searching for job

from searching on Google for - "breweries india"

good luck, cheers MikeMcG nr Liverpool, UK. (the UK is where much of the world's "indian" beer comes from - Shepherd Neame, Kent brew Kingfisher, Charles Wells brew Cobra lager, & a few others I think + 'Jamaican' Red Stripe, 'Japanese' Kirin

Shepherd Neame is now part of the giant Indian beverage conglomerate UB, which also owns several microbreweries in the US (Mendocino and Saratoga Springs)- which is where "our" Kingfisher comes from in the States.

are you sure? Scottish & Newcastle (aka Scottish Courage) did a deal with UB a few years back, which, it was suggested might mean the end of Shepherd Neame's lucrative contract to brew & distribute Kingfisher in the UK, but I've heard nothing about UB taking over Shepherd Neame

- the UK's oldest independent family-controlled brewery (since 1698).

Are you confusing 2 UK breweing companies with similar initials, both linked to UB? Tho as far as I can see, neither have been taken over by UB.

I coulda sworn when I was in the States in 1999 I saw ShepherdNeame brewed Kingfisher there.

I didn't know UB owned Mendocino though - interesting stuff. By the looks of things they're no longer a micro - with the big Ukiah & Saratoga plants.

Is the beer still good? I recently saw the Hopland pub on the Beerhunter series (Fritz Maytag & company dropped in for a couple of beers on the way to see the barley harvest) cheers MikeMcG

You know, when I first wrote that, I wrote something like "that Shepherd Neame has some sort of connection with UB" but changed it based on this: "UB Shepherd Neame Limited (UBSN), based in Faversham, Kent in the United Kingdom, is an ultimate wholly-owned subsidiary company of Mendicino Brewing Co. Inc., USA."

But, re-reading it, it is sort of confusing, all the strange connections between these breweries (and, yeah, the addition of S&N in the mix is all the more complicated). I do remember reading that one of the Neame's is on the board of UB, but their website is also confusing and I can't find it today. This financial site, also seems to claims Shepherd Neame is owned by UB-

659617

"The UB group's presence, in these markets, is through its 100 percent subsidiary, UB Shepherd Neame (UBSN)." Perhaps UBSN is not the brewery itself, but just a distribution/importer company now owned by UB?

Oh, that's entirely possible- I think the US-brewed Kingfisher is getting a slow roll-out.

Again, the wording on the site is very vague- "In 1997, Dr. Vijay Mallya invested into the company." Not UB invested or bought controlling shares....

Can't say I've had one in many years. While many liquor stores (where beer is sold in my state) in my area are owned by Indians and Kingfisher is on the shelves, I don't usually drink light lagers and most of the Indian restaurants I go to don't have licenses for selling beer.

I recently saw the Hopland pub on the

Hmmm...I've got an old DVD of that series but haven't looked at it in years...

I think that's exactly it - Shep's website has nothing about change of ownership of the brewery.

Wells&Youngs have just done a similar sounding deal with ScottishCourage & created a separate business mainly owned by W&Y, this company now contracts W&Y to brew & distribute the Courage brands.

yep, one of your links says Canada, Ireland & 17 Euro countries are still supplied from Kent.

(re Mendocino)

no me neither - if the Mendocino Kingfisher is anything like the Shep's version it's not really worth bothering with. I was more curious if Mendocino getting much larger & brewing on 3 sites had changed the quality of their regular beers any.

But do they let you bring your own?

company dropped in for a couple of

it's really heartening stuff, especially the Maytag episode. The series was AFAIK only ever shown on UK TV once & never released here on VHS or DVD (I bought mine from an Ohio video store, via amazon.com) cheers MikeMcG

.

Yeah, should have stuck with "some connection with UB"- I'm usually a stickler for accuracy and when I did a quick check to make sure I was remembering it right, I mis-read it. Now I wonder if the "Neame" I saw as part of the corporate officers was for UBSN and not UB.

Oh, yeah, I've read that. Didn't Youngs also have the contract for Mackeson's Stout for a while, too? (We get a contract-brewed MS by Boston Beer Co., in Cincinnati in the states but I miss the UK version- even if it was a different recipe that the local stuff, apparently). So far, we haven't received any of the Young's beer brewed at the Wells site but it seems they've dropped a few labels (Dirty Dick, Oatmeal Stout).

I'd figured the Mendocino/Saratoga stuff was strictly for the US market, but anything is possible.

Yeah, that's what I figured, and the green bottle is enough to turn me off if I ever get "curious"...

I can't say as the Mendocino brands ever made much of an impression on me- I tend to drink "local" Northeast beers unless something has an reputation for being out of the ordinarily good, rare, different, etc. The Saratoga brewery does a LOT of contract brewing for many Northeast breweries that, I take it, are too small to afford a bottling line, and are rather open about it (unlike a lot of contractors and contractees):

I was impressed with their Thomas Hooker IPA (which I recently got in a trade) and the He'Brew line has a couple of interesting specialty beers (despite sounding like a gimmick brewery) like Bittersweet Lenny's and Jewbulation and I see there's a new ORIGIN POMEGRANATE ALE...hmmm....not that I care for most fruit beers but I make an exception for "tart" ones...

Oh, yes. In fact, I prefer it that way- I've got a better selection in my refrigerator than most ethnic restaurants are going to have and feel no need to match the "nationality" of the beer with the food. (I like something hoppy to cut through spicy foods, anyway.)

company dropped in for a couple of

I''ll have to break it out again some rainy day...

Possibly - I would guess both companies would have representatives on the board of USBN.

AFAIK Ridley's (closed by Greene King aka Greed King) used to brew Mackeson's for UK (at a low ABV) & export at a healthier strength. I knew the ex-headbrewer & she said the unfiltered unpasteurised version was lovely (this was about year 2000).

Wikipedia says Youngs had the contract, but that it's brewed in London (where, as you know, Young's no longer brew). I'm guessing the contract followed them to Charles Wells, Bedford

Same recipe, apart from added water to ours!

I had a look at the link - I thought Dock Street had died entirely - I remember reading about them way back in one of MJ's books - for a brewpub they really seemed to punch above their weight. I finally got to try some of their beers, when I visited friends in Philly in 1999, but we went to the newer Terminal Market place. Good beer though.

of their own at the moment? But it's good to see that one of the originators is involved in its reappearance.

likewise you don't often get decent beer sold in a curryhouse here, but the unlicensed ones (& some others) will often let you bring your own in (some don't sell alcohol on religious grounds). There's a great curry house in Bradford (Yorkshire) next door to a cracking real ale pub & they let you take your pints straight in :~)

My only bad experience of this situation was in a Wirral (nr Liverpool) curry house - I let a waiter open a bottle-conditioned beer, which proceeded to gush out of the bottle all over his shirt, while I opened another bottle all over the tablecloth! (lovely beer, but this batch was way too way too carbonated - Freeminer 'Goldminer, bottled by Marston's)

cheers, MikeMcG

put down his beer long enough to post :

heh heh. oh how far the mighty FEKLAAR has fallen.

DB