The Dark Horse Brewery in Hertford has closed after 8 years.
City of Cambridge Brewery has started brewing in its new premises - see Steve Draper's article.
Milton Brewery have opened their first pub, the Coalheavers Arms in Peterborough (near Charters; Multimap). There are eight hand pumps, a real cider and Bitburger German beer. The second pub, in Hackney, is being refurbished for opening early next year. The Chancellor's cut in duty for small brewers was an important factor in making this investment possible.
Cask Marque has launched its Distribution Charter, as described in last October's talk, to improve the handling of beer between brewery and pub.
The IFBB, the federation of family-owned brewers, are holding another Real Beer Week to promote real ale. It runs from 30th September.
Tolly Cobbold has been bought by Ridley's Brewery (Chelmsford), who will take over the brands but most importantly the large distribution network. This ends 250 years of brewing at the Cliff Quay site in Ipswich.
Coors, the new owners of the Bass brewery (but not the Bass brand), are showing commitment to real ale by launching a new premium ale Worthington 1744 (4.4%).
The company has managed to create some fuss with its "steamy" ad campaign for IPA and Abbot, featuring a woman tied to a bed having her toes licked and the slogan: "some things get better given longer".
GK bought Morrells of Oxford for £67M recently, gaining 57 managed and 50 tenanted pubs and the brands, such as Oxford Blue, Graduate and Varsity. So these are likely to reappear soon as "traditional Oxford beers", following the recent misleading labelling of Morland and Ruddles.
Meanwhile the brands are going to Refresh (UK), the new owners of the Wychwood Brewery, leaving Brakspear to concentrate on its tenanted pubs, until a predator such as Enterprise Inns or GK comes along.
The chairman, Mike Foster, cited the pressure within the free trade for deep discounts. The Budget's progressive duty tax break was set at too low a cut-off to help.