I am sure that many beer lovers will be familiar with Suffolk-based St Peter’s Brewery, with its distinctive oval-shaped bottles and diverse range of interesting beers. Founded in 1996, the brewery is based in former agricultural buildings alongside the historic St Peter’s Hall, in the village of St Peter South Elmham, close to the town of Bungay.
St Peter’s could be described as one of the UK's pioneering craft brewers, long before the term became fashionable, and alongside a range of “traditional” beers, such as Best Bitter, Pale Ale and Golden Ale, produce a host of other interesting beers, including porters, stout, pilsner and the odd fruit beer.
Although selling St Peter’s was a difficult decision for John, he is delighted to have found a team that will continue his legacy and continue to make high quality, traditional beers. This is especially important given the loyal following St Peter's attracts, in over 20 countries.
He went on to say that “John Murphy had a clear vision for the brand, and we want to build on that.” He pledged to invest in the Suffolk brewery from the outset, and to maintain quality while meeting growing demand.
So, some a positive development, coming at a time when good news is in short supply. I was alerted to the takeover, by a press release forwarded by Nikki Whiteford, who also kindly supplied the high-resolution photos used to illustrate this post.
Most are self-explanatory, whilst the final shot shows new CEO Derek Jones toasting the deal at the Jerusalem Tavern with former owner and founder John Murphy.
9 comments:
Never seen their beers outside the Jerusalem and, incongruously, at the odd Spoons festival.
Mrs RM liked their bottles but has moved on to murky IPA in cans so I'm not sure what their market is. Waitrose shoppers?
Never much liked the ones I've tried, tbh. Their alcohol-free beer was undrinkably vile.
Martin, I've also witnessed the same limited availability of St Peter's beers. I asked Nikki, the lady who sent me the press release, where else they were on sale. I was told Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose, Ocado & The Coop, but suspect most of their market must be overseas.
According to the company website, "The iconic oval shape of their signature 500ml bottle, is based on an eighteenth century gin bottle from Gibbstown, by the Delaware River near Philadelphia." I remember when these bottles first appeared, and it was a clever piece of marketing, but having them custom made, must work out expensive.
Mudge, if I'm honest I can't really remember which St Peter's beers I've tried, but if I spot any the next time I'm in one of the above supermarkets (obviously not Ocado), I will give them a try.
from what I remember from the brewery tour, yes their biggest market was bottles export to Russia and Scandanavia, something like 40% of their production is exported,followed by bottles to supermarkets, ultimately they were originally setup to export English beer styles to the world, so its no surprise theyve always focussed on that part rather than try to be a brewer that ends up in lots of pubs around the UK.
But their actual normal alchol beers are usually quite good, I concur the alcohol free stuff is awful but is weirdly still popular, Ive always liked their grapefruit beer, now renamed citrus, which is as good as any craft brewed citra hopped beer there is. They did a nice red ale called Farmers Flagon last year to celebrate 100 years of the National farmers union in Suffolk,and the rest is fairly good stuff.
and for sure its easier to get hold of in Suffolk, a cask does escape every so often to local pubs (pre covid), but its available in bottles in all the local shops, and they have a near permanent presense at all the big local farmers markets and shows/events.
what this deal will mean Im not sure, theyve kind of weathered what the press would call tough trading conditions for many many years, and tried to adapt a few times, hopefully theyll carry on doing what theyve been doing if it was successful for them, why change.
fwiw they do also sell beer in normal round bottles as well.
Bets on the brewery remaining as a quirky hark to tradition for a while, as the brand gets developed and most production ends up coming out of a larger contract brewer?
Stono, I've noticed St Peter's involvement in local farmers' markets and other food related events, from their website, so I supposed it makes sense for them to concentrate on their immediate area, certainly as far as cask is concerned.
The brewery itself seems quite large - also from photos on the website, but are they actually achieving the necessary volumes?
On the plus side, and from what you say, they've weathered difficult trading conditions so far, and the sale of the business is down to the owner/founder's understandable decision to want to retire.
This brings me on to your point electricpics, it depends really on how successful the new owners are in their desire to develop the brand, but also just how important the market views its provenance.
I have tried most of these beers over the years. My local Booths has stocked them since the 1990's, I think. Never really been taken by them, although the bottles are lovely, almost like old fashioned medicine bottles.
To me they occupy the traditional end of the spectrum. Nothing wrong with that of course. But why does a small brewer need to do that when bigger players can do it and get economies of scale?
Robin, perhaps there's an opportunity for the new owners to revamp the range - not too drastically, stick with the heritage and all that,but pep the beers up a bit, so they appeals to a younger and more discerning clientele.
Paul, yes I agree that's probably the right direction for them. Also if the business model and the export side of things works well for them, then why make radical changes?
I forgot to mention I like the fact that this business supports the homebrew community with kits of some of their beers.
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