| Sharp Brewery's Doom Bar from Rock, Cornwall? Apparently not! Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 00:47, 19th June 2015 |     |
From the BBC:
Best-selling bottled ale Doom Bar not brewed in Cornwall
One of the UK's best selling bottled ales, thought by many people to be from Cornwall, is not brewed in the county at all, it has been revealed.
Despite its Cornish branding, bottles of Sharp's Doom Bar have been made in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, for the last two years.
Only the cask version is made at the main brewery site in Rock, Cornwall.
Sharp's, which is owned by US company Molson Coors, said it did not have the room to bottle the ale at Rock.
The labels on bottles of Doom Bar contain seven references to Rock Cornwall, but none to Burton-upon-Trent, but the small print reads "brewed in the UK".
Burton-upon-Trent is 267 miles away from Sharp Brewery's home in Rock.
Former publican Chris Parsons said: "I assumed it was made from the local waters. I wouldn't buy it anymore and think it is a complete and utter con."
Molson Coors bought Sharp's in 2011. Measured by value of sales, Doom Bar is now the most popular bottled ale in the UK.
Liz Fletcher, landlady of the Devon and Cornwall Inn, said: "I can kind of understand it because Doom Bar is now so so huge and so so popular we're limited with space and logistics in Cornwall."
Sharp's said cask Doom Bar was still made in Cornwall
Sharp's spokesman James Nicholls said: "We have been established in Rock since 1994 and the majority of Doom Bar, more than 80% or about 1m pints a week, is brewed at Rock. But we do complement that with brewing operations further afield and that is the spirit of collaboration that we've seen in the brewing market places where beer is brewed under licence in other locations.
"We are using the expertise of specialist operations further afield to make sure that product is a good as it can be. Doom Bar is brewed in Rock and was conceived in Rock and we are very proud of that."
Doom Bar is named after a sand bank at the mouth of the estuary of the River Camel next to Rock, famed for being treacherous to ships.
One of the UK's best selling bottled ales, thought by many people to be from Cornwall, is not brewed in the county at all, it has been revealed.
Despite its Cornish branding, bottles of Sharp's Doom Bar have been made in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, for the last two years.
Only the cask version is made at the main brewery site in Rock, Cornwall.
Sharp's, which is owned by US company Molson Coors, said it did not have the room to bottle the ale at Rock.
The labels on bottles of Doom Bar contain seven references to Rock Cornwall, but none to Burton-upon-Trent, but the small print reads "brewed in the UK".
Burton-upon-Trent is 267 miles away from Sharp Brewery's home in Rock.
Former publican Chris Parsons said: "I assumed it was made from the local waters. I wouldn't buy it anymore and think it is a complete and utter con."
Molson Coors bought Sharp's in 2011. Measured by value of sales, Doom Bar is now the most popular bottled ale in the UK.
Liz Fletcher, landlady of the Devon and Cornwall Inn, said: "I can kind of understand it because Doom Bar is now so so huge and so so popular we're limited with space and logistics in Cornwall."
Sharp's said cask Doom Bar was still made in Cornwall
Sharp's spokesman James Nicholls said: "We have been established in Rock since 1994 and the majority of Doom Bar, more than 80% or about 1m pints a week, is brewed at Rock. But we do complement that with brewing operations further afield and that is the spirit of collaboration that we've seen in the brewing market places where beer is brewed under licence in other locations.
"We are using the expertise of specialist operations further afield to make sure that product is a good as it can be. Doom Bar is brewed in Rock and was conceived in Rock and we are very proud of that."
Doom Bar is named after a sand bank at the mouth of the estuary of the River Camel next to Rock, famed for being treacherous to ships.
| Re: Sharp Brewery's Doom Bar from Rock, Cornwall? Apparently not! Posted by JayMac at 06:44, 19th June 2015 | |
Have St Austell Tribute instead. That's still proper Cornish.
| Re: Sharp Brewery's Doom Bar from Rock, Cornwall? Apparently not! Posted by Red Squirrel at 09:44, 19th June 2015 | |
To be fair, the story is only 20% true:
...the majority of Doom Bar, more than 80% or about 1m pints a week, is brewed at Rock...
