AN UPDATE ON NORTH'S SITUATION: www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/01/kirkstall-secures-the-future-of-north-brewing/ AND THIS WEEK'S POD WHERE WE GO INTO MORE DEPTH: ua-cam.com/video/DqT4_5U9OHw/v-deo.html
Living in Leeds the shock that such a giant of the local scene, and craft beer in general, are facing administration is hugely disappointing. As you aluded to in the start of the video the sheer lack of support from the Government in any capacity is the root of the problem - smaller breweries round near myself are having to completely wipe any plans to expand in any capacity because they cannot survive without help - we lost Ridgeside at the same time North announced administration. No reason was cited for the closure of Ridgeside but there won't be many dots to connect. We're lucky as hell to have a great scene in Leeds and the UK as a whole and we have to do anything we can to keep these places alive - the sentiment still stands truer now than it ever has: Use it or lose it!
@LeedsBeer what do think the reasons are? Taxation, duties, labour, bills...? It is really sad to see so many Pubs, breweries, hops and grain farms going under 😢
I moved to Leeds in 2015, and just so happened to live across the road from North's original brewery and newly opened taproom. Fell in love with 'our local' pretty much instantly, and I attribute it and North Bar to introducing me to the craft beer world. Transmission and Piñata are still some of my favourite beers to this day. I would be absolutely devastated to lose North Brew Co. Government support needed asap!
Your introduction to the video hit hard. My business partner and I opened an independent tap room with 16 lines of craft beer in January 2020 (Prairie Fire at the Wood Lane Arches in London). We've done everything possible to hang in there in the hopes of turning things around, losing money throughout. Unfortunately, we are getting to the end of our ability to continue. We're still up and running and hope to survive, but so much of our ultimate prospects are dependent on whether this government recognizes what is going on and does something to help out small businesses. In particular, a reduction in VAT for restaurants and bars and a continuation of reduced business rates. I wish I were more hopeful that these necessary actions will be implemented before it's too late.
I'm really sorry to hear your struggles. It feels pretty futile out there right now, and so little the public can do. I hope anyone who's London based and reads this visits! And that the government hears the endless calls from all parts of the industry.
We have attended their Springwell sessions festival for the past two years and love original North Bar. Our craft beer drinker's facebook chat was founded by the love for North beer and is still going strong . Thanks Jonny and Brad!
I commented on one of your videos at the beginning of last year stating that the most important thing for breweries now is interest and people supporting them, local pubs, taproom and bottle shops. It was a very difficult year last. This year will be as equally difficult. So I will say the same ‘use them or lose them’
The interesting thing is that demand hasn't dropped all that much in the last 12 months. So people are still using them - it's more that the margins just aren't there right now. It needs to be "swallow a 20% cost hike or lose them"! Or, of course, the government actually help
That chat with Christian at the end, really highlights the current situation, for North and many others. I really hope finance plan comes their way, as they are the nicest people, with a great product and philosophy. This country needs to get back in the swing of things as a whole, because there will just be more pressure from macro breweries and just utterly boring beer in more places than now. Dull Britannia!!
Amazing video, was great to see Brad and Jonny have equal screen time! Find sometimes with these brewery tour/chats that sometimes Brad takes a sideline.
Update today (25th Jan) from North Brewery: 'Today we are pleased to announce that we have secured additional funding through a sale that allows us to continue as an independent brewery; run by our existing management team from our Springwell site. Our future has been secured, following the sale out of administration to Steve Holt, from Kirkstall Brewery.'
I am a cockney who is lucky enough to work & visit Leeds. I love North, so your first 30 seconds floored me. If the company has maxed out on short term turnover, then to survive either costs must reduce, prices go up or a combo of the two. Furthermore (w/o info) I suggest assets & loans must be restructured and why cannot a share issue to generate funds take place? If this is a short to medium term issue then there are available remedies. I sincerely hope the adminstrators find the 'Additional Investment' through a variety of accepted and innovative solutions. For me, I will wait till payday and put in an order. North - you have plenty of friends, please use us.
This leaves me sad and scared. Sad because watching the genuine excitement of the feature breaks my heart knowing what happened, and scared because clearly not even our support can save small qualitative breweries: North were firing on all cylinders but in spite of that they could not make it.
3 Days ago my Restaurant and Bar closed down after 21 years of operating due to just not being able to recover after covid. It's a sad reality of our current situation
It may be because I already know the news before watching but when he speaks about core range and specials and having to brew more and per batch I get a vibe he misses the old place and maybe actually regrets some aspects of the expansion. One question, how was the debt accrued and why wasn’t that managed or slowed when it was so high?
I believe the debt was accrued during the expansion, which cost significantly more than expected due to the condition of the building, and the fact that for nearly a year after it opened COVID was still affecting their ability to trade. I'm sure they tried everything to restructure it, but in these turbulent economic times, lenders are very unsympathetic.
