Shippou-Sensei
4:1:2.5
Because people who work for a company are famously unbiased?
I'm taking so many pinches of salt my blood pressure is no over yes
Brixton news, rumours and general chat
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I'm taking so many pinches of salt my blood pressure is no over yes
It wasn’t really a question of bias - it was people arguing over the facts of what was happening.
And Mr Brixton Beer seemed open and reasonable. This isn’t a Hollywood film where the company man has to be evil. It’s Brixton Brewery not Shell.
jimbarkanoodle
Well-Known Member
Lidl, not Aldi, were briefly selling Staropramen brewed in Czech Republic. Almost 100% of the time in the UK, it is brewed by Molson Coors in Burton on Trent and its rotten compared to the stuff brewed in Czechia.Are you absolutely sure about that? I see Aldi sell the #1 Praue beer sourced in the UK.
Staropramen 12 X 330ml
groceries.aldi.co.uk
jimbarkanoodle
Well-Known Member
You might be a co-founder of Brixton Brewery, but you are an employee of Heineken now mate.
Yes i read your statement thanks. I also read this one from you, from earlier this year when you launched a beer that apparently goes with BBQ's.
Can you explain what this means in layman's terms, to those of us who aren't industry millionaires? Was this under the guidance of the PR agency you appointed also earlier this year, called 'Fanclub PR'?
editor
hiraethified
It's actually Heineken, really. The second biggest brewer on the planet, raking in multi billion dollar profits every year.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Yes well it seems this was a special "middle of Lidl" offer which ended on 5th September, as reviewed by this super enthusiastic Welsh beer lover
jimbarkanoodle
Well-Known Member
It was a hot debate on this forum too
Agreed, it is decent of jezg to come on and respond to the criticism.
I guess everyone in this forum is invested in Brixton and likes to see jobs and investment in the area, local people doing well, as well as a product which is synonymous with Brixton. And that is what has been needling me, rather than the beer quality. He could argue that the product will be the same, better even, and it won't satisfy me. I was only using the examples of other Heineken UK brands as the product is demonstrably awful, backed only by branding and distribution.
jezg is focused on the end product and maximising his investment, which is also an understandable viewpoint, especially he has put much more in than me as a consumer or a local resident beer drinker.
I think agreeing to disagree is best.
xsunnysuex
Life is a horizontal fall.
Beautiful. I missed it.
editor
hiraethified
It didn't last long but I sensed one was coming, given the highly changeable weather!Beautiful. I missed it.
jezg
Well-Known Member
I think what's getting in your grill is you don't think we have any right to claim the name/be a community brewery? I guess because the business is now owned by Heineken.
I think this is a facile argument.
As for the beer it uses smoked malt to evoke the taste of bbq and spices bought in the market and blended by local legend Ruben.
Believe it or not but we managed to come up with the idea ourselves and even managed to write about it.
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jezg
Well-Known Member
Obvs but weren't you implying I was a mere mouthpiece, mate?
jimbarkanoodle
Well-Known Member
The problem is when you scratch a little below the surface it's tough to consider Brixton Brewery and yourself as a pillar of the local community when you've jumped into bed with individuals like Lawson John Wembridge Mountstevens, director of Star Bars (and Co Director of Brixton Brewery), who were responsible for stuff like this:
www.google.com
But, business is business, I suppose.
I see that beer apparently made with spices from the market is no longer available, assume it's a seasonal thing. I wonder if it will return next year or the bean counters at Heineken will have binned it off what with the big move to Enfield.
The Railway Tavern in Tulse Hill announces crowdfunder and weekender to cover rent during coronavirus lockdown
The popular Railway Tavern pub in Tulse Hill is being hit hard by their landlord’s insistence that they keep paying rent during the lockdown, and with no money coming in to pay the bills, the…
www.google.com
But, business is business, I suppose.
I see that beer apparently made with spices from the market is no longer available, assume it's a seasonal thing. I wonder if it will return next year or the bean counters at Heineken will have binned it off what with the big move to Enfield.
editor
hiraethified
But your website very much gives off the impression that you a true local independent brewery - and that's clearly the (false) impression you want to give because there's no mention of Heineken or your main Enfield brewery anywhere on the home page.
Click on the 'about us' section and on the first page there's - again - no reference to your multi-billion dollar corporate owners. It's only if you click FOUR times on the horizontally scrolling panel do you see them finally mentioned.
Clicking on the 'Brewing' section of the site makes zero reference to Enfield, instead giving the misleading impression that everything is made in Brixton:
jezg
Well-Known Member
Pretty sure we don't use the word "independent" anywhere on our site and are fully transparent about our ownership, including on our website.
There is no reason to mention our parent company on the site?
We are a totally seperate business and still founder led.
When we conduct customer/ consumer tours we always mention it. There is no smokescreen.
Re. brewing section fair enough, it needs updating and I'll do that. We do still brew all of our core range in Brixton but not all of the volume as we outgrew our capacity in 2021 and need to move the remainder as our lease is running down.
