The latest 'Iechyd' Da' beer column from the Carmarthen Journal

The latest Iechyd Da beer column written by Llandeilo brewer Simon Buckley in the Carmarthen Journal -
October is the time for reflection in the lull before Christmas. It’s also a time to wonder, without the help of a crystal ball, where the brewing industry is going.
In my view, we have every reason to be quietly confident and to look forward to 2012 with some degree of confidence.
What I do know is that the famous brewer who only six years ago told me that cask ale was dead could not have got it more wrong. His once-famous brewery now languishes in the backwaters of the West Wales brewing scene and his once-famous brands are reduced to fond memories.
Cask ale is now the ‘must have’ product.
Pubs that have abandoned cask ale are generally not the ones that are doing well.
Our consumers want high-quality products at affordable prices and beers that change with the seasons.
As a result of this, my company is seeing significant growth. Over the last year, we have seen new and exciting opportunities to grow our cask ale sales. The big brewers are all retreating back to their home bases on the other side of the bridge, leaving ‘Bro Buckley’ (the geographical area rival breweries often referred to as ‘Buckley Country’) to its rightful heir apparent.
It was Tim Martin, the flamboyant Chairman of JD Wetherspoon, who said to me