Doom Bar brewery in Cornwall to be shut by American owners

The Cornish brewery behind Doom Bar is to be shut by its American owners as Britain’s beer and pub industry continues to struggle.Molson Coors, which bought Sharp’s Brewery in 2011, said it was planning to close the cask ale producer by the end of this year. It said the site at Rock, Wadebridge, was no longer “financially sustainable”.It throws into doubt the future of the popular Doom Bar brand, which is made at the 30-year-old brewery and takes its name from a sandbank at the mouth of Cornwall’s Camel Estuary. The beer is among the best-selling cask ales in Britain.Chicago-headquartered Molson Coors said it was “exploring a number of alternative production routes” for the beers made by Sharp’s, including Doom Bar.It said it was “committed to the Sharp’s brands” and could potentially produce them in partnership in future. Molson Coors also makes other beers including Coors Light.The proposal to close Sharp’s Brewery comes after figures last month revealed that Britain was losing breweries at the fastest rate in 50 years, as businesses collapsed under soaring taxes.Between 2015 and 2019, the number of breweries in Britain ballooned, but the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (Siba) said three breweries shut their doors for good every week last year, blaming Labour for “wiping British heritage from communities”.Sites have been struck by a series of punishing tax increases including higher business rates and beer duty rises. Breweries were excluded from a rescue package for pubs set out by Rachel Reeves earlier this year.The Chancellor was forced to provide more support for pubs following a campaign by The Telegraph calling for the tax burden on pubs to be eased. It means that, from April, pubs will get a 15pc discount on their business rates bills.However, industry experts have said more support is needed for breweries.Ash Corbett-Collins, of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), said global companies had a “stranglehold ... on the UK beer market”, which was making it harder for smaller independent brands to compete.Molson Coors on Wednesday said the planned closure of Sharp’s Brewery came after “exploring every alternative option to make the site financially sustainable as part of the company’s UK production network in the long-term”.The shake-up of its UK operations – which will also include the closure of its call centre in Cardiff – could lead to 200 job losses.Simon Kerry, the UK and Ireland managing director at Molson Coors, said “difficult choices” would set the company up to grow over the longer term. He added: “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.”Sharp’s, which also makes a number of hazy IPAs, pale ales and ciders alongside Doom Bar, was founded by Bill Sharp in 1994. He set up its first brewery in a former speedboat store in Rock.