St Austell Brewery started brewing draught beer again this week, in preparation for a possible reopening of pubs from July 4 – based on timings indicated in the Government’s roadmap to recovery.
The independent brewery, which owns 182 managed and tenanted pubs across the West Country, also supplies over 3,000 free trade customers in the region. Production started with 440 barrels of the brewery’s flagship pale ale, Tribute, accounting for almost half of the company’s weekly output. The company is currently producing over 290,000 pints per week – which will be gradually scaled up in the weeks and months ahead.
St Austell Brewery is also gearing up to brew its other core cask brands including Proper Job, Cornish Best, Trelawny and Hicks, as well as keg beers, Proper Job, Korev, Mena Dhu. The company will start delivering beer – as well as wines, spirits and soft drinks – to wholesale customers across the West Country as soon as a reopening date has been confirmed.
Andrew Turner, MD of St Austell Brewery’s Beer and Brands said: “I’m pleased to say that we are back in production and getting ready for the long-awaited reopening of our great British pubs – which we’re hoping the Government will confirm as soon as possible. We’re proud to be playing our part in the national effort to restock cellars with fresh beer.
“Cask beer is an integral part of pub culture in the UK – there’s nothing quite like it. It’s been months since we’ve brewed draught beer – the longest time since 1851 – so we’re delighted to see production up and running again.”
Throughout the lockdown St Austell Brewery’s entire production effort has been focused on bottling and canning core beer brands for supermarkets, sales of which have risen by 32%. Since pub closures in March, St Austell Brewery’s online shop service has also seen an increase of over 1000% in comparison to 2019.
