Which route to market?

I have written before about the seemingly unstoppable rise in the number of new breweries in the UK, and how I consider that for some time, their numbers have reached a level which is un-sustainable. I know I’m not alone in thinking this, but they keep on coming, fuelled either by people “following their dream” or investors out to make a quick buck in what they see as a still growing market.

If proof were needed that brewery numbers have increased exponentially, I picked up a copy of the latest (Summer) edition of “Sussex Drinker” last week, whilst attending a joint social at the Greyhound in Charcott between my own CAMRA branch and a neighbouring one.

The Bru-News section, which gives updates on all current Sussex brewers, now runs to eight pages, and lists 60 separate breweries. A few of these are still in the “start-up” phase whilst, for various reasons, there is no update on several others. One or two are reported as “not currently brewing”, but the overall picture still remains one of un-fettered growth.

The main question to ask in relation to this is where does their custom come from? How do they find outlets wanting to take their beer, and if they do find places, does this involve elbowing another small brewer’s beers off the bar? The overall picture in the on-trade looks less than rosy, with pubs continuing to close, and whilst there are some well-publicised re-openings (see this blog for examples), trying to find sales outlets for these new brewers.

The appearance on the scene of micro-pubs, may have taken up a little of the slack, but given their size and often limited opening times, they are not proving to be the licensed trade’s salvation by any stretch of the imagination. This still leaves a growing number of micro-breweries chasing a dwindling number of pubs and bars, willing or able to take their beers. So what can be done in order to avoid mass carnage on the UK brewing front?

Having recently returned from a trip to Bamberg; a city which is home to nine breweries, I could not fail to be amazed by the variety of good beer available there, not just in Bamberg itself, but in the surrounding towns and villages. For example, the small town of Forchheim, which is a short train ride from Bamberg, boasts four breweries, each turning out a variety of different beers. So how is it possible for a town of just 25,000 people, to support four breweries?

The answer lies in the history of this part of northern Bavaria, which is known as Franconia (Franken in German). Following the end of WWII, and the partition of Germany into East and West, Franconia found itself relatively isolated from its former neighbours by the Iron Curtain, which ran along its northern and eastern flanks. This isolation allowed the region to plod along slowly at its own pace, sticking with the traditional ways and methods which had served it well for many decades.

Nowhere was this more apparent than in brewing, and here beers which have disappeared from other parts of Germany, can still be found; almost as if the whole region had been stuck in a time warp. Many villages in the area still boast their own brewery, and the majority of them are family-owned. They have been passed down through several generations to the present day, carrying on in much the same way as they have done since pre-industrial times.

I have been visiting Franconia on and off for the past decade, so am quite familiar with the region, its pubs and its beers. This interest was sparked after I picked up a copy of The Good Beer Guide to Munich & Bavaria; a CAMRA publication, which appeared in 1994. It was researched and written by former journalist, Graham Lees, who was one of the four founder members of CAMRA.

Lees had produced the guide after spending several years living and working in Munich during the late 1980’s- early 1990’s. Given that Bavaria is by far the largest of the German states, occupying a similar land area to that of Scotland, he obviously carried out an impressive amount of research, and the guide is certainly no light-weight when it comes to recommending the best beers and the best places in which to drink them.

When Graham was researching his book,  Bavaria boasted 750 breweries, which was a fifth of the world’s total at the time, so you really have to take your hat off to the man. Considering its importance as Bavaria’s capital, and the fact that Lees was living there, Munich gets a fair mount of attention, but Lees does make special mention of Franconia which, at the time contained over 450 breweries; not bad for an area the size of Wales!

In the introduction to the chapter on Franconia, Lees opens with the statement, “For the beer enthusiast, Franconia is close to Paradise – and fortunately not so inaccessible.” He then goes on to describe a brewing culture which predates industrial times in both scale and practice. He mentions villages, of no more than 2,00 people, having two or even three breweries; many producing no more than a few hundred barrels of beer a year, most intended for consumption in the family run pub.

