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SABMiller Acquires Meantime Brewing

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Global beer company SAB Miller has announced the acquisition of London’s Meantime Brewing in effort to enter the UK craft market.

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From the press release:

Meantime is a pioneer in British modern craft beer, giving SABMiller an entry point into the fastest-growing segment of the UK beer market and complementing its imported super-premium lagers such as Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell.

SABMiller plans to grow sales of Meantime’s beers nationally and explore export opportunities in its European markets under the continued leadership of Nick Miller, Meantime CEO.

Meantime was established by Brew Master, Alastair Hook, in 1999 with a brewery in Greenwich, London. The business has since created a successful range of British and international beer styles.

Sue Clark, Managing Director, SABMiller Europe, said: “Meantime has been at the forefront of the modern craft beer movement in the UK and brews an outstanding range of beers across a variety of styles. At SABMiller we love local variety, and carefully nurture our 200 local and heritage beers. Meantime, born in a city with a rich beer heritage, will be a special new addition to the SABMiller family.

“Nick Miller, Alastair Hook and their team have built a strong sense of pride and identity within Meantime, which has an excellent reputation for brewing consistently high quality beers and for industry-leading innovation. This expertise will boost our strategy to develop beers that appeal to more people, including women, and which can be attractive alternatives to wine and spirits.”

Nick Miller, CEO, Meantime, said: “I can say from personal experience, that SABMiller is a great company to be joining forces with. They see the opportunity, and believe in the longevity, of modern craft beer in the UK.

“SABMiller shares our passion for putting great beer first, and making, selling and marketing it responsibly to beer aficionados worldwide. The team at SABMiller have stressed how important our culture is to our success to date, and have a strong track record in retaining the special identities and heritage of the local businesses they’ve bought in the past.

“We are all excited about the opportunity to continue growing Meantime. We are also thrilled and flattered that SABMiller has given us a remit to innovate. This is a massive compliment and acknowledges our position as pioneers in modern craft beer.”

Volumes of beer sales at Meantime grew by 58% in 2014, outpacing the UK beer market’s 1% growth during the same period and making it one of the top-performing modern craft breweries in the UK.

Among Meantime’s award-winning lagers and ales are its leading brand London Pale Ale, London Lager, Yakima Red, Pilsner, India Pale Ale and London Porter. London Pale Ale and London Lager together account for around 70% of total volumes. Following the transaction, Meantime will open a pilot brewery which will become a centre for SABMiller’s European innovation and new product development.

The acquisition includes Meantime’s retail sites, including the Tasting Rooms and the brewery shop in Greenwich, the Greenwich Union pub, pop-up Beerbox pub, and the Brewery Fresh tank beer concept, which is now in 26 pubs across London, complementing SABMiller’s Pilsner Urquell unpasteurised tank beer in a further four London pubs.

The deal is expected to close in June of this year, and the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The BBC and the Guardian also have stories on the deal.

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Meantime brewmaster Alastair Hook, with Greg Koch from Stone Brewing, at a British Guild of Beer Writers event during the Great British Beer Festival in 2009.

Patent No. 4154865A: Method For Processing Hops For Brewing

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Today in 1979, US Patent 4154865 A was issued, an invention of Herbert L. Grant, assigned to S. S. Steiner, Inc., for his “Method for Processing Hops for Brewing.” Here’s the Abstract:

There is provided a method of processing hops or hop extracts for brewing in which hops and particularly the alpha acids in the hops are stabilized against deterioration and light sensitivity, the process broadly comprising isomerizing a substantial portion of the alpha acids in the hops and contacting said iso-alpha acids witha metallic hydride compound, the metal thereof being suitable for use in foods, until the reaction is substantially completed. In another aspect, the alpha acids present in the hops are converted to their reduced isomerized products which are desirable for brewing. The process is especially suitable for use in pelletizing operations.

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Patent No. 2024484B1: Continuous Method For The Production Of A Yeast Fermented Beverage

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Today in 2014, US Patent 2024484 B1 was issued, an invention of Hendrikus Mulder, Onno Cornelis Snip, Douglas John Banks, and Herman Hendrik Jan Bloemen, assigned to Heineken Supply Chain B.V., for their “Continuous Method for the Production of a Yeast Fermented Beverage.” There’s no Abstract, but it’s described as an “invention relat[ing] to a continuous method for the production of a yeast fermented beverage, such as beer. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a continuous method in which a high gravity mash is produced, i.e. a mash with a gravity in excess of 22° Plato.”It’s a fairly complicated application and invention, so you’re best bet is to read the whole thing.
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Patent No. 2001040A: Beer Dispensing Equipment

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Today in 1935, US Patent 2001040 A was issued, an invention of David Sweeney, for his “Beer Dispensing Equipment.” There’s no Abstract, but it’s described as an “invention relat[ing] to beer dispensing equipment, and more particularly to equipment for handling, cooling, and dispensing, beer or other liquids.” And this appears to be the main feature.

