Supermarket boon for Joseph Holt
CHEERS!: Richard Kershaw
A MANCHESTER-based brewery has gained national listings of its Champion Ale range.
Joseph Holt’s Maple Moon and HumDinger will be available across 390 Sainsbury’s stores, whilst larger Waitrose stores will be stocking Maple Moon and 1849.
The Joseph Holt Champion Ales range first went national in Morrisons a year ago, with Maple Moon and 1849 being listed in 295 stores nationwide.
At the time Mark Cox, Trading Manager for Morrisons said: “The range from Joseph Holt could prove to be the most significant entrant into the Premium Bottled Ale market in 2007.”
The range are not called Champion Ales for nothing either, with each having picked up significant accolades since their launch two years ago.
Gold Medal
1849 Champion Ale was the Gold Medal winner at the prestigious International Brewing Awards at DrinkTec in Munich in 2005. The 4.5 per cent ABV ale was complimented on its traditional aspects and is a complex blend of choice hops and English Ale malt.
At 4.8 pc ABV, Maple Moon is the strongest of the Champion Ales, and was a Silver Medalist at the International Brewing Awards in 2005.
Uniquely, this is the only Maple-flavoured Premium Bottled Ale in the market, and is flavoured with a subtle combination of maple syrup, Amber and English Ale Malt, finished with a delicate Caskade American Hops.
HumDinger was the 2004 Tesco Beer Challenge winner and rated number 2 in The Independents’ top 50 Best Beers, as well as recommended as the best tasting honey-flavoured ale.
Reputation
Richard Kershaw, chief executive and great, great grandson of founder Joseph Holt, explained: “Although our reputation and heritage is in brewing a range of cask ales for pubs, we want to make our fine ales available to a wider audience.
"Our range of Premium Bottled Ales is a natural development for us as we are able to maintain the quality of the ale in the bottle for the discerning ale drinker wherever they live in Britain.
“The off trade is a growing market sector and as an Independent Family Brewer we need to be competitive to remain in brewing. More consumers of quality ales are drinking ales at home so we realise that the Joseph Holt Champion Ales range needs to be made available in the off trade on a national basis.
"Why should we leave this growth sector to foreign competitors when the consumer demand is also good for quality English Ales?”.
Published: Wed, 19 November, 2008
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