And here is the crux of the matter, and the key as to why this rural, almost cottage industry has survived for so long. He elaborates by describing how alongside the brewery and the pun, the family enterprise might also include a small farm, a distillery producing Schnapps, a butcher’s shop, or even a slaughterhouse. No single part of these family is profitable on its own, but lumped together they combine to produce a reasonable income.

Bearing in mind when the book was written, the author says that as we approach the 21^st Century, Franconia is gradually sliding into the 20^th, placing much of this centuries old way of life at risk. He warns that in the years leading up to the publication of his guide, more than 50 breweries closed in Franconia, taking with them some excellent beers.

Having read this you can perhaps understand as to why I was first tempted to visit Franconia. I was not alone, as the region is now a Mecca for dozens of other beer enthusiasts including, in recent years, many Americans. The latter group have particularly taken the area to heart, possibly because of past military links. A large contingent of American forces was stationed in Bamberg, in the years which followed the end of WWII, and then afterwards as a result of Cold War tensions. It is also not uncommon to come across fellow beer enthusiasts from closer to home, when visiting the local pubs

Nearly a quarter of a century after Graham Lees’s book appeared, good beer is still widely available in Franconia, perhaps given a welcome boost by the conditions described above. With the increase in “beer tourism” many village pubs have branched out by offering accommodation, and this obviously provides an additional and very welcome source of income.

If this model works in rural Franconia, then why shouldn’t it in a county such as Sussex?  If small breweries can prosper in the former, why can’t the same thing apply in the latter? The answer of course is that most of the breweries in Franconia are well-established enterprises, which often date back many years, whilst nearly all those in Sussex are relative newcomers, devoid of the ties and the back-up which enable their Franconian counterparts to not just survive, but also prosper.

In Britain the traditions of close links with village life and the land have virtually died out; even in rural areas. The disappearance of this way of life was not as long ago as you might think, as just few generations ago it was not uncommon to find the landlord of a rural pub either working on the land during the day, or employed elsewhere, leaving his wife to run the pub during his absence. Several of our now sadly vanished country breweries, started off in a similar fashion, providing beer to thirty agricultural workers, and a handful of rural pubs. Ridley’s and Rayment’s  spring to mind, but I’m sure there are quite a few others.

There is one area though where the new wave of UK brewers could follow their much longer-established Franconian counterparts, and that is in off sales at the brewery. It is quite common in Germany to turn up at the brewery yard, and load up you car with a  crate or two of bottles, to drink at home. I saw evidence of this, a couple of years ago, when I visited the small brewery of Kloster Mallersdorf, where the brewing is carried out by nuns, and last year I saw customers loading crates into the back of their cars at Spital Brauerei, in Regensburg.

This practice has also become increasingly popular in the US, where there has been an unprecedented growth in small breweries. Filling up your “Growler”, as portable and reusable containers for draught beer are called on the other side of the Atlantic is a common occurrence at many breweries, so this is another area where UK breweries could capitalise on.

Quite a few of them have gone down this route and are reaping the benefits. Locally Westerham and Rockin’ Robin, spring to mind, but I’m certain there are many more. Selling your beers in Farm Shops is another source of income, and here breweries are mimicking their German counterparts. Five litre mini-casks are also a good idea, and I have seen an increasing number of local shops offering these.

Although Harvey's of Lewes and Fuller's of Chiswick, are long established breweries, both have impressive and well-stocked shops attached to their respective breweries. Fuller's have only recently re-opened their Chiswick shop, following an extensive re-fit. Fellow blogger BryanB, found  "Growlers" being used this side of the Atlantic for draught takeouts, when he called in the other day, along with much more.

Certainly these options are far better, and also far less risky, than relying on the fickleness of a diminishing free-trade market. The latter is increasingly accompanied by ruthless price-cutting, so if you have a brewery shop, not only do you have a guaranteed outlet for your products and somewhere to showcase them, but you will be able to charge a much more realistic price for them.