Greene King boss faces a roasting (BBC News)
Of course, Greene King are perfectly entitled to sell whatever beer they like in their own pubs, but in this case they seem to be acting brazenly in the face of local opinion. That’s nothing unusual… despite the idealistic “traditional ale plus modern forward thinking” message on their company website, Greene King represent one of the biggest threats to proper localised brewing in this country.
Their recent growth spurt is well documented by CAMRA who have expressed concern over the Greene King approach to ruthless expansion. Other large brewers, such as Fullers or Wolverhampton & Dudley, have taken over struggling local breweries recently, but have generally maintained their product ranges, striving to keep the quality and branding consistent. On the other hand, Greene King simply absorb the resources of the smaller companies into their own homogenous operation.
I’m really tempted to go down to Lewes tomorrow for the bonfire celebrations. I’ve been before and it’s a lot of fun, but there’s that extra level of intrigue this year. I don’t exactly need much persuasion to drink Harvey’s beer, so I’m perfectly happy to do it as an act of protest :-)
(By the way, there’s more info on the whole affair at the Lewes Arms blog)