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So, just a couple of posts after my disclosure that I wasn’ta massive fan of Cellar Head beers, news broke that the company, had ceasedtrading, with immediate effect, and would be going into administration. Founders Chris & Julia McKenzie posted the news on socialmedia, thanking their team, their supporters and everyone who, over the years,had bought a pint of Cellar Head over the years, or spent time with the team atthe brewery tap room.According to thestatement the pair put out, they had spent time over the past few weeks tryingto find a buyer for the business, but whilst there had been plenty of interest,no one willing to take the risk necessary to move the business on to the next chapter,could be found. This means Cellar Head, now join the growing band of small, independentbrewers that have hit the buffers in recent months, blaming the financial climate, vastlyincreased production costs, plus a market that was already struggling.
It's always sad when a business goes under and whilst CellarHead beers never really did it for me, I know that they did for numerous others.The company was founded in 2017, and seemed to hit the ground running, assuddenly their beers seemed to be everywhere, along with their distinctive logo of a ZZ Top look-alike, cool dude. Cellar Head cask beers are un-fined, whichmeans they carry a natural haze and are also vegan-friendly. In addition,they do not filter or pasteurise their bottled beers and neither do theyartificially carbonate them. Instead, they undergo a natural secondaryfermentation in the bottle which, they claim, results in a gentle, light fizzwhich gives a more refined texture and mouthfeel.
In 2019, Cellar Head moved to new premises at Flimwell, onthe Kent- Sussex border, and in April of that year I visited them in their newhome, with a party from West Kent CAMRA. We were on our way back from a visitto Harvey’s brewery in Lewes, and the tour organiser thought it a good idea tocall in at Cellar Head as well. The brewery was holding an open day, a functionthey used to hold once a month. Having just visited Harvey's, I was a little bit beered-up to fully appreciate what Cellar Head had on offer that day, but as I wrote at the time, the rural setting of their brewery, and the family audience they attracted, reminded me of the visit I made the year before, to the Vanish Woods Brewery in rural Virginia, USA.
During 2023 the number of UK breweries going bust, tripledcompared to the year before, as consumers looked for cheaper due to the cost-of-livingcrisis. This combined, with rising overheads, has led to a wave of insolvencies,and the trend looks likely to continue as we move into the second quarter of2024. The craft beer market, in particular, has become heavily overpopulated overthe past decade, and many of these brewers find themselves fighting for a placein a shrinking market.
I know that I am not the only industry observer who thinksthat the number of new cask ale and craft beer brewers is unsustainable, andyet despite all the warnings new start-ups continue coming out of the woodwork.The rate of new brewery openings does seem to be tailing off, but despite thisCAMRA continues its unqualified support, by loudly cheering on each new start up.I haven’t got time today, but when I’m a little less rushed,there are a couple of stories I could tell of ill-advised start-ups, and ofwell-meaning advice ignored, all for it to end in tears. In the meantime,lovers of Cellar Head beers will have to look for a substitute tipple, althoughwith at least two new breweries that have come on the scene locally, during the past year, they won’thave to look very far.

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