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jezg
Well-Known Member
You seem to be ignoring my previous responses and just creating new arguments. It's getting a bit tedious tbh but guess you can do that whilst behind an Internet moniker with no accountability. I don't do that.The problem is when you scratch a little below the surface it's tough to consider Brixton Brewery and yourself as a pillar of the local community when you've jumped into bed with individuals like Lawson John Wembridge Mountstevens, director of Star Bars (and Co Director of Brixton Brewery), who were responsible for stuff like this:
The Railway Tavern in Tulse Hill announces crowdfunder and weekender to cover rent during coronavirus lockdown
The popular Railway Tavern pub in Tulse Hill is being hit hard by their landlord’s insistence that they keep paying rent during the lockdown, and with no money coming in to pay the bills, the…
But, business is business, I suppose.
I see that beer apparently made with spices from the market is no longer available, assume it's a seasonal thing. I wonder if it will return next year or the bean counters at Heineken will have binned it off what with the big move to Enfield.
re. Railway I don't know the details, it's none of my business but normally there are always two sides to every story.
Re BBQ beer its sold out and an experimental brew, but if we do it again I'll let you know.
editor
hiraethified
I don't know about you, but most people I know - especially craft ale fans - like to know who actually owns the company they're spending their money on.
Whenever it's come up in conversation, the vast majority of people I've met assume that Brixton Brewery is still a local independent brewery because that's the impression the advertising gives.
jezg
Well-Known Member
I agree which is why we are always transparent about this and tell our customers and consumers when they come on tours. We wear it with pride.
We are not independent in terms of ownership but are in terms of how the business is run which is why I reject the tropes about the quality getting worse, the bean counters etc. It simply isn't remotely true.
I think I've also made the point before that we can't support the community Without resources. For example all the help we gave Judith Kerr Oktoberfest yday and today at Windmill Harvest festival where myself and my staff volunteered their time and all proceeds will be donated to the mill. This is nothing new btw, we've been doing since we started.
Can you please mention those things along with our ownership next time you have one of those "chats"?
editor
hiraethified
I just tell people that your company is wholly owned by the second biggest multi national brewery on the planet - something that isn't apparent on your website.
I'll be glad to pass on news of your charideee work. Could you tell me what percentage of your profits you donate to charity?
jezg
Well-Known Member
Fair enough, we only mention it 4 times.
I've also created a handy link you can pass on to people who think we are "hiding" this.
Maybe you should start a campaign for all "Independent" breweries to put their ownership structure on their websites too, for full transparency?
I guess the issue you have is who the owner is though and that's on you, not us.
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jezg
Well-Known Member
Thanks in advance.
tbh I don't know what the percentage is as were not bean counters, and we don't just give to charity. Most local causes aren't charities.
We are currently working on formalising this support though, watch this space. You could even ask us for support, we might be able to do that.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Interested to see jezg is a Manchester graduate - albeit 21 years after myself.
There is scope in Manchester 1824 alumni refreshments - I went to a Manchester alumni meeting at RIBA a couple weeks ago and (apart from wine and canapés) refreshments in the beer department were those poxy little bottles of Becks (alcohol or non-alcohol). Wrong type of InBev there - ANY Brixton brewery offering would have been most welcome!
There is scope in Manchester 1824 alumni refreshments - I went to a Manchester alumni meeting at RIBA a couple weeks ago and (apart from wine and canapés) refreshments in the beer department were those poxy little bottles of Becks (alcohol or non-alcohol). Wrong type of InBev there - ANY Brixton brewery offering would have been most welcome!
jimbarkanoodle
Well-Known Member
And that's exactly how they want to keep things. They were happy to take a global conglomerate's millions, move the brewing away from the area which the company is named after but still think they have the right to be regarded as a loveable, local upstart bursting with 'vibrancy'. We have a right to challenge that but it seems the founder genuinely can't understand that he can't have it both ways, so I'd be interested to read the updated website section on the brewing which is currently deceptive (unless you go on a tour where you are apparently then told the truth).
editor
hiraethified
That's a shame. I'm no bean counter either, but if you're going to big up your charridee credentials, it might be an idea to be able to produce some figures.
For the record, when we launched our Coldharbour Courage lager we gave away all the profits to the Soup Kitchen. It was a shame that when you arrived on the scene you choose to brew a beer with a near identical name because people kept telling me they were supporting our charity beer when they were in fact just contributing to your profits...
jezg
Well-Known Member
What about the idea of getting all breweries to be transparent about their ownership or are you sidestepping that one?
I also said we are working on a plan to formalise our support. We also don't big up our "credentials" cos that doesn't feel right but you did ask and I like to be transparent.
I think we've also been over your beef about Coldharbour too. We also "arrived" before that beer did and there are 3 breweries in Brixton that use the Coldharbour name which is cool with us.
I also offered to sit down and chat with you about it over a beer but guess it's easier to put accusations on the internet.
Anything else?
jezg
Well-Known Member
I'll let you know when the website is updated.
Why don't you come on a tour too and you can hear for yourself and we can chat about it. I'll be running the one on 12/10 at 4pm and am happy to include you.
IF you can't make it, here's the section from the tour script we us.
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editor
hiraethified
So you can't think of any reason why I might have been aggrieved after you launched a totally for-profit beer with a near identical name to our charity beer straight after it received press coverage (front page of South London Press etc).
And I'm happy to be corrected here, but as far as my research at the time went there had never been a beer named after Coldharbour Lane until we launched ours. And then yours followed.
I was as angry as fuck at the time to be honest because I kept hearing from friends who thought they were contributing to a good cause instead of your profits. So forgive me if I wasn't inclined to sat down for a cosy chat back then.
GarveyLives
Well-Known Member
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