Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC), the multinational that now controls much of Britain’s major cask ale production, ceased brewing eight cask ales and three keg beers at the end of 2024. The axed ales include Eagle IPA and Bombardier, two beers formerly brewed by Wells & Co in Bedford and once widely available in the Bedford area.

Other cask beers to be discontinued are Banks’s Mild and Sunbeam, Jennings Cumberland Ale, Marston’s 61 Deep and Old Empire, Ringwood Boondoggle and Old Thumper, plus Mansfield Dark Smooth amd Original Bitter in keg. CMBC says the decision is due to falling demand.

The move comes shortly after CMBC confirmed that it would close Banks’s Brewery in Wolverhampton during 2025, “as part of a restructuring of its brewery network”, despite the brewery’s 150th anniversary falling this year. Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire was closed last January after 45 years in business, which some critics referred to as “corporate vandalism”. Last summer Marston’s sold its 40% stake in CMBC, including its heritage ales, to a Carlsberg subsidiary for £206m.

A spokesperson for the brewing giant stated: “As the UK’s largest cask ale brewer, CMBC is passionate about cask ale and delivering a sustainable, successful future for this important part of British beer culture. Like any brewer, we are always reviewing our lines to best appeal to our consumers and help grow cask ale while delivering the highest quality brews. Understandably, where demand has sadly declined, we do have to make the difficult choice to de-list beers. We continue to invest in and launch new cask ales as well as support popular traditional cask ales, ranging from Banks’s Amber Bitter to Marston’s Pedigree.”

CAMRA national chairman, Ash Corbett-Collins, offered a damning comment on CMBC’s axing of so many beers. “CMBC’s decision to stop selling eight cask beers to pubs is a tragedy for British beer heritage and consumers, who will no longer be able to order their ‘usual’ behind the bar, leaving the end of an era for many. While pubs and their consumers will be forced to bid farewell to many of CMBC’s cask range, we hope more beers produced by independent breweries will fill up the vacant spaces CMBC has left behind the bar to ensure pub-goers find their favourite drink again. CMBC’s axing of so many beers and breweries in recent years only heightens our concerns for the brewing industry and the global brewers’ stranglehold over access to market. We hope this will be the end of CMBC’s tour of destruction for the sake of customer choice and what’s left of our brewing heritage.”

Fears that consumer choice in the UK would be reduced when Marston’s, then Britain’s biggest cask ale brewer, sold out to Carlsberg, seem to have been realised. The decision to de-list these brands so soon demonstrates that the conglomerate, which now owns a sizable chunk of the UK brewing market, will have a huge impact on both pubs and pubgoers. Having closed Jennings Brewery, sold the Eagle Brewery, and announced the closure of Banks’s Brewery, CMBC’s latest move will deal brewing, consumer choice, and industry jobs another blow.

CAMRA’s Real Ale, Cider and Perry Campaigns Director and Vice Chair, Gillian Hough, commented: “This is another example of a globally owned business wiping out UK brewing heritage. I hope that this change will mean space on the bar for licensees to stock guest beers from local independent breweries, but realistically, I suspect this isn't what CMBC plans. This loss of consumer choice is the inevitable outcome of a brewing conglomerate run by accountants and the bottom line. This is a sad and disappointing decision that puts both the history and the future of British brewing in jeopardy.”