Meantime Brewery

Meantime Brewing Company is a brewery based in Greenwich, London, England, and owned by Japan's Asahi Breweries .

Meantime Brewing Company
TypePrivately held
IndustryBrewing
Founded1999 [1]
Headquarters
Greenwich, London, England
Key people
Alastair Hook (founder)
ProductsBeer
OwnerAsahi Breweries
Websitewww.meantimebrewing.com

The company was founded by Alastair Hook in 1999,[1] and was purchased by SABMiller in May 2015. As part of the agreements made with regulators before Anheuser-Busch InBev was allowed to acquire SABMiller in 2016, Meantime was sold to Asahi Breweries of Japan in October 2016.[2][3]

History

It was founded in 1999 by Alastair Hook,[4] who trained at Heriot-Watt University and the brewing school of the Technical University of Munich of Weihenstephan. He started the brewery in a small lock-up on an industrial estate opposite Charlton Athletic’s ground, before moving to the Greenwich Brewery, 0° 2' 12" east of the Greenwich Meridian, and then to a site on nearby Blackwall Lane in 2010.[5] The new brewery, including Rolec brewhouse, cost £7M; by 2013 they were producing 50,000 hectolitres but a growth rate of 60% per year meant that they expected to reach their capacity of 120,000 hectolitres by 2016.[6]

In May 2015, it was announced that Meantime was being bought by SAB Miller, the world’s second-largest brewer, for an undisclosed amount.[7]

In July 2015 Alastair Hook was named Brewer of the Year by the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group at its annual awards dinner.[8] In the same year The Beer Academy awarded Rod Jones, Meantime's beer sommelier and brewer, the Beer Sommelier of the Year title.[9] This was also the year that production of Thomas Hardy's Ale began at Meantime.[10]

In August 2015, Meantime stated that production of their London Lager had, on occasion, been outsourced to Grolsch (another SAB Miller brand) in the Netherlands to meet demand, but that the Dutch beer made up no more than 10% of any bottle.[11] Meantime confirmed that the use of Dutch beer would no longer be necessary after additional investments at the brewery, with the aim of keeping production entirely in London.[12]

Meantime was sold to Asahi Group Holdings of Japan in April 2016.[13] The sale was completed on 13 October 2016.[2] In January 2019 Asahi also bought the brewing division of Fuller's Brewery and its subsidiary Dark Star.[14] Meantime started production of Dark Star's portfolio of beers after Asahi closed the Sussex brewery in December 2022.[15]

Beers
Meantime beer bottles, from left: Coffee Porter, Chocolate, Raspberry, Pale Ale

Meantime brews a range of twelve regularly available beers which focuses on traditional British and European styles such as Lager, Pale Ale, Porter and India Pale Ale.[16] In addition, it also produces an annual range of limited edition seasonal ales, which vary each year.

Outlets

Meantime owns and operates the Greenwich Union public house on Royal Hill, Greenwich and, in 2010, opened the Old Brewery bar and restaurant with brewery in the original 1836 Brewhouse of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, making it only the second brewery in the world to be located within a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After Asahi's purchase of Meantime these outlets were sold to Young's. The Greenwich Union was next door to an existing Young's pub, the Richard I, and the two pubs were combined into a larger Richard I.

Meantime also operates a visitor's centre attached to its brewing site on Blackwall Lane. In August 2014, Meantime opened the Beer Box on the Greenwich Peninsula close to the North Greenwich underground station, and in December of the same year, the business opened its Tasting Rooms and Brewery Shop within the grounds of its Greenwich brewery,

References
  1. Farrell, Sean (15 May 2015). "SAB Miller buys Meantime to enter UK craft beer market". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  2. Evison, James (12 October 2016). "Asahi Completes acquisition of Miller Brands U.K." Morning Advertiser. William Reed Business Media. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  3. "Asahi Completes acquisition of Miller Brands U.K." Fortune. Fortune=3 February 2017. 13 December 2016.
  4. "Pull up a Stool with Alastair Hook". Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.
  5. Foottit, Lesley (2 August 2010). "First brew from new Meantime brewery". Morning Advertiser. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  6. Protz, Roger (24 May 2013). "The meteoric rise of Meantime". Morning Advertiser.
  7. Farrell, Sean (15 May 2015). "SAB Miller buys Meantime to enter UK craft beer market". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  8. "Meantime brewer Hook wins Parliamentary brewer of year award". MorningAdvertiser.co.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  9. "The Beer Academy names Beer Sommelier of the Year «". Siba.co.uk. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  10. "The Historical Ale: Thomas Hardy's Ale Encounters Hine Cognac Barrels". 21 November 2016.
  11. Alwakeel, Ramzy (26 August 2015). "London Lager 'sometimes brewed at Grolsch factory in the Netherlands'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  12. Sutherland, Emily (23 August 2015). "Meantime's London Lager criticised for using Dutch beer". Morning Advertiser. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  13. Phil Serafino; Rachel Chang (19 April 2016). "AB InBev Accepts Asahi Offer to Buy Grolsch, Peroni and Meantime Beer Brands". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  14. "London Pride beers sold to Japanese firm". BBC News. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  15. "Asahi to close Dark Star Brewery". The Drinks Business. 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  16. "Meantime". Ratebeer.com. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
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