Toper Talk: Tetley in torpor

Carlsberg are closing Tetley's brewery in Leeds. CAMRA are, understandably, outraged. Carlsberg, unsurprisingly, cite their need to "maximise efficiency in order to remain competitive in the face of increasingly challenging market conditions". The future of the cask bitter is still uncertain. But, would it be an issue if it were to be brewed elsewhere - or, indeed, never brewed again?

Here's what kicked it off for me. An article in this morning's Guardian reported the closure and included an odd quote from CAMRA. Their vice-chair Bob Stukins was reported to have said "Brewed outside their Leeds heartland, I fear the ales - Tetley's bitter, dark mild, mild, Ansell's best bitter and Burton ale - would lack the provenance which today's discerning consumers expect". Ahem... Ansells? Burton? They already lack provenance by virtue of being brewed in Leeds. Fortunately, a quick check of the CAMRA press release and other news reports showed that the Grauniad's quote seems to be a mash-up.

But it had got me thinking. Carlsberg have stated that they'll shove keg Tetley production off to Northampton and that fabled hall of brewing and winner of the Financial Times Industrial Architecture Award in 1975. Where will cask production end up? Darran Britton, marketing director of Carlsberg UK, has said that "if it's not in Yorkshire, then it'll be somewhere in the UK. We've got three years to sort this out'. According to Roger Protz, mind, the Yorkshire Square fermenters have already been ripped out from the heart of the Hunslett works so I hope the maturation tanks are full to bursting.

Will the likes of Theakstons, John Smiths or contract-brewmeisters Burtonwood want to take up Tetley? Or rather relish the brew that's only a few years shy of a double-centenary dying on the vine - and opening up the market for their products? Half of the pubs in the 2007 Good Beer Guide were Tetley Bitter stockists, suggesting there'll be a void to fill. Perhaps the keg stuff will suffice, wherever it's brewed. The erstwhile Manchester Guardian identified other beers that are 'emblematic of the north of England' like, er, "Manchester's Boddington's" (keg products brewed in Wales and Scotland) and "Newcastle Brown" (which lost its Protected Geographical Indication when brewing was moved over the Tyne to Gateshead in 2005). In years to come, Tetley may still be associated with Yorkshire even though it sloshes from a Northants keg.

Perhaps another brewer can be persuaded to keep Tetley going? But would they also prop up those brands conjoined into the Carling portfolio due to earlier takeovers? The Midlands couldn't support Burton Ale or Ansell's Bitter - long since brewed by Carlsberg in Leeds - so what chance they will now continue too? Who wants a second hand brand? Will Tetley cask survive as a pointless regional contract brew before it too goes for a Burton?

I can be saddened and angered by this issue. Saddened certainly for the 170 workers who lose their current job. Angered by comments such as those by the president of Leeds Chamber of Commerce, Gary Lumby, saying that the news "has come out of the blue"; last April's review by Leeds City Council identified the development potential of the site for for 'large-format retailing' as well as office and leisure use and suggested 'the brewery may... consider relocating". Some of us read the papers, Mr Lumby. And I'm nonplussed by the corporate crap that slooshes out of Carlsberg like loose stool water; apparently they "experienced a slump in consumer sentiment"...

But... I'm probably more amazed by the collective naivety displayed in the press. A prime city centre operation, already slated for development, is closed by a struggling global brewer. Who has seemingly no stomach to continue cask production, given that its easier and more profitable to flog the same-named kegged beer from just down the M1. Is this really a shock? Should we really be surprised if there's a collective lack of enthusiasm for carrying on with Tetley cask? If Carlsberg couldn't make the beer profitable, what chance do any others have?

The beer could limp on as a contract brew. But this year's contract brew is next year's thorn in the over-extended portfolio. Isn't it better for Tetley to succumb to the hunt and be remembered as a proud Leeds beer than just another second-hand mash?