News that Carlsberg Britvic has announced the impending closure of the former Marston’s brewery and its primary logistics operation in Burton upon Trent broke last week. Just as I was settling at my computer, in fact, trying to decide what this month’s column would be about. I suppose that’s the silver lining of this news. It’s made my afternoon’s work fractionally easier.
As far as I’m concerned, though, that is where the good news ends. My head is fit to burst on the ramifications of this closure, so I hope I can do a reasonable job of ordering my thoughts on paper for you.
The headlines are that the Albion brewery on Shobnall Road, known to most as the Marston’s brewery, is due to close in the summer of 2027, subject to consultation. Its owner, Carlsberg Britvic, has said that its immediate priority is supporting the circa 310 colleagues whose roles are directly affected. That is a lot of people who now face an extremely uncertain future.
Carlsberg Britvic has also stated that “certain priority ale brands” will be retained. Specifically, it has cited Hobgoblin, McEwan’s and Brooklyn, which presumably will be brewed out of its main Northampton facility from mid-2027, should these plans go ahead. It should be noted that those beers are mainly sold in cans, bottles and kegs.
Finally, CEO Paul Davies said he does not underestimate “the brewery’s significance”. Although plans are not yet finalised, Mr Davies said his organisation will “give careful consideration to its heritage assets”. Meaning that, at the moment, we have no indication of what will happen to the historic building.
That’s a quick summary of what we know about people’s jobs, the beers and the brewery itself. Why it matters is perhaps a more complex conundrum.
While this news has shocked me, it has not surprised me. Marston’s sold its remaining brewing interests to Carlsberg in late 2024 and became a pubco. At almost the same time, the Danish group’s UK entity merged with soft-drink producer Britvic. It felt unlikely that ale would be a priority of this new self-styled “dynamic multi-beverage powerhouse”. Even though Carlsberg Britvic had just become Britain’s biggest cask beer producer.
That wasn’t the first clue either, thinking back to the retirement of the union sets earlier that year, the axing of the Wychwood and Ringwood breweries or even the surreptitious closure of the Marston’s Visitor Centre back in 2022.
Carlsberg Britvic’s statement suggests it will look to put any beers it doesn’t want to keep in the hands of “suitable long-term custodians who can give these brands the specialist focus and dedicated stewardship they deserve”. Which sounds great on paper, but how can it work in practice? Pedigree, for example, has already been thoroughly run into the ground. Who will take it on now? Can it find a new home in Burton where it has been brewed since 1898? Is there any point in even trying to resurrect it elsewhere in the country? Surely there is only a very small number of potential candidates to take the brand on and they might not even want it.
And what of draught Bass? It has been contract brewed at the Albion brewery since 2005. Finally we’re seeing investment leading to not significant growth of the cask beer. Will Molson Coors look to take on the contract? If it doesn’t, how does draught Bass production remain in Burton? I have no idea, but I’m open to suggestions!
There are other ales in the mix. Wainwright, Ringwood, Bombardier, for example. I know plenty of cask beer drinkers won’t shed a tear if this announcement is the end of the road for them. They would rather drink good quality beer from independent brewers in a freehouse. Me too. But that isn’t necessarily the experience of the British public at large.
Most people come across cask in chain pubs, where tied lines dictate the brands they try. More than 1,300 pubs in England and Wales are Marston’s pubs which only have those ales on the bar. Will the Marston’s pubco choose to repopulate its cask lines, if the ales are historically associated with are delisted? It might simply choose not to bother with cask at all.
I am certainly coming up with more questions today than I can answer, literally hours after the announcement. No doubt I am speculating wildly. I am extremely angry at the threat to this hugely significant piece of Burton’s built heritage. I am pretty darn cross on behalf of the 300-plus people who don’t know whether they will have a job next year too.
But I think at the heart of it, I am a bit scared that Carlsberg Britvic’s withdrawal from ale, especially cask beer, will create a void that our independent brewers are not big enough to fill, even if they can muscle past the effective monopoly on bar space held by the multinationals.
This news is probably an opportunity for Greene King, which is reportedly focusing on on-trade activity. However, it broke ground on a new £40m brewery in 2025 which appears to scale its production down from the current Westgate site.
More hearteningly, this announcement is also an opportunity for the bigger independents: the likes of Timothy Taylor and Wye Valley. Both have recently announced ambitious plans for expansion and reaffirmed their commitment to cask.
The macro-brewers have long bemoaned the decline of traditional cask beer and we are increasingly hearing the counterpoint from independent breweries which are seeing demand for their live ales continually increasing. Perhaps I just need an attitude adjustment. Let’s think positive and hope that the closure of the Albion brewery ultimately acts as a catalyst for opportunity and growth for our indie favourites. Hopefully, one day I will look back on this news as the moment the tide turned for the better for cask beer. Fingers crossed, eh?