If you want to learn more about the issues facing the industry, and what needs to be done about it you can find out more here: www.siba.co.uk/2024/01/24/independent-breweries-and-pub-consumers-call-for-the-chancellor-to-increase-draught-relief-to-20/
It was bittersweet watching the rest of the video, and makes you worried of who's next. It would be a cool video idea to provide a peep into how the reality of pro brewing, and what's the best way to survive, let alone grow. I can't imagine a day if we lose the likes of Track, Verdant, Cloudwater etc.. I hope North Brewing find a way 🤞
Quite surreal watching all this given the announcement of administration not too long after it all was filmed. I think they're a great brewery and they seemed to really be ahead in so many aspects when it comes to being an independent brewery. They seemed to be in such a good place owning a bar for their product, having supermarket distro. and yet... Hope it all ultimately works out.
When in the UK last December i was surprised how incredibly expensive quality beer is. And i don't think it's just due to taxes or lack of gov support. Breweries seem to cater to beer geeks by constantly releasing new crazy stuff. I've for cans of beer between 3.5 and 20 GBP in the shops. Who is buying these 20 GBP (or even 6 or 7 GBP) cans? Surely beer geeks looking to add a new finds to their untappd account. I know multiple small breweries in my home country where they manage to deliver absolute quality ales with just a handful of people. Contreras, Malheur, Vicaris... Great beers and often under 2 euro for a bottle. People walk out with crates of 24 bottles, not just a selection of 4 different cans each with a name longer than an average Dostojevski novel. When you ask those Belgian brewers why they only have 1 IPA, no sour, no lager etc. They'll tell you: it's another production line that requires investment and operating costs. The 3 mentioned breweries are all a staple in their own home town. They have a core audience that doesn't look to be blown away with something new every week. Final note: I had many tasty beers during my UK trip.
It's certainly true that making new beers every week - especially IPA - is eye wateringly expensive. There's tank time, huge hop costs, design costs etc. But if you look across to America, their beer in package is roughly half the price - the overheads in UK brewing are just astronomical. If small brewers saw demand for cheaper styles (like a Belgian blond) they'd brew them - but because we can get Westmalle Tripel for £3 over here, no one buys these styles from Uk producers.
So sad to hear this news. In my opinion North brew the highest quality and most consistently good craft beers in the UK. Their attention to detail shows and every beer I've tried from the brewery has been nothing short of excellent. Damn.
There’s almost no money to be made by craft brewers going into supermarkets. It’s more to get their name out there but I do think it backfires and only serves to alienate them from independent bottle shops and their main demographic of craft beer drinkers. Northern monk seem to have got around this by using wholly different branding for their higher end beers.
This isn't quite true. There is a LOT of money to be made from supermarkets - but it requires big turnover. Northern Monk and Vocation have managed it, everyone else is still trying.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I'd agree Vocation are doing well but NM are frankly struggling and have been for a while. Filed accounts for 2022 show a £1.8m loss on £13m turnover. They are in the danger zone.
Obviously really upsetting news to hear North has gone into administration, my thoughts go out to all the workers there and I hope they manage to find something else in the industry. They're obviously very good at what they do. I wonder if going into the Supermarkets was part of their downfall. The margins are so tight and as both of you pointed out, people aren't necessarily aware of the range and quality of beer that North produces. When in taprooms etc id think people tend to go for the names they can't necessarily pick up when doing their weekly shop. On a slightly lighter note, very much enjoyed the different ways you both approach the interviews - it makes for an excellent watch!
I wondered if them going into the supermarkets almost alienated their main demographic, does that make sense!? I think most people that are really into craft beer probably avoid spending money on beer in supermarkets and, as you said, the margins are already very tight for the brewers.
It's a very tricky question to answer. It will certainly have hurt their ability to sell to the independents but as you saw they made a lot of very unique and exciting beer that would have been picked up by them. But if the tanks were all full of lower margin beer it's possible that hurt them longer term.
I couldn’t believe the rate that breweries came on the scene despite competition and saturation but then another? So we’ll see who got the grain bill right.
As we've said many times on the channel - the issue isn't the large number of breweries. The issue is the lack of access to the market due to the beer tie - which is illegal in just about every other western nation.
I found his comments on the risk and sense of regret about going gung-ho with one off releases interesting. I have definitely noticed a significant decline in the quality of their one offs in the last 2 years as the number of them has increased. Also sad to see them pouring out cheap sub standard beer into supermarkets at low prices. Kirkstall somehow managed to do the impossible, but many have tried and failed since to provide high quality supermarket craft beer at low prices. Drinking transmission in the sun at the food market in Sovereign Street is still one of my all time beer experiences, but sadly it looks like North are no more. A wonderful brewery have taken their old premises over though. Tartarus might deserve a visit to discuss beer duty!
