcombe Distilling Co., GlenAllachie, Fungtn and Whitley Neill

BIG INTERVIEW

FEATURE: Customers are demanding super premium beers

23-Mar-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Pubs are seeing a significant switch of customers turning to high-end drinks and increasing spend per serve, according to Budweiser Brewing Group (BBG UK&I) on-trade director Jean-David Thumelaire.

Beer prices sky-rocket by 11.8%

23-Mar-2023 By Rebecca Weller

The average cost of a pint of draught lager increased 11.8% in the year to February 2023, latest figures from the Office For National Statistics (ONS) have revealed.

The dos and don’ts of making a stand-out mocktail

22-Mar-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

January is long gone, and now a fresh crowd has ditched booze for the 40-day stint of Lent. With a third of all pub visits alcohol free, there’s no time like the present for the sector knuckle down on its low-to-no offering.

How to make an Olive Leaf Bramble cocktail

22-Mar-2023 By Rebecca Weller

This week’s masterclass showcases a recipe from Couch cocktail bar in Birmingham, which is number 12 on the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list.

Promotional content

Menabrea – perfecting the craft of beer

21-Mar-2023 By Menabrea

It's said that the first Italian beer was created in pre-Roman times. Well, whoever first got the barrel rolling; it was the Menabrea family who endeavoured to perfect the craft.

INTERVIEW

Sugar-free drinks have 'strong future' in the on-trade

21-Mar-2023 By Rebecca Weller

Sugar-free soft drinks options are “the future” in on-trade settings as emerging consumer trends lean towards “teetotal” behaviour.

Vagabond appoints new operations director

20-Mar-2023 By Georgi Gyton

Vagabond Wines has appointed Christobell Giles as its new operations director.

The Cask Project

FEATURE: Cask gets a bad reputation at times

20-Mar-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Cask beer is vital for north-west-based Robinsons Brewery but it must offer something on keg to boost its brand portfolio that is interesting and innovative – and quality is key to this.

NEW PRODUCTS ROUND-UP

Kopparberg announces limited-edition summer cider

17-Mar-2023 By Rebecca Weller

This week's round-up features new products from Kopparberg, Schweppes, Peroni, Salcombe Distilling Co, Greene King, Three Drinkers and Bombay Sapphire.

SPRING BUDGET 2023

Duty inequality with supermarkets 'economically counterproductive'

16-Mar-2023 By Rebecca Weller

The draught duty relief announced in the Spring Budget is a “positive step”, but anything less than “equality” with supermarkets is “economically counterproductive”, according to industry leaders.

SPRING BUDGET 2023

Duty hike ‘bitter blow’ for drinks firms

16-Mar-2023 By Amelie Maurice-Jones

The Chancellor announced wine drinkers would be hit by the biggest single duty rise in almost 50 years at yesterday’s Spring Budget, leaving the sector “deeply disappointed”.

Local breweries key to thriving communities

16-Mar-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Communities are given a positive boost if a local independent brewery is operated well say 80% of people, according to a new report published today (Thursday 16 March).

DRINKS MASTERCLASS

How to make a 'delicious' St Patricks Day Irish Coffee

16-Mar-2023 By Rebecca Weller

This week’s Drinks Masterclass focuses on how to make a “delicious” House Irish Coffee cocktail.

Biggest price hike for wine in 50 years if Hunt 'fails to act'

15-Mar-2023 By Rebecca Weller

Beer, wine and spirits could all see prices “rocket” by summer if Chancellor Jeremy Hunt “fails to act” on alcohol duty in today’s (Wednesday 15 March) Spring Budget.

The Cask Project

GK to launch apprentice-collaboration beer

15-Mar-2023 By Gary Lloyd

Brewer and pub operator Greene King will release its limited-edition Spring Break cask beer, which was created last year in collaboration with the National Brewing Apprentice Programme.