The launch of CAMRA’s Beer in the UK report this month has helped to shine a light on an issue that has long affected indie brewers. One headline of their findings is that 7 out of 10 of the UK’s best selling “craft beers” are made by four giant multinational brewers – at a time when drinkers are crying out for independent beer.
This is nothing new. When CAMRA were formed in 1971, it was essentially in opposition to the Big Six – massive national brewing concerns who were tying up the bar and pushing bland, fizzy keg beer. Local, independent cask beer was being left out in the cold. When the 1989 Beer Orders came into force, it was hoped that the monopoly would be broken and smaller breweries would have more chance of finding publicans that were willing and able to sell their beer.
Unfortunately, while the Beer Orders did successfully separate much of the tied pub estate from the brewers, massive pub companies (often referred to as pubcos) were formed instead to fill the void. Many were even formed by making straight swaps, with one brewery taking all of the brewing interests and the other taking the pubs and forming a pub co instead.
Pub cos are usually effectively property firms rather than hospitality driven businesses and are happy to have their tenants tied to the products from one or other of the global giant brewery companies. Having large pub estates tied to particular beers mitigates the need to focus on quality and innovation. If the pubs are forced to take your beer anyway, why bother investing in R&D when you can concentrate on the margin instead?
With the majority of the pub industry being tied in to agreements only to supply beer from certain brewers, it makes life next to impossible for smaller brewers. They have to fight it out (directly or through an independent wholesaler) for the meagre supply of cask and keg lines available in the true freehouses – where a publican is able to serve whatever they chose.
Some independent brewers have got around this by building small pub estates of their own. Moderately sized regional brewers like Thornbridge and Titanic spring to mind. They have been able to create a direct route to market by having their own bars. But this is not an option for all brewers. Some are just too small or, quite reasonably, want to focus their energy on brewing – not the business of running a pub.
However, in recent years a new path has been beaten by a couple of particularly entrepreneurial independent brewers that has seen them enjoy the best of both worlds. They have found a middle ground which allows them to take advantage of the tied network enjoyed by the macros, whilst still retaining their authenticity and integrity as independent craft brewers.
The Loophole: Distribution Agreements
Jamie Lawson, very much a man who has built his business from the ground up, bought the brewery that his father founded – Ossett Brewery – in 2016. He then founded the SALT Beer Factory in 2018. Along with the brewery businesses, Jamie has built an estate of 32 pubs and bars since 2002. It began as a separate company – the Izakaya Pub Co, which he amalgamated into Ossett in 2016.
“I was buying freehold pubs in places like Halifax and Huddersfield,” Jamie recalls, “where we were in charge of our own destiny in terms of putting our own beers on. But the areas where I was able to buy freehold were few and far between. All the big pub companies had a very tight grip on property and at that time there was nothing on the market. So I bought where I could.”
Jamie found, to his surprise, that his new Yorkshire pub purchases had a genuine market need to provide macro beers. If he’d have only fielded Ossett Brewery beers, he doesn’t believe those businesses would have succeeded. A balance was struck, and the recipe is still followed today, to offer a mix of Ossett and SALT beers alongside perhaps more familiar, big name beers.
“We’re very proud of our craft heritage, but we understand that a large part of our market aren’t convinced by craft beers. What we give them is an opportunity – by coming to a craft-led outlet like ours, we often find people transition to craft beers from the macro brands because of what they see their friends drinking.”
The unexpected consequence of this business model was that Jamie built a strong and positive relationship with Molson Coors. It is one of the five biggest brewing companies in the world and is able to put product into an estimated 30k outlets in the UK. Not a bad friend to have.
A decade or so ago, at the height of the British craft beer boom (and arguably the signifier of its end), the biggest brewers started buying up craft brands in an attempt to get a piece of the action. Camden Town Brewery was purchased by AB InBev in 2015. Meantime was bought by SABMiller in the same year, before being offloaded to Asahi in 2018. Beavertown was bought by Heineken in 2018. The list goes on.
In my view, these acquisitions never really worked out. The macros may have had all the gear, but to beer lovers, they still had no idea. “Craft beer” is a notoriously difficult concept to define, but the brands that were bought out soon lost their edge – and their appeal with the small but dedicated demographic that had been buying them. Molson Coors decided to try a different approach.
