Jennings to brew again!

After the last week’s bad news, regarding the insolvency of By the Horns brewery, there’s more than a glimmer of good news on a different front concerning the re-opening of a recently closed brewery. It’s a story that appears to have come out of nowhere and concerns the re-opening of the former Jenning’s Brewery at Cockermouth, Cumbria, in the heart of the English Lake District. Jennings was a much-loved independent brewery, that slowly lost its freedom and its identity after a series of takeovers and mergers, so let’s first take a look at what happened in the run up to the closure of the brewery. Mick Knapton, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>

Jennings Brewery was founded by John Jennings Sr. in 1828, in the Cumbrian village of Lorton. His son was also involved in running the brewery and the concern was later passed on to his three grandsons after the death of Jennings Sr. The business prospered and grew in size, eventually outgrowing the Lorton brewery. With an eye to the future, Jennings moved to nearby Cockermouth in 1874, where there was more room for expansion. The brewery remains there today, at the foot of Cockermouth Castle, surrounded by the Rivers Derwent and Cocker.

In 1887, the brewery went from being a family-owned business to a public limited company, which enthusiastic locals were happy to buy shares in. This ensured that when the last member of the Jennings family died, the company kept its local identity; a situation that lasted for the next 100 years.  Jennings won multiple awards across the years, with beers such as, Cumberland, Sneck Lifter plus Cocker Hoop, and in 1999 the latter brew received the ultimate accolade of Champion Beer of Britain Bitter at CAMRA’s Great British Beer festival.

Jennings brewed successfully as an independent company until 2005 when the brewery and its pubs were purchased by Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries Ltd. In 2007, W&D changed their name to Marston's, after acquiring the Burton-based company because the Marston’s name was much better known.  In 2009, Cockermouth suffered serious flooding which badly affected the brewery as well. The floods had an enormous impact on the business, forcing Marston’s to implement flood safety features and barricades throughout the site. Further changes came for Jennings in 2020, when it became part of the Carlsberg group, following the merger of Carlsberg and Marston’s. This was closely followed by the Covid pandemic, which sounded the death knell for brewing at Cockermouth. The brewery closed its doors for the last time in November 2022, bringing to an end 194 years of brewing in the town. And there the Jennings’s story might well have ended, were it not for a recent development.

Enter two local business owners, Kurt Canfield (CEO of specialist engineering business Delkia) and Rebecca Canfield (Proprietor of wine and spirits company Wine and the Wood). The pair acquired the brewery for an undisclosed sum, at the start of February, and will take ownership of the brewery site, with the intention to resume brewing Jennings beer once again, at Cockermouth. The deal involves the transfer of all rights to the Jennings trademarks, intellectual property and recipes. Bottled beer, bearing the Jennings brand, will continue to be brewed by Carlsberg Britvic until March 2025, following which beer production will transfer to Jennings Brewery Limited.

Rebecca Canfield, explained that she had long cherished the Jennings Brewery site, adding that preserving the heritage of the brewery and the maltings, was of utmost importance to her and her partner. With almost 200 years of brewing history at Cockermouth, the one element that really attracted the couple to the project, was the fact it has its own well. Ms Canfield stated that the pure, Lakeland water drawn direct from the castle well, was integral to the brewing of Jennings beer, and acted as the “secret ingredient” which gives the beer its “distinctive Cumberland flavour.” 

Kurt Canfield stated that the project the pair had embarked on, was an ambitious endeavour which will benefit the entire community. He added that there are plans to enhance the site while respecting the history and the heritage of both the brewery and the maltings. Unsurprisingly, given the time that both buildings have stood idle, certain critical repairs are necessary, and there is much to do to restore the Cockermouth brewery to its former glory. But with a small, but passionate team around them, focussed on bringing that heritage back to life, the Canfields remain confident of bringing back the great beers that Jennings was once known for.

The new company, set up by the pair, is set to create seven new jobs in the Cockermouth area, covering Head Brewer, the brewing team, plus the sales and marketing departments. Chris France, the founder of specialty beer retailer Beer Hawk, is joining as managing director of the new, Jennings Brewery Limited. David Bodily, head of properties and facilities at Carlsberg Britvic, said the Danish brewing giant was pleased to have closed the sale of the business to two new local owners, who are looking to preserve the brewery’s heritage. He finished by saying, “The brewery occupies a unique location in Cockermouth, and we wish Kurt and Rebecca every success for the future."

In the meantime, I’m sure there are lots of details still to be sorted. For a start, is the brewing equipment still in place, as normally, following a closure, the “wreckers” will be sent in, to strip out everything of value. Reading between the lines, we must assume that essential parts of the plant are still intact – mash tuns, coppers, fermenting vessels etc, plus ancillary items such as refrigeration and cooling equipment.

We must also assume that the new owners have done their homework, diligently and methodically, otherwise they might have bought the proverbial, “pig in a poke.” Assuming then, that everything is as it should be, and that brewing can recommence at Jennings, we must wish the new owners, every success with their new venture, and look forward to enjoying Jennings Lakeland Ales, on future visits to the Lake District.

Final note, much of the information regarding this most welcome of developments, came from an article that appeared on the Food Manufacture website, which you can read here. Also, there are few photos to illustrate this post, primarily because I have none of my own. My last visit to the Lake District was over 40 years ago, so there are certainly no electronic photographs taken by me. The ones that I did manage to find, are library ones, reproduced under a “Creative Commons” licence.