This post is primarily about the London beer market, perspectives from elsewhere are welcome
Guinness has long been predominant when it comes to nitrokeg stout on pub bars. Being of a certain age I preferred bottled Guinness when it was bottle conditioned. Those were the days etc.
A new Guinness brewery and tap is due to open in Covent Garden in the autumn and that will be an interesting and welcome development.
Guinness is of course firmly Big Beer, owned by Diageo. In the recent period a surge in popularity has seen independent craft bars look to have a stout on the bar. Step forward Anspach and Hobday’s London Black. In my a very good stout, given that while Guinness is by far the market leader, there should be space at the bar for others.Of course the market doesnt often work quite like that.
Guinness has clearly noted the development and has started appearing in a few craft bars that generally would have nothing to do with Big Beer.
Now Camden Town Brewery owned by ABInBev have announced a new 4% nitrokeg stout for the pub trade to which it will apparently add ‘extra value’. Camden also brew a rather good stout called Ink and did even before Big Beer got hold of them.
It will be interesting to see how the Stout Nitrokeg wars develop.
We are talking about beer here btw although two of the three brewers mentioned above are talking primarily share price
I havent dwelt on Brewdog’s Jet Black stout here since I doubt that will appear in craft bars. Perhaps I’m wrong
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