Interesting. We've not seen any decline in quality, in their one-offs or supermarket beers - though we don't drink the latter very often. Compared to others their beer has always stood up very well in our eyes. The issue of reliance on lower margin supermarket deals may well have played its part, however.
A few points - one is that I'd estimate Treehouse is around three or even four times the size of this brewery. Second, that model has never really worked in the UK - we don't drink enough of our beer at home (still pretty pub led) and also the cost of beer in the UK is far too high to see the amount of beer sold that the US does. A fourpack of equivalent beers in can would probably be twice the price UK to US due to our taxation laws.
No mention of the hard brexit? That's affected inflation massively in UK, making it also harder for UK brewers to export to Europe as tons more paperwork than before when we were in the EU
Yes this was an accidental omission on my part, purely because I was focusing on the things unique to brewing. It should have been mentioned though - I did write a five part series for Good Beer Hunting on its impact - though the incredible inflation was not something I predicted. www.goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines/1/27/brexit-burdens-uk-beer-industry-with-new-costs-paperwork
There are other reasons for the decline in pubs (not North Brewing)in that there’s also a lot of clueless landlords out there as well for example a free house in my village sells beer I wouldn’t wash my feet in let alone drink 😱also the rise in young people using The White Marching Powder 😡
Yep absolute 100%Free house and I wouldn’t drink it for free let alone pay ,I also suppose 90%of the public wouldn’t know a good beer either sadly 🤷🏻♂️
Just checked my Untappd and I’ve checked in 91 different North beers. But less than a dozen in the past 6 months. They used to be my go to brewery but sadly I think they’ve lost their way. My local bottle shop hasn’t stocked North beers for quite a while now and we’re about 20 miles from Springwell. Saying that, I am out in Leeds tomorrow and as always, will be calling in their tap room on Sovereign Street 🍻
I'm not sure I'd agree they lost their way - our look around the cellar showed they are making some of the most interesting beers in the country, and the ones we tried in the taproom were on great form. I think that perhaps the supermarket beers reduced the excitement around the brewery, and hurt margins that eventually led to not being able to service their debt.
seems strange that they, out of nowhere are in the brink of adminstration. Without knowing the details, looks suspiciously like poor financial managenent, expanding too quickly, taking on huge liabilities to do so, then inflation jumps up causing interest rates to follow, with not enough held back to cover increaed costs. Seems the only logical explanation without being informed otherwise. Stil sad though
I very much doubt it was poor financial management, unless we consider expansion just before the pandemic poor management (that will come down to circumstance). As we talked about in the video and the previous video at their old site, Christian and John have run successful bars for decades - managing a company far bigger and complex than North. This is proof that no matter how good the business plan, if you expanded pre-pandemic you're in serious trouble no matter what you do.
Interesting one. You point to a lack of government support as the root of the problem, and yet in the opening scene, the head brewer admits to being a 'not very good brewer'. One wonders if the best people have been recruited to run the business? Contrast with your doc on The Alchemist. A superb, highly accomplished home brewer... first and foremost. It's a complex issue, but laying the blame solely at the door of the government seemed a little lazy? Just an opinion.
Seb is being modest. He was an excellent homebrewer with a great reputation in Leeds long before he went pro. It's also worth nothing that North have won countless brewing and business awards during their 8 years as a brewery and 25 a bar chain. I didn't mean to just blame the government - clearly Brexit, the economy and COVID are the main causes, but there is little attempt being made to help, and that's not unique to beer.
Genuinely appreciate the reply - love the channel by the way. In retrospect I can see where you're coming from. I think the comment about his brewing prowess and also that he didn't seem to know how many brews had happened that day suggested that perhaps he wasn't on his game. I can see now that he's coming across as humble as anything and maybe some nerves in front of camera? I hate to see businesses like this in trouble - hospitality has been hurt badly in the last 5 years whichever way you cut it and especially smaller brewers - if we're not careful all we'll have left are the fizzy lager flavoured drink producers and no one wants that! Keep up the great work.@@TheCraftBeerChannel
There has been far too many breweries in UK brewing average over priced beer. Craft beer reached saturation point and it was only a matter of time breweries closed. Nothing to do with Brexit but just these things happen.
Nothing to do with Brexit 😂 As a business owner that imports and exports to and from Europe I can tell you that when it happened nobody had a bloody clue what paperwork was needed when, we had stuff sat at customs warehouses for weeks, we literally had to refund people's orders because our hauliers simply did not know the rules to ship things. It was a disaster for us financially for months. Most European partners just gave up dealing with UK firms and sourced within the EU. Things are much better now but we still have additional paperwork and shipping takes much longer and we will never get that lost revenue back.
