CORK brewery Beamish & Crawford is to invest almost £5 million over the next three years in a new ale, aimed primarily at the British market. The ale known as Beamish Red Irish ale, is forecast to add £7 million in sales to the company this year, increasing to £20 million by the third year.
The ale, which was introduced to the market in Cork yesterday, will be aimed at the premium ale sector, which accounts for four million barrels of beer per year in Britain (one barrel is 298 pints). The beer market in Britain is 15 times the size of the Irish market.
It will compete with other ales such as Caffrey's, which is brewed by Bass, and Kilkenny, which is brewed by Guinness.
Beamish Red will also be available in some outlets in the Republic. "Wherever there's a market for it, we'll sell it," Beamish's managing director, Mr Alf Smiddy, said yesterday.
Beamish Red will be exported to its sister company Scottish Courage, which will distribute and market it initially to some 2,500 outlets throughout Britain. Ale accounts for around 40 per cent of the total beer market in Britain, according to Mr Smiddy.
He added that the Beamish & Crawford plant in Cork is operating at around 60 per cent of its full capacity. "We could brew another 200,000 to 250,000 barrels a year without it hindering us in any way. And without adding much additional capital investment", he said.
Beamish was taken over by Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) last year, as part of a £425 million deal with Australian brewing giant Fosters.
S&N is the largest brewery in Britain and has an annual turnover of £1 billion and profits of around £200 million.
Beamish Red will be aimed at students and young people in their 20s and early 30s. The beer is allowed to settle for three minutes and has an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 4.5 per cent. Beamish already exports its stout to around 10,000 outlets in Britain and claims to have around 8 per cent of the stout market there.
Beamish & Crawford is the oldest brewery in Ireland and was founded more than 200 years ago. Figures for its Irish operations were not released by its previous owners. It is understood that it had sales of around £50 million last year.
