Cain's - lager touts. (long)

This *is* The Publican, the house journal of the "I am the man, the very fat man, that waters the workers' beer" brigade. The 'journalist' probably just made a few mistakes copying the Cains press release.

I don't like the whiff of racism either, but personally I think Cains have yet to establish their credentials as a genuine craft brewer. Their cask beers are good, but as The Cynical Alcopop Flogging Bastard (sorry, 'Publican') admits, the bulk of their business is still making cheap supermarket lager, and their current focus seems to be on pushing this new Stella bashing lager. We'll have to see what happens.

Best regards, Paul

-- Paul Sherwin Consulting

IMO Cain's have proved themselves as a genuine craft brewer, and committed cask ale brewer - their ordinary bitter when kept well & fresh is an old-style-looking brown bitter, but unlike many of them it comes with a lovely fruity flowery hop note that keeps you coming back for more. The mild when fresh is absolutely superb & deserved of its international award a few years back (it sadly is harder to find than the bitter, & even harder to find really fresh).

But cask/craft beer just isn't all Cain's do, and at present the that aspect alone would almost certainly not support the business as a whole

- I think they're wisely trying to build quality brands under their own banner while keeping the business going (i.e. the lauter-tuns full & canning line canning) by brewing/packaging less good beers for those happy to buy it. Not ideal, perhaps, to us as cask fans, but IMO an understandable compromise given the size of the brewery, packaging line, site & workforce. cheers MikeMcG

Indeed. I'd rather see a craft brewer diversify into popularist crap to increase revenues rather than attempt to be exclusively traditional and go to the wall.

I might even have liked to see Higsons survive, but that's another story...

Brian