Wells and Young’s buy McEwan's,Younger's and Courage

[hondo]

"The new acquisition is expected to place the UK's independent family brewery into the top three premium ale brewers in the country."

http://beer.drinks-business-review.com/news/wells-and-youngs-buys-two-beer-brands-from-heineken-uk-051011

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-15167251

[Moonraker]

Am I being slightly naïve in thinking this is good news?

[oldboots]

Am I being slightly naïve in thinking this is good news?

It all depends of course, the press release says W&Y have bought "the brands" and of course they've been brewing and owned the Courage brand for a while and improved the quality IMHO. They say they will continue brewing at the Caledonian brewery (although I believe no McEwan's or Younger's badged beers are actually brewed there except 80/-) and presumably paying Heinekin for the pleasure of doing so, which of course means a long trip down the A1/M1 to Bedford in the fullness of time. Heinekin seem to be hanging on to Deuchars for the time being, any bets on how long for?