A double whammy of bad news has come out of Wiveliscombe.
Two of the town’s independent breweries are no longer making beer in their separate premises off Ford Road.
Last rounds were called at Nuttycombe Brewery, which pulled the plug on its operation barely three years after it took over premises occupied by Cotleigh Brewery before that company’s demise the previous year.
Ross Nuttycombe threw in the towel at the end of April following an alarming decline in sales since Christmas.
He blames the Government, employers’ National Insurance contributions, and rising prices while people uncertain about their jobs are tightening their belts.
It could have been a similar story at neighbouring 46-year-old Exmoor Ales had the rumour mill suggesting the shutters were being pulled down proved correct.
Instead, Exmoor announced its beers would no longer be brewed locally - instead it’s being made at Hogs Back Brewery, in Guildford.
Owner Jonathan Price bemoaned the knock-on effects of Covid, inflation, market changes, and tax increases.
But he’s determined to keep going and will maintain a delivery service in Wiveliscombe. He’s optimistic brewing will return to the town at some stage in the future.
It’s sad to see two small local companies that had seemed to be on an upward curve going under or struggling, especially when it involves people losing their livelihoods.
The announcements were a bombshell, but it’s a bit late now for drinkers to start crying in their beer - particularly in a town with such a brewing heritage. (The Hancocks made beer off Golden Hill from Victorian times, reputedly employing half the men in the town).
Of course those days have gone, but it’s not all negative.
At least we can still raise a pint glass to one brewery, Black Bear, lovingly created in a shed in the beer garden of the Bear Inn, in North Street, and currently available in at least eight pubs in the area.
But the graffiti on the wall is warning: “Use it or lose it.”
Pubs and breweries are closing nationwide like there’s no tomorrow.
If you want to keep your local and want to drink local beer, the ball’s in your pint glass.
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