One feature of my invention is that it is adapted for easy handling of quantities of liquid up to ten gallons or more. Another feature of my invention is the provision of means for expelling liquid, for example, beer, from a container without exposing the liquid remaining in the container to air. This is especially useful in dispensing beer where one container may be more or less infrequently used. In the ordinary case, for example, if a beer container is partially emptied, and air allowed to enter the container to fill up the space previously occupied by the liquid drawn off, the liquid remaining in the container is likely to become spoiled by contact with the air, especially if not used rather promptly. All these objections are overcome by my inventions I apply an inert gas, for example, carbon dioxide gas, (or some gas which will not spoil the beer or other liquid in the container) to the top of the container under suitable pressure. This gas then serves not only to expel the liquid from the container as it is used, but also fills up the space in the container occupied by the liquid drawn off, so that no spoilage results to the liquid remaining in the container. Still another feature of my invention is the elimination of cooling coils with their tendency to spoil beer standing in them.

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Patent No. 403130A: Beer Chest Or Refrigerator

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Today in 1889, US Patent 403130 A was issued, an invention of Otto Neuman, for his “Beer Chest or Refrigerator.” There’s no Abstract, but it’s described as an “invention relat[ing] to what are commonly termed beer chests or refrigerators, and more especially to certain new and useful attachments connected and combined therewith for increasing the efficiency and utility thereof.
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Beer In Ads #1554: Mr. & Mrs. Beer Glass

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Wednesday’s ad is a German beer poster by famed Swiss illustrator Herbert Leupin. This is maybe the seventh or eighth work by him that I’ve featured over the years. The text on the poster, “gibt kraft und nervenruhe,” is translated by Google as “gives strength and nerve rest.” I’m sure there’s a more idiomatic and elegant translation, but you get the idea. It may be a companion poster to Beer In Ads #1158: Spendet Freude Und Harmonie, which translates as “gives pleasure and harmony.” In that one, the male glass is smiling, whereas in today’s ad it’s more of a frown. I wonder if that’s a reflection of the beer in the glass?

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Patent No. 3443958A: Method Of Preparing Ground Cereal Grains In The Production Of Brewery Mash

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Today in 1969, US Patent 3443958 A was issued, an invention of George E. Dennis, Richard C. Quittenton, and Kenneth R. Robinson, assigned to John Labatt Ltd., for their “Method of Preparing Ground Cereal Grains in the Production of Brewery Mash.” There’s no Abstract, but the invention is described as a “process for producing brewers wort in which cereal grains are dehulled, the dehulled grain is ground to form a fine grist and at least part of the hulls removed before grinding are recombined with the ground dehulled grain and passed through the mashing stage in the usual manner.” Here’s why they think their method is better.

According to this invention it has been determined that the above difficulties [milling problems] can be overcome by removing the hull from the grain before the milling operation. With the hulls removed the kernels of grain can now be more finely ground than was possible in the past and then the finely ground kernels can be recombined with the hulls at any point before the lautering stage. The result of this is an increased yield without any significant sacrifice in run-off time. A series of pilot plant tests indicated that an average yield increase of up to 2% could be obtained with a less than a 15% increase in lautering time.

The degree to which the kernels can be more finely ground according to this invention will be entirely dependent upon the particular situation. Thus, the actual particle size will be dependent upon the nature of the grain, the balance of the lautering time against yield permissible in a given situation, etc.

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Patent No. 3443397A: Barrel Cooler

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Today in 1969, US Patent 3443397 A was issued, an invention of Thomas A. Donovan and William E. Miltenberger, assigned to Anheuser Busch, for their “Barrel Cooler.” There’s no Abstract, but the invention is described as a “barrel cooler which is inexpensive, pleasing in appearance, leakproof, and collapsible so that it may be stored in a small space or transported in collapsed condition.” They continue with more:

The present invention is embodied in a collapsible barrel cooler made from water impervious material, said cooler having inner and outer walls adapted to be positioned in spaced relation for receiving a coolant there between such as ice and water, said inner wall being adapted to be secured over the top of a barrel positioned therein to retain said inner wall in an upright position, said inner and outer walls having an opening therein near the bottom thereof for receiving a faucet for drawing off the contents from the barrel, said opening being leakproof so that no ice or water leaks out of the space between said walls.

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Beer In Ads #1553: Fifty Shades Of Brown

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Tuesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1960. Good to know advertisers back then were as shameless as today. It’s fifty shades of brown, with an attractive brown-haired male model in a brown suit and tie, sitting in a tan chair while holding a beer and a brown puppy. I wonder who they were targeting with the ad?

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