In 2021, they approached Jamie, with a view to distributing some independent craft beers through their wholesale network. An agreement was struck to trial the arrangement in bars in the north of England. At first, two beers were used for the pilot – SALT’s flagship session IPA, Jute, and its NEIPA, Huckaback. The experiment went so well that Molson Coors were keen for a national roll out. Jamie jumped at the opportunity and ultimately the partnership was invigorated by the signing of a 3 year deal in 2023.
“When you get given an amazing commercial opportunity like that, the chance to put SALT beers on bars across the UK, well, I don’t know many brewers who wouldn’t grasp it with both hands. And it was the best thing we ever did. As someone who’s been in this industry for over two decades, seeing your beers pop up on bars nationwide fills you with a lot of pride.”
For drinkers who are “into beer” the proliferation of SALT beers in pubs up and down the land in recent years has been a godsend. Previously, when behind enemy lines in a tied pub, Guinness would be your fallback pint. You could be relatively assured of the quality. Now, more often than not, for me at least, it is Jute. I know it’s independent, I know the flavour is good, I’m pleased to see it on a bar otherwise filled with faux-European macro lagers.
Indie Brewers: Historical Precedent
SALT’s arrangement was not the first time that serendipity allowed an independent to piggyback on the distribution might of the biggest breweries. Another Yorkshire brewery, T&R Theakston, inherited such an arrangement when the Theakston family bought the brewery back into independent ownership in 2003.
Theakston was bought by Matthew Brown Ltd in 1984, which in turn was subsumed by Scottish & Newcastle in 1987. With the S&N acquisition of Courage in 1995, Theakston had been metaphorically been passed from pillar to post by the time the four Theakston brothers bought their family business back in the early 2000s. But Scottish Courage could see the potential for Theakston’s growth when it returned to independent family ownership.
For that reason, initially at least, a sales and distribution agreement was put in place to give continuity to existing Theakston customers in the on-trade. They could still buy Theakston beers as they always had through S&N’s systems. Theakston also benefitted from having its beers still positioned as the leading premium cask ale equity across the national brewer’s portfolio – a huge boon for the family.
Time went on, and Scottish & Newcastle was itself eventually bought by Heineken UK, Theakston took the decision to move away from the distribution arrangement and work more with independent wholesalers, basically because Heineken’s portfolio was so big that there was a danger of them getting lost in the noise. However, there was an undeniable advantage to the newly re-established business in being able to maintain existing customers and make use of the national salesforce to pass on leads for new ones, without having to make the slightest compromise to its independence or its integrity.
Northern Monk and Damm UK
There are other examples of these partnerships bringing mutual benefit to both parties. A more recent arrangement has been struck between yet another independent Yorkshire brewer, Northern Monk, and Damm UK, whose recent consolidation of operations at the Eagle Brewery in Bedford saw them on the hunt for partners who could support their “full portfolio approach”. Again, it was the quality and authenticity of Northern Monk’s brewing that made them stand out.
“The UK is the second biggest global market for Damm and they’re really invested in both the business and their impact as an organisation and employer in the country,” says Russell Bisset, Northern Monk’s founder. “Estrella is a truly global brand but with a laser focus on quality. At Northern Monk we have always been ambitious and want to take our Fresh from the North approach to the world. We have always been open to working with likeminded operators who can facilitate that journey. It also helps that their UK MD, Luke [White], is a Leeds resident and tap room regular.”
It’s still relatively early days for the arrangement, but at the end of 2025, Northern Monk already had some impressive figures to share. Over 1400 venues were stocking Faith and A Little Faith, and the brewery saw a 15% uplift in those brands’ distribution in the on-trade. Thanks to Damm’s keen interest in supporting live events, a part of their business model that they have successfully transplanted from Barcelona, Northern Monk beers were found at 13 large-scale summer events last year – with more than 40,000 pints being drunk.
It’s pretty obvious what the benefits are for the indie brewers, but I was also interested to know what Russell felt they offered to the macros.
“As we expand our capacity,” Russell said, “we can increase the amount of beer we can pack into keg for the on-trade, enabling Damm to present a fresh and exciting proposition to their customers and drinkers – building on the success we’ve seen in the off-trade and in our heartlands. There’s a strong values alignment across both businesses; at our core we’re both striving for the same things. Distributing Faith and A Little Faith enables Damm to strengthen their portfolio with beers, and a brand, that’s truly Fresh From the North.”
Luke White, the Managing Director for Damm UK, gave me the perspective of the larger brewery straight from the horses mouth, as it were:
“There’s no shortage of fantastic independent drinks brands in the UK. What many of them need is access to the infrastructure, production capability and commercial expertise that allows them to scale without losing what makes them special.
