[Sussex] Fullers buy Dark Star

[northernseagull]

I wonder what that'll mean for the Dark Star pubs if anything at all?! They can leave the hop head alone...

 

[Hamilton]

They ditched Gales Bitter because they felt it was too close in flavour to their London Pride. Not sure HSB has ever been the same since brewing moved to Chiswick either. The award winning Gales Festival Mild they also ditched using spring water to make it, thus effecting the taste. Was more a case of asset stripping, selling off the Horndean Brewery site for housing etc. etc.

Got to disagree on the HSB. Still an absolute fave. On the others, I bow to your knowledge. Let's hope they recognise that they are buying a jewel to protect and not one to just stick into Chiswick whilst maintaining some window-dressing brewing in PG.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Disappointed as I like their beer and I’m sure there will be some dumbing-down along the way. But, let’s not forget, Britain and Brighton/Sussex have plenty of other excellent brewers to choose from.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

The most worrying aspect for those that have grown the business is that Fuller's are taking 100% of the company to allow it to invest in future expansion. No headline acquisition price or talk of transition for the MD.

 

[Lankyseagull]

The award winning Gales Festival Mild they also ditched using spring water to make it, thus effecting the taste. Was more a case of asset stripping, selling off the Horndean Brewery site for housing etc. etc.

Gales Festival Mild was a great beer, many pints enjoyed pre-match in the Withdean years at The Basketmakers. Had one pint of the Fullers brewed version and it was nowhere near as good.

I'm not sure that the quality of Dark Star will be that affected if it is still to be brewed at Partridge Green, but at least here in Sussex we have the magnificent range of beers from Burning Sky to drown our sorrows with!

 

[Tubby Mondays]

Gales Festival Mild was a great beer, many pints enjoyed pre-match in the Withdean years at The Basketmakers.

Yeah I had the outbreaks of gout to prove it!

 

[Bold Seagull]

Got to disagree on the HSB. Still an absolute fave. On the others, I bow to your knowledge. Let's hope they recognise that they are buying a jewel to protect and not one to just stick into Chiswick whilst maintaining some window-dressing brewing in PG.

I used to leave just outside Horndean village and the head brewer used to play at Petersfield Squash club, so had a bit of an education from him!

 

[Lankyseagull]

Yeah I had the outbreaks of gout to prove it!

I thought that was the result of our infamous trip to Snargate...


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[beorhthelm]

if it changes their brewing, that would be disappointing but the trend is for wider variety. nothing wrong with Fullers output anyway imo.

 

[attila]

Once Mark Tranter and Rob Jones had left this was always on the cards. And that is the nice way of putting it

 

[Napper]

People that drink ale are weird

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Fashinable though isn't it.

Lets be honest most these beers taste like rotten old socks. Ok , so they have an edgy name like Goblins anus or something but they taste like utter utter shi te.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Youngs was merged with Charles Wells up in Bedford in 2006, so nothing to do with Fullers. They did close the Wandsworth Brewery as it was hugely valuable Real Estate. Occasionally drive by there and nothing much seems to happened as yet, presume much of it has Listed status?

As a teenager in west London, l was brought up on Youngs beer, and absolutely loved Youngs Special. Although Charles Wells still brew it, to me it has a totally different flavour to the original version. No doubt they have, in their wisdom, decided to change the recipe.

A great great shame in my book. If it aint broke, as the saying goes, why try to fix it?

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

My fear is they just brew Hophead and APA and roll them out as national beer's like Tribute, Doom Bar and London Pride. The sheer volume of that required means that's all they have room to brew.

For me Doom Bar isn't the same beer since Sharpe's was taken over by Coors a few years ago.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Fashinable though isn't it.

.

I'll be honest, when I was 18 and the only one drinking Harveys in a crowd of a Fosters, I never thought "god, I'm fashionable".

 

[fataddick]

A lot of Dark Star purists reckon the quality of the beers has dropped a fair bit in recent years anyway, ever since it switched from being a brewery run by brewers (most of whom left to do other things) and became a brewery run by PR/marketing types. Given the latter, a takeover/sale has probably been on the cards for a while. Also bear mind in mind that Dark Star announced in March 2015 that they would be opening 20 new pubs over the next five years. Three years later they've managed just two (Haywards Heath and Horsham) which very much suggests their dreams of expansion were beyond their financial ability. Presumable this new deal will address that. As far as their four existing pubs are concerned, the Morning Advertiser reports that a separate company (run by the Dark Star directors) has been set up to run them, so I doubt anything much will change at the Evening Star etc. Fullers already have hundreds of pubs, so (unlike their acquisition of Gales who had 111 pubs) it's unlikely Dark Star's four are much of a factor in the takeover.

 

[Marshy]

I wonder what that'll mean for the Dark Star pubs if anything at all?! They can leave the hop head alone...

I think the article said the Pubs would remain as they are.

Who knows might even see even more variety, as has been said I can think of a lot worse partners for Dark Star.

As for Hophead... its not my thing... I love ale but not the Hoppy ones.

 

[fataddick]

Here's the MA report (which has a lot more detail than the OG one): https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2018/02/20/Fuller-s-announces-Dark-Star-take-over

 

[smudge]

If you like washing down your KFC with a drop of Dark Star then it's not a good week.

 

[spence]

Ooh London Pride my favorite drink.

Amazing this love in for Dark Star and yet sales were so poor in the first couple of seasons at the Amex that the club ditched it. Go figure.

 

[spence]

A lot of Dark Star purists reckon the quality of the beers has dropped a fair bit in recent years anyway, ever since it switched from being a brewery run by brewers (most of whom left to do other things) and became a brewery run by PR/marketing types. Given the latter, a takeover/sale has probably been on the cards for a while. Also bear mind in mind that Dark Star announced in March 2015 that they would be opening 20 new pubs over the next five years. Three years later they've managed just two (Haywards Heath and Horsham) which very much suggests their dreams of expansion were beyond their financial ability. Presumable this new deal will address that. As far as their four existing pubs are concerned, the Morning Advertiser reports that a separate company (run by the Dark Star directors) has been set up to run them, so I doubt anything much will change at the Evening Star etc. Fullers already have hundreds of pubs, so (unlike their acquisition of Gales who had 111 pubs) it's unlikely Dark Star's four are much of a factor in the takeover.

Not enough Fullers pubs. I want more.