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Terrible news day today for beer lovers across the country
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because the Cornish brewery behind Doomba is to be shut by its American owners
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as Britain's beer and pub industry continues to face the struggle. It's believed that around 50 million pints of this brew
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are served every single year. And I'll tell you what, I do my fair share
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And even King Charles and Queen Camilla like Doomba and they post pictures with the beverage at an event 20 years ago
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Well, I'm delighted now to be joined by Gillian Howe, I think it's that, who's the vice chair at the Campaign for Real Ale
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Gillian, welcome to the show. I've got to say, I've got a huge fondness for these beers
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My holiday in Cornwall every year. Sea Fury, of course, named after one of the speed boats
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Operates at Padstow, Doombor, the sandbank there. These are the beers of our dreams
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Why does it turn into a nightmare? Well, thank you for having me, Martin
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I think the thing is like basically Sharpe's Brewery, it's been around for about 30 odd years, 30, 40 years
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but it was acquired by Molston Coors, which is actually a Canadian American company in 2011
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In fact, I actually was in Cornwall. I was in the Southwest in 2011 for New Year's Eve when the takeover took place
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And I remember drinking the barley wine because I sort of thought
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well, I'm probably not going to get this very much again. You're absolutely right about Sea Fury, that won silver in cameras, Champion Beer of Britain
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in 2024 for the premium bitter class, which means it was the second best premium bitter
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in the whole of the UK. The thing is there been a worrying trend of multinational brewing businesses abandoning their commitment to cask beer after they acquired small independent breweries And Sharps was an independent brewery that made some really really good beer
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Not just the one you're putting on the screen now, but they made lots of different styles of beer
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Seafury being just one of them. And at the time they bought the company
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they basically said they were 100% committed to real ale and cask bear at Rock
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But now, you know, not even 20 years on, basically they're pulling it out
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Despite the dedicated work of the staff at Rock, at Sharps, basically to bring down cost
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and to increase the green credentials, they're now saying, nope, that's it
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Doombard's already moved, apparently, up to the Midlands. It's been made. How can you have a Cornish bear that's made in the Midlands
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You know, Gideon, I'm actually getting quite close to tears. I've got those pints that will be taken away
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I've seen in my home city, Nottingham, home brewery went, Shipstown's went, Kimberley went
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They all went in the end. Some of the recipes were resurrected later on
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You can buy shippos again now, but it doesn't ever quite taste the same, does it? But let's hope that shops can be resurrected somewhere
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A legend slips into the sea. Thank you very much, Gideon, there, for joining us from the campaign
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The thing is, though, it's like Cornish pasties are protected. Cornish beer should also be protected
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We could talk about beer all day. I've been told we've got a cool time
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Now, Shorts Brewery is owned by Molson Coors Beverage Company and their managing director in the UK in Ireland, said this
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We've invested significantly in the site and the Shorts brands over that time
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and have taken every step we can to try and avoid this outcome. However, we can no longer continue
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Stick with us. We've got more information