If you drink the proper stuff from the handpump, it'll be brewed in Rock:
...the cask version is made at the main brewery site in Rock, Cornwall.
| Re: Sharp Brewery's Doom Bar from Rock, Cornwall? Apparently not! Posted by Richard Fairhurst at 10:11, 19th June 2015 | |
The Burton brewery used to be the view from my office at Waterways World - we were housed in the old brewmaster's house. It's a pleasant change to have something palatable brewed in the town's biggest brewery rather than the Carling which is its usual fare...
| Re: Sharp Brewery's Doom Bar from Rock, Cornwall? Apparently not! Posted by patch38 at 11:48, 19th June 2015 | |
Have you ever read Gone for a Burton by Bob Ricketts? An amusing and insightful personal history of the brewing industry. One of the facts that interested me was that research in the late 60s (date may not be accurate - I'm going from memory) showed that what the public wanted was not lager, it was just colder beer. The purists turned down the concept of serving chilled bitter so lager (which is supposed to be served chilled) gained its foothold.
Anyway, worth digging out from ABE or elsewhere if you've not read it.
| Re: Sharp Brewery's Doom Bar from Rock, Cornwall? Apparently not! Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 20:41, 19th June 2015 | |
That's still proper Cornish.
'Cornish' in Cornish is Kernewek. 
Touche, mon petit brave! (posted just one day after the two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo).
| Closure of Doom Bar brewery in Cornwall Posted by grahame at 05:32, 26th February 2026 | |
Doom Bar maker Sharp's Brewery in Cornwall to close. From Cornwall Live
One of Cornwall's best known and biggest breweries is set to close.
Canadian-American owner Molson Coors Beverage Company has announced that it is looking to close Sharp's Brewery in Rock and has now entered consultation with staff.
The brewery is known as the home of Doom Bar which has been a staple beer at pubs, restaurants and supermarkets up and down the country for years and is the UK's best-selling cask ale.
Canadian-American owner Molson Coors Beverage Company has announced that it is looking to close Sharp's Brewery in Rock and has now entered consultation with staff.
The brewery is known as the home of Doom Bar which has been a staple beer at pubs, restaurants and supermarkets up and down the country for years and is the UK's best-selling cask ale.
| Re: Sharp Brewery's Doom Bar from Rock, Cornwall? Apparently not! Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 15:15, 26th February 2026 | |
With thanks to grahame for that update from the BBC, I have now dug up a previous topic related to Doom Bar and merged it here.
My understanding is that the bottled and canned versions of Doom Bar have been brewed elsewhere for years: it is only the keg version which is still brewed in Rock, Cornwall.
From the BBC:
Sharp's Brewery to close with loss of 50 jobs
Molson Coors said 50 jobs would be lost at Sharp's Brewery
A Cornish brewery is set to close with the loss of 50 jobs.
The US brewing firm Molson Coors said it was proposing to shut Sharp's Brewery in Rock by the end of the year because the site was "no longer financially sustainable".
Managing director Simon Kerry said 200 staff would be made redundant across Molson Coors and 50 would be staff at the Rock brewery.
Kerry said the firm was in the process of exploring a number of alternative production routes, including the possibility of producing Sharp's brands in partnership. He said it "has not been an easy decision" to make and the Sharp's team at Rock had been "an exceptional and committed team who take such huge pride in their craft".
In a statement, Molson Coors said it had invested more than £20m in Sharp's Brewery since it acquired it in 2011 to expand capacity, upgrade equipment and strengthen the Sharp's portfolio.
Kerry said: "We have invested significantly in the site and the Sharp's brands over that time and have taken every step we can to try and avoid this outcome. However, the site is no longer financially sustainable as part of our national production network. Our focus now is on supporting our Rock-based colleagues in every way we can throughout this process."
(BBC article continues)
Molson Coors said 50 jobs would be lost at Sharp's Brewery
A Cornish brewery is set to close with the loss of 50 jobs.
The US brewing firm Molson Coors said it was proposing to shut Sharp's Brewery in Rock by the end of the year because the site was "no longer financially sustainable".
Managing director Simon Kerry said 200 staff would be made redundant across Molson Coors and 50 would be staff at the Rock brewery.
Kerry said the firm was in the process of exploring a number of alternative production routes, including the possibility of producing Sharp's brands in partnership. He said it "has not been an easy decision" to make and the Sharp's team at Rock had been "an exceptional and committed team who take such huge pride in their craft".
In a statement, Molson Coors said it had invested more than £20m in Sharp's Brewery since it acquired it in 2011 to expand capacity, upgrade equipment and strengthen the Sharp's portfolio.
Kerry said: "We have invested significantly in the site and the Sharp's brands over that time and have taken every step we can to try and avoid this outcome. However, the site is no longer financially sustainable as part of our national production network. Our focus now is on supporting our Rock-based colleagues in every way we can throughout this process."
(BBC article continues)