I mean Brexit has irrefutably had an impact on breweries - export for UK breweries was decimated by leaving the single market, as well as increasing the costs of several ingredients. As for the first point the market is indeed saturated but I'd argue not for the reason you suggest - we have a population and demand to easily sustain significantly more breweries. The issue is the pub tie, which keeps small breweries of the taps in roughly half of all the UK's pubs, and the second is our absurdly high taxation of both alcohol and the hospitality industry generally.
For the first 20 years of my working life I worked in the shipping office side of imports and exports industry.Well before Brexit and we dealt with customs documentation side on a daily basis. Transit time to Europe was from 1 to 3 days depending on destinations. Example to Italy 3 days. As a country we voted for Brexit and exporters and importers are becoming used to it. European countries are doing the same. Example...We still get good German beers at prices lower than the UK based over priced Craft Beers .
@@brummiedave297 They are becoming used to it yes and as I said things have improved but when we left the single market it was a train wreck for months and that put a serious dent in peoples bottom line and raised the price of raw materials that funnily enough never went back down (for my industry). You can indeed pick up some German lager cheaper than some uk craft but that is an apples and oranges comparison.
@@davidk7262 I get your point but there is always a but.... Craft beer brewed in the UK is over priced and over hyped Breweries continue to increase their beer prices no matter if costs IE fuel comes down Many years ago potatoes went up in cost The cost of chips went up. Potatoes went down....chips didn't. Bit nieve on my part but the end product doesn't go down in price. Pubs are closing because supermarkets are cheaper. Why spend £4 a pint when you can buy 4 cans for £5. Example Abbott Ale.
I really love you guys, but when you say this is "happening all over the world" I really have to argue against that. I live in France and the beer industry is burgeoning, I visit countless countries and it's going great guns. Obviously it's not all about Brexit, but something in the UK is really not working because every trip I take back home I'm seeing more pain, more of an austere society, and a very challenging environment. Yes, there are global challenges and trends but when I'm in video calls with friends back home lamenting the death of drinking outside of the home I'm just thinking wtf are you talking about?
Absolutely DELIGHTED to hear French small brewing is flourishing, and also totally agree the UK is a mess in just about every measure at the moment - but the US, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Norway and more are experiencing similar crises to the UK. France seems to be the outlier.
This is a WILD assessment of why the government hasn't helped. It has the money. It is choosing to spend it on other things - its bonkers Rwanda policy, for one.
Wow big shock, craft breweries over here seem to be coping fairly well and although covid did affect the small amount of craft pubs there was a massive push in mail order craft beer, after covid these mail order guys kept going and some of the craft pubs reopened thankfully & @underdog and even some new venues emerged @galwaybay their @beertempledublin opened. Then last year our wonderful government brought in minimum pricing rules mainly aimed at the cheapest of the cheap beers and ciders in an attempt to conquer alcohol related illness etc, us craft drinkers were already paying upwards of €4 for a 440ml can so weren't hurt in the pocket, poor old Heineken and Bud drinkers got badly hit and I feel there was a move over to craft due to this. I really hope this remains the case as I would hate to see the disappearance of some of the ace craft breweries doing such a great job over here, great vlog thanks 👍
AN UPDATE ON NORTH'S SITUATION: www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/01/kirkstall-secures-the-future-of-north-brewing/
AND THIS WEEK'S POD WHERE WE GO INTO MORE DEPTH: ua-cam.com/video/DqT4_5U9OHw/v-deo.html
🍻🤘🏻
Came here to say this. Brilliant news! Maybe a visit to Kirkstall could be on the cards @TheCraftBeerChannel?
Awesome news and so glad it hasn't been scooped up by some faceless megacorp.
Living in Leeds the shock that such a giant of the local scene, and craft beer in general, are facing administration is hugely disappointing. As you aluded to in the start of the video the sheer lack of support from the Government in any capacity is the root of the problem - smaller breweries round near myself are having to completely wipe any plans to expand in any capacity because they cannot survive without help - we lost Ridgeside at the same time North announced administration. No reason was cited for the closure of Ridgeside but there won't be many dots to connect. We're lucky as hell to have a great scene in Leeds and the UK as a whole and we have to do anything we can to keep these places alive - the sentiment still stands truer now than it ever has: Use it or lose it!
Couldn’t have said it better myself ! The Leeds scene is fantastic, it was gutting to lose Ridgeside and losing North doesn’t bare thinking about
The thing is people are definitely using it but still feels like we may lose it….
@@LeedsBeerSaved by the GOATs at Kirkstall Brewery!!! Hallelujah!
@LeedsBeer what do think the reasons are? Taxation, duties, labour, bills...?
It is really sad to see so many Pubs, breweries, hops and grain farms going under 😢
Brad is a great interviewer. Asks good questions and allows time for an answer. Go Brad!