“That’s where we believe Damm can play an important role. Through our partnerships, we’re able to provide routes to market, manufacturing capability where it’s needed, and the backing of an international business, while allowing founder-led brands to retain the identity, quality and authenticity that made them successful in the first place. For brands like Northern Monk, that means opening up new opportunities through our distribution network.
“These partnerships are mutually beneficial. They strengthen Damm UK’s premium portfolio, help us build towards becoming a true total beverage company, and create opportunities for outstanding British brands to reach more customers in the UK today, with the potential to grow internationally through Damm’s global network in the future.”
Luke is an interesting character. He’s worked in hospitality since before he was 18, starting off glass collecting. After he came of age, he turned to life on the door – security being an obvious choice for someone with good customer management skills, not to mention a slightly imposing physique. He’s spent a couple of decades working his way up and understands the UK pub trade as well as anyone.
The potential benefit for the indies to export was not an area I’d considered before. But, as brewers increasingly get to grips with trading internationally from post-Brexit Britain, this is clearly becoming a new area of rapid growth for a number of companies. We’re seeing more British products making waves in the Scandinavian monopolies and establishing markets in Asia, for example. What might they be able to do with access to a ready-made network of international customers?
Questionable Integrity?
In examining this issue, I came back time and again to the question of integrity. The macros want the indie brewers to retain that independence. Their authenticity is the thing that makes the relationship profitable for both sides. But it also flags a potential downside. Some drinkers, seeing SALT or Northern Monk beers so widely available, think that the breweries have been taken over and worry that the beer’s quality will change for the worse.
SALT, for example, developed Alpacalypse, a 4.3% session IPA in partnership with Molson Coors. Let’s be real about this, it sits very firmly in the “Neck Oil” space on the bar – another example of that “full portfolio” approach, ticking a box for Molson Coors. It has become one of the fastest-growing and best-selling keg beers on the market. However, I’ve spoken to plenty of drinkers who view it with mistrust, even though it’s a perfectly respectable beer and the flavour is good. But Jamie believes in the beer’s integrity and SALT (rightly) take pride in it.
“It’s something authentic that’s being driven by us. And it is a stepping stone into craft,” Jamie says. “Alpacalypse is an easier drink for those that try a mouthful of Jute and think, no, this is too much for me. It’s too much to suggest that somebody’s gonna go for a macro lager one week and then jump onto a Jute or a Double IPA or something even more flavoursome. It’s not likely to happen.
“But they might drink Alpacalypse in Portsmouth or Bristol or London for the first time. If they have a pleasant experience with the beer they’ll go on social media or our e-comm platform and then buy direct and experiment with something else. And we’ve definitely seen our e-comm sales going up exponentially.”
Alpacalypse was developed with the history of SALT’s home village, Saltaire, in mind. The World Heritage site was built by Sir Titus Salt off the back of the use of alpaca fibre, blended with silk to create a new and cost effective fire-retardant material that made his name in the 19th-century textile industry. If you go to Saltaire Park, there are bronze statues of alpacas calmly viewing the landscape. The SALT team were drawing on those genuine roots to build a new brand. Just because it has the might of Molson Coors driving marketing and sales, that doesn’t make it any less of a true SALT product than Jute.
It won’t help everyone
For relatively ambitious breweries with broad shoulders, what we might as well call the Yorkshire Loophole presents a real opportunity to reach markets that they would likely never have touched on their own. But these are strictly limited opportunities. Once a macro has “collected” an independent craft brewer to fill the gap in their portfolio, they aren’t going to want any more. And the thing about the big brewers is that there are relatively few of them, so that window is closing fast.
I don’t doubt that these distribution arrangements could leave a sour taste in the mouth of the brewers who aren’t benefitting from them. While they are busy fighting against the tied pub system, for the good of all indie brewers, the ones who have found a way through that is advantageous to themselves lose the imperative to seek change.
At the end of the day, we can only applaud the breweries who have found such success. Criticising them is as redundant as when indie bands get accused of “selling out” when they score a record deal. They are making the best of the hand they’ve been dealt. But that doesn’t alter the fact that much-needed wholesale structural change to the pub industry, as identified by CAMRA, will ultimately benefit consumers more. It is likely that only new legislation will force the hand of the global giants and create a marketplace in which the large and the small brewers get equitable opportunities.
