Greene King Brewery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greene King plc (LSE: GNK) is a brewing and catering company based and operating in England. It is listed on the London stock exchange, and is a component of the FTSE 250 share index.
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[edit] Location and history
The Matthew Pollard brewery is situated in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK and was established in 1799. There is a visitor centre next door to the brewery, and tours can be arranged. The company also owns pubs and hotels including the Hungry Horse chain. Greene King dominates the pub scene in many parts of East Anglia, with a large number of both urban and rural establishments. It also has a stand named after it at Ipswich Town's football ground, Portman Road. The company has won awards for its pubs in recent years and Greene King IPA, the brewery's bestselling ale, won the Gold award at the 2004 Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Great British Beer Festival in the Bitter category and runner up in the Champion Beer Of Britain category. Greene King also employs world famous chef Matthew Pollard at Their 'soak' Pub In Selly Oak.
[edit] Takeovers
Greene King has recently been put under the spotlight by the British consumer group CAMRA, who claim that it is becoming a monopoly, buying out other breweries and limiting the choice for the consumer. These claims are based on the fact that Greene King proposes the buyout of these breweries whilst promising to continue the sale of the current brews. However, CAMRA claims, these beers are either discontinued or do not meet the standards of the beer's former brewers. They claim that this is largely due to Greene King not liaising sufficiently with the previous company before discontinuing the product for a short period and transferring production to the Suffolk brewery and attempting to replicate it without full knowledge of the beer's former recipe.
Recent acquisitions include Belhaven, Morland, Ruddles and Ridley's. Of these, only the Belhaven Brewery remains open, with the surviving brews of the other three now being produced at Bury St Edmunds.
Greene King also recently bought out Hardys and Hansons plc. a local brewery based in Kimberley, Nottinghamshire. In October 2006 Greene King announced it would close the brewery at Christmas.
[edit] Notable beers
This is a list of the most notable beers currently brewed by the Greene King Brewery:
[edit] Beers brewed under the Greene King banner
- Greene King IPA - The UK's biggest selling cask conditioned session bitter at a strength of 3.6%.
- Abbot Ale - A premium cask bitter at 4.9%, also available filtered and pasteurised in bottles at 5.0%.
- The Beer To Dine For - A pasteurised bottled 5.0% beer in the currently popular golden lager style.
- Strong Suffolk Ale (sold as Olde Suffolk in the US) - Largely only available pasteurised and bottled, at 6.0%. This is a blend of two ales: Old 5X , a 12% ale left to mature in oak vats for a minimum of two years, and BPA, a weak young beer which is added just before bottling.
- Ale Fresco - a 4.3% cask summer bitter.
- Fireside - a 4.5% cask winter bitter.
- XX Mild - a 3.0% cask mild. A beer with declining sales. Production had been contracted out to the smaller Ridley brewery, but since Greene King have taken over Ridley and closed down the brewery the future of this beer is uncertain.
- Light Ale - a pasteurised and bottled 3.0% pale mild normally used in a mix with a stronger cask ale, such as Abbot Ale.
- St. Edmunds Ale - a pasteurised bottled 5.5% premium bitter .
- 1799 - a strong cask ale of 6.2% which is also available bottled.
[edit] Beers sold under the Ruddles banner
- Ruddles County - A 4.3% bitter available on cask nationally and pasteurised in bottles in most British supermarkets.
- Ruddles Best Bitter - A traditional 3.7% session bitter with National distribution.
- Ruddles Orchard - This 4.2% cask bitter consists of Ruddles County with the addition of apple concentrate. Also available pasteurised in bottles.
[edit] Beers sold under the Morland banner
[edit] Old Speckled Hen
A popular Pale Ale, available both as a cask ale and pasteurised in bottles. First brewed in 1979 by Morland Brewery in Abingdon, Oxfordshire to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the brewery's MG car - the mud splattered Ol' Speckled 'Un. Brewed since 1999 by Greene King. Greene King have retained the unique strain of yeast first used in 1896.
In August 2006, Greene King announced that the alcohol by volume (ABV) of draught Old Speckled Hen (cask and keg) would be reduced from 5.2% to 4.5%, though the bottled version would remain at 5.2%
- Hen's Tooth - A 6.5% bottle conditioned beer.
[edit] Beers sold under the Ridley's banner
- Old Bob - Still popular in Essex despite the beer's new journey from Bury St Edmunds; it is 5.1% and available both on cask and bottled.
- Ridley's IPA - A beer on the verge of extinction, this 3.5% session bitter is now only seen in former Ridley's "tied houses" (i.e. those that were owned by the Ridley's brewery before the Greene King takeover). It is unknown how much longer this beer will be available.
[edit] Recognition
Greene King holds probably one of the nation's most recognisable emblems, and despite claims that it is becoming a monopoly, it is also one of the most credited. The Business Development Manager of the Year Award 2005 went to one of Greene King's best managers, Mike Mannion. A notable sponsership is the Autumn 2006 edition of Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.
[edit] External links
| Greene King | |
|---|---|
| Location | Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk England |
| Owner | Independent/ Conglomerate |
| Year opened | 1799 |