I moved to Leeds in 2015, and just so happened to live across the road from North's original brewery and newly opened taproom. Fell in love with 'our local' pretty much instantly, and I attribute it and North Bar to introducing me to the craft beer world. Transmission and Piñata are still some of my favourite beers to this day.
I would be absolutely devastated to lose North Brew Co. Government support needed asap!
Your introduction to the video hit hard. My business partner and I opened an independent tap room with 16 lines of craft beer in January 2020 (Prairie Fire at the Wood Lane Arches in London). We've done everything possible to hang in there in the hopes of turning things around, losing money throughout. Unfortunately, we are getting to the end of our ability to continue. We're still up and running and hope to survive, but so much of our ultimate prospects are dependent on whether this government recognizes what is going on and does something to help out small businesses. In particular, a reduction in VAT for restaurants and bars and a continuation of reduced business rates. I wish I were more hopeful that these necessary actions will be implemented before it's too late.
I'm really sorry to hear your struggles. It feels pretty futile out there right now, and so little the public can do. I hope anyone who's London based and reads this visits! And that the government hears the endless calls from all parts of the industry.
I'm not local to you, but I wish I was. 16 lines is amazing and this sounds like exactly the kind of place I want to go.
North bar is the OG and they (and the rest of the Leeds/Yorkshire scene) are at the pinnacle
So glad to see North was rescued! It would be a shame to see another brewery go down. Cheers from the states!
Just been announced north has been acquired by the kirkstall brewery founder! Glad the brand is saved and in good hands.
So glad these guys have been given another chance.
BTW as an old home brewer from the states I have to say you two do one of the best podcasts I’ve heard. Keep up the great work! Cheers!
Thanks so much glad you enjoy it!
We have attended their Springwell sessions festival for the past two years and love original North Bar. Our craft beer drinker's facebook chat was founded by the love for North beer and is still going strong . Thanks Jonny and Brad!
I commented on one of your videos at the beginning of last year stating that the most important thing for breweries now is interest and people supporting them, local pubs, taproom and bottle shops. It was a very difficult year last. This year will be as equally difficult. So I will say the same ‘use them or lose them’
The interesting thing is that demand hasn't dropped all that much in the last 12 months. So people are still using them - it's more that the margins just aren't there right now. It needs to be "swallow a 20% cost hike or lose them"! Or, of course, the government actually help
That chat with Christian at the end, really highlights the current situation, for North and many others. I really hope finance plan comes their way, as they are the nicest people, with a great product and philosophy. This country needs to get back in the swing of things as a whole, because there will just be more pressure from macro breweries and just utterly boring beer in more places than now. Dull Britannia!!
Amazing video, was great to see Brad and Jonny have equal screen time! Find sometimes with these brewery tour/chats that sometimes Brad takes a sideline.
He has done. Trying to address that this year!
Amazing stuff!@@TheCraftBeerChannel
I’m glad you did that caveat at the start which basically highlights the lies and misdirection that came later.
Update today (25th Jan) from North Brewery:
'Today we are pleased to announce that we have secured additional funding through a sale that allows us to continue as an independent brewery; run by our existing management team from our Springwell site. Our future has been secured, following the sale out of administration to Steve Holt, from Kirkstall Brewery.'
I am a cockney who is lucky enough to work & visit Leeds. I love North, so your first 30 seconds floored me. If the company has maxed out on short term turnover, then to survive either costs must reduce, prices go up or a combo of the two. Furthermore (w/o info) I suggest assets & loans must be restructured and why cannot a share issue to generate funds take place? If this is a short to medium term issue then there are available remedies. I sincerely hope the adminstrators find the 'Additional Investment' through a variety of accepted and innovative solutions. For me, I will wait till payday and put in an order. North - you have plenty of friends, please use us.
I hope all these options are being looked at! I think we can all see there is a viable and much loved business there.
This leaves me sad and scared. Sad because watching the genuine excitement of the feature breaks my heart knowing what happened, and scared because clearly not even our support can save small qualitative breweries: North were firing on all cylinders but in spite of that they could not make it.
Vividly remember the first Tim trying a North triple fruited Gose. Still one of the best fruit beers! Legends
3 Days ago my Restaurant and Bar closed down after 21 years of operating due to just not being able to recover after covid. It's a sad reality of our current situation
So sorry to hear this. It's just brutal at the moment for all those in hospitality.
It may be because I already know the news before watching but when he speaks about core range and specials and having to brew more and per batch I get a vibe he misses the old place and maybe actually regrets some aspects of the expansion. One question, how was the debt accrued and why wasn’t that managed or slowed when it was so high?
I believe the debt was accrued during the expansion, which cost significantly more than expected due to the condition of the building, and the fact that for nearly a year after it opened COVID was still affecting their ability to trade. I'm sure they tried everything to restructure it, but in these turbulent economic times, lenders are very unsympathetic.
That man had a way with words at 19:35. Had to watch that twice
If you want to learn more about the issues facing the industry, and what needs to be done about it you can find out more here: www.siba.co.uk/2024/01/24/independent-breweries-and-pub-consumers-call-for-the-chancellor-to-increase-draught-relief-to-20/
issues facing the industry? its things like this collab brew. if you are a brewery,, make beer. Not crap with beer in it
@@slegar Classic, I don't like it so obviously nobody does. Self obsessed a bit are we?
@@slegar what does ‘beer’ mean to you?
@@slegar beer has had "crap" in it since around 13,000 BC. Lager is the weird anomaly, not a beer with fruit in it.
It was bittersweet watching the rest of the video, and makes you worried of who's next. It would be a cool video idea to provide a peep into how the reality of pro brewing, and what's the best way to survive, let alone grow. I can't imagine a day if we lose the likes of Track, Verdant, Cloudwater etc.. I hope North Brewing find a way 🤞
Quite surreal watching all this given the announcement of administration not too long after it all was filmed. I think they're a great brewery and they seemed to really be ahead in so many aspects when it comes to being an independent brewery. They seemed to be in such a good place owning a bar for their product, having supermarket distro. and yet...
Hope it all ultimately works out.
That intro was so thought provoking and poignant. What a shame I really hope they are saved. Cheers 🍻
This is so sad. Hopefully the beer scene will survive this crisis 😢
When in the UK last December i was surprised how incredibly expensive quality beer is. And i don't think it's just due to taxes or lack of gov support. Breweries seem to cater to beer geeks by constantly releasing new crazy stuff. I've for cans of beer between 3.5 and 20 GBP in the shops. Who is buying these 20 GBP (or even 6 or 7 GBP) cans? Surely beer geeks looking to add a new finds to their untappd account.
I know multiple small breweries in my home country where they manage to deliver absolute quality ales with just a handful of people. Contreras, Malheur, Vicaris... Great beers and often under 2 euro for a bottle. People walk out with crates of 24 bottles, not just a selection of 4 different cans each with a name longer than an average Dostojevski novel.
When you ask those Belgian brewers why they only have 1 IPA, no sour, no lager etc. They'll tell you: it's another production line that requires investment and operating costs.
The 3 mentioned breweries are all a staple in their own home town. They have a core audience that doesn't look to be blown away with something new every week.
Final note: I had many tasty beers during my UK trip.
It's certainly true that making new beers every week - especially IPA - is eye wateringly expensive. There's tank time, huge hop costs, design costs etc. But if you look across to America, their beer in package is roughly half the price - the overheads in UK brewing are just astronomical. If small brewers saw demand for cheaper styles (like a Belgian blond) they'd brew them - but because we can get Westmalle Tripel for £3 over here, no one buys these styles from Uk producers.
proper new order lesson. Shall we build a recording studio or a nightclub 🙂
So sad to hear this news. In my opinion North brew the highest quality and most consistently good craft beers in the UK. Their attention to detail shows and every beer I've tried from the brewery has been nothing short of excellent. Damn.
Christian looks like Matt Berry from #WhatWeDoInTheShadows lolol Halloween getup?
Kirkstall owner has purchased them...
Sad to see :( I was buying north from Tesco so assumed they were doing well! Great beer it was :(
There’s almost no money to be made by craft brewers going into supermarkets. It’s more to get their name out there but I do think it backfires and only serves to alienate them from independent bottle shops and their main demographic of craft beer drinkers.
Northern monk seem to have got around this by using wholly different branding for their higher end beers.
This isn't quite true. There is a LOT of money to be made from supermarkets - but it requires big turnover. Northern Monk and Vocation have managed it, everyone else is still trying.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I'd agree Vocation are doing well but NM are frankly struggling and have been for a while. Filed accounts for 2022 show a £1.8m loss on £13m turnover. They are in the danger zone.
I see Kirkstall have just bought them!!!
Anchor Brewing in SF just went bankrupt. A cannabis company is buying Red Hook Brewery over in Seattle.
I think Cannabis should support small craft.
Obviously really upsetting news to hear North has gone into administration, my thoughts go out to all the workers there and I hope they manage to find something else in the industry. They're obviously very good at what they do.
I wonder if going into the Supermarkets was part of their downfall. The margins are so tight and as both of you pointed out, people aren't necessarily aware of the range and quality of beer that North produces. When in taprooms etc id think people tend to go for the names they can't necessarily pick up when doing their weekly shop.
On a slightly lighter note, very much enjoyed the different ways you both approach the interviews - it makes for an excellent watch!
I wondered if them going into the supermarkets almost alienated their main demographic, does that make sense!?
I think most people that are really into craft beer probably avoid spending money on beer in supermarkets and, as you said, the margins are already very tight for the brewers.
