News McEwan’s and Younger’s is Sold

Bombardier and Courage owner Wells and Young’s has become the UK’s third largest premium ale brewer after it agreed to buy Scottish brands McEwan’s and Younger’s.

The Bedford-based brewer now sits below Greene King and Marston’s after it bought the popular brands for an undisclosed sum from Heineken, which fell to fourth place following the deal.

Wells, the UK’s largest privately owned brewer, also said it bought the remaining 17% of the Courage beer brands from Heineken, following a deal in January 2007.

McEwan’s ale will continue to be brewed at the Caledonian brewery in Edinburgh, while Younger’s, which was brewed at a number of sites in England, will now be made at Wells’ Bedford site.

The sale comes shortly after Strongbow-to-Amstel brewer Heineken warned volume growth in the US and Europe would be challenging due to the economic climate, high unemployment and low consumer confidence.

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0 Comments on “McEwan’s and Younger’s is Sold”

  • Moonlight

    says:

    Another sad day.
    The bigger a brewery gets, it is more about volume. Small breweries survive on individualistic characters both in the beers and operating the breweries.
    What else keeps one from being another statistic?

  • LuskusDelph

    says:

    Moonlight wrote: Another sad day.
    The bigger a brewery gets, it is more about volume. Small breweries survive on individualistic characters both in the beers and operating the breweries.
    What else keeps one from being another statistic?

    Oh, I don’t know…I’d rather see Well’s and Young’s as custodians of these fine old brands than Heineken.

    If anything, the new owners will probably treat the brands with a bit more respect. One can hope.
    If they keep the quality up (or even possibly improve upon it) I don’t see this as a bad thing. Especially if they opt to revive some of the beers that Heineken saw fit to discontinue.

  • Moonlight

    says:

    I do hope so!
    How often have you seen a brewery bought and the new owners improve things, or even maintain quality?

  • LuskusDelph

    says:

    Moonlight wrote: I do hope so!
    How often have you seen a brewery bought and the new owners improve things, or even maintain quality?

    It’s a radical concept, I admit.
    But, it would be very nice to be surprised. I hope they do it up right.

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