It's a very tricky question to answer. It will certainly have hurt their ability to sell to the independents but as you saw they made a lot of very unique and exciting beer that would have been picked up by them. But if the tanks were all full of lower margin beer it's possible that hurt them longer term.
We're seeing a similar thing in British Columbia Canada.
Sorry to hear this. Is any help being offered to the industry?
I couldn’t believe the rate that breweries came on the scene despite competition and saturation but then another? So we’ll see who got the grain bill right.
As we've said many times on the channel - the issue isn't the large number of breweries. The issue is the lack of access to the market due to the beer tie - which is illegal in just about every other western nation.
I found his comments on the risk and sense of regret about going gung-ho with one off releases interesting. I have definitely noticed a significant decline in the quality of their one offs in the last 2 years as the number of them has increased. Also sad to see them pouring out cheap sub standard beer into supermarkets at low prices. Kirkstall somehow managed to do the impossible, but many have tried and failed since to provide high quality supermarket craft beer at low prices. Drinking transmission in the sun at the food market in Sovereign Street is still one of my all time beer experiences, but sadly it looks like North are no more. A wonderful brewery have taken their old premises over though. Tartarus might deserve a visit to discuss beer duty!
Interesting. We've not seen any decline in quality, in their one-offs or supermarket beers - though we don't drink the latter very often. Compared to others their beer has always stood up very well in our eyes. The issue of reliance on lower margin supermarket deals may well have played its part, however.
Why can’t the Treehouse business model work for them . Similar size
A few points - one is that I'd estimate Treehouse is around three or even four times the size of this brewery. Second, that model has never really worked in the UK - we don't drink enough of our beer at home (still pretty pub led) and also the cost of beer in the UK is far too high to see the amount of beer sold that the US does. A fourpack of equivalent beers in can would probably be twice the price UK to US due to our taxation laws.
Sad news 😢
No mention of the hard brexit? That's affected inflation massively in UK, making it also harder for UK brewers to export to Europe as tons more paperwork than before when we were in the EU
Yes this was an accidental omission on my part, purely because I was focusing on the things unique to brewing. It should have been mentioned though - I did write a five part series for Good Beer Hunting on its impact - though the incredible inflation was not something I predicted. www.goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines/1/27/brexit-burdens-uk-beer-industry-with-new-costs-paperwork
good article, sadly inflation is only to get worse unless we rejoin single market or customs union soon @@TheCraftBeerChannel
I hate brexit! Greetz from germany😢🍻
@@Tomtiburon me too! Hopefully it'll be reversed in next 10years
There are other reasons for the decline in pubs (not North Brewing)in that there’s also a lot of clueless landlords out there as well for example a free house in my village sells beer I wouldn’t wash my feet in let alone drink 😱also the rise in young people using The White Marching Powder 😡
Are you sure your landlord is allowed to sell other drinks? Half the pubs in this country have no say over what they can pour.
Yep absolute 100%Free house and I wouldn’t drink it for free let alone pay ,I also suppose 90%of the public wouldn’t know a good beer either sadly 🤷🏻♂️
So sadddd😢😢😢
I'm saddened and angered in equal measure.
Just checked my Untappd and I’ve checked in 91 different North beers. But less than a dozen in the past 6 months. They used to be my go to brewery but sadly I think they’ve lost their way. My local bottle shop hasn’t stocked North beers for quite a while now and we’re about 20 miles from Springwell.
Saying that, I am out in Leeds tomorrow and as always, will be calling in their tap room on Sovereign Street 🍻
I'm not sure I'd agree they lost their way - our look around the cellar showed they are making some of the most interesting beers in the country, and the ones we tried in the taproom were on great form. I think that perhaps the supermarket beers reduced the excitement around the brewery, and hurt margins that eventually led to not being able to service their debt.
seems strange that they, out of nowhere are in the brink of adminstration. Without knowing the details, looks suspiciously like poor financial managenent, expanding too quickly, taking on huge liabilities to do so, then inflation jumps up causing interest rates to follow, with not enough held back to cover increaed costs. Seems the only logical explanation without being informed otherwise. Stil sad though
I very much doubt it was poor financial management, unless we consider expansion just before the pandemic poor management (that will come down to circumstance). As we talked about in the video and the previous video at their old site, Christian and John have run successful bars for decades - managing a company far bigger and complex than North. This is proof that no matter how good the business plan, if you expanded pre-pandemic you're in serious trouble no matter what you do.
Interesting one. You point to a lack of government support as the root of the problem, and yet in the opening scene, the head brewer admits to being a 'not very good brewer'. One wonders if the best people have been recruited to run the business? Contrast with your doc on The Alchemist. A superb, highly accomplished home brewer... first and foremost. It's a complex issue, but laying the blame solely at the door of the government seemed a little lazy? Just an opinion.
Seb is being modest. He was an excellent homebrewer with a great reputation in Leeds long before he went pro. It's also worth nothing that North have won countless brewing and business awards during their 8 years as a brewery and 25 a bar chain. I didn't mean to just blame the government - clearly Brexit, the economy and COVID are the main causes, but there is little attempt being made to help, and that's not unique to beer.
Genuinely appreciate the reply - love the channel by the way. In retrospect I can see where you're coming from. I think the comment about his brewing prowess and also that he didn't seem to know how many brews had happened that day suggested that perhaps he wasn't on his game. I can see now that he's coming across as humble as anything and maybe some nerves in front of camera?
I hate to see businesses like this in trouble - hospitality has been hurt badly in the last 5 years whichever way you cut it and especially smaller brewers - if we're not careful all we'll have left are the fizzy lager flavoured drink producers and no one wants that! Keep up the great work.@@TheCraftBeerChannel
A lot of people cannot drink beers with lactose in
I'm sorry to swear, but fuck this govenrment for not doing more to support excellent breweries like North.
There has been far too many breweries in UK brewing average over priced beer. Craft beer reached saturation point and it was only a matter of time breweries closed. Nothing to do with Brexit but just these things happen.
Nothing to do with Brexit 😂 As a business owner that imports and exports to and from Europe I can tell you that when it happened nobody had a bloody clue what paperwork was needed when, we had stuff sat at customs warehouses for weeks, we literally had to refund people's orders because our hauliers simply did not know the rules to ship things. It was a disaster for us financially for months. Most European partners just gave up dealing with UK firms and sourced within the EU. Things are much better now but we still have additional paperwork and shipping takes much longer and we will never get that lost revenue back.
I mean Brexit has irrefutably had an impact on breweries - export for UK breweries was decimated by leaving the single market, as well as increasing the costs of several ingredients. As for the first point the market is indeed saturated but I'd argue not for the reason you suggest - we have a population and demand to easily sustain significantly more breweries. The issue is the pub tie, which keeps small breweries of the taps in roughly half of all the UK's pubs, and the second is our absurdly high taxation of both alcohol and the hospitality industry generally.
For the first 20 years of my working life I worked in the shipping office side of imports and exports industry.Well before Brexit and we dealt with customs documentation side on a daily basis. Transit time to Europe was from 1 to 3 days depending on destinations. Example to Italy 3 days. As a country we voted for Brexit and exporters and importers are becoming used to it. European countries are doing the same. Example...We still get good German beers at prices lower than the UK based over priced Craft Beers .
@@brummiedave297 They are becoming used to it yes and as I said things have improved but when we left the single market it was a train wreck for months and that put a serious dent in peoples bottom line and raised the price of raw materials that funnily enough never went back down (for my industry). You can indeed pick up some German lager cheaper than some uk craft but that is an apples and oranges comparison.
@@davidk7262 I get your point but there is always a but.... Craft beer brewed in the UK is over priced and over hyped Breweries continue to increase their beer prices no matter if costs IE fuel comes down Many years ago potatoes went up in cost The cost of chips went up. Potatoes went down....chips didn't. Bit nieve on my part but the end product doesn't go down in price. Pubs are closing because supermarkets are cheaper. Why spend £4 a pint when you can buy 4 cans for £5. Example Abbott Ale.
I really love you guys, but when you say this is "happening all over the world" I really have to argue against that. I live in France and the beer industry is burgeoning, I visit countless countries and it's going great guns. Obviously it's not all about Brexit, but something in the UK is really not working because every trip I take back home I'm seeing more pain, more of an austere society, and a very challenging environment. Yes, there are global challenges and trends but when I'm in video calls with friends back home lamenting the death of drinking outside of the home I'm just thinking wtf are you talking about?
Absolutely DELIGHTED to hear French small brewing is flourishing, and also totally agree the UK is a mess in just about every measure at the moment - but the US, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Norway and more are experiencing similar crises to the UK. France seems to be the outlier.
Sorry about your socialism. It's just one of the costs of "free" health care.
This is a WILD assessment of why the government hasn't helped. It has the money. It is choosing to spend it on other things - its bonkers Rwanda policy, for one.
Wow big shock, craft breweries over here seem to be coping fairly well and although covid did affect the small amount of craft pubs there was a massive push in mail order craft beer, after covid these mail order guys kept going and some of the craft pubs reopened thankfully & @underdog and even some new venues emerged @galwaybay their @beertempledublin opened. Then last year our wonderful government brought in minimum pricing rules mainly aimed at the cheapest of the cheap beers and ciders in an attempt to conquer alcohol related illness etc, us craft drinkers were already paying upwards of €4 for a 440ml can so weren't hurt in the pocket, poor old Heineken and Bud drinkers got badly hit and I feel there was a move over to craft due to this. I really hope this remains the case as I would hate to see the disappearance of some of the ace craft breweries doing such a great job over here, great vlog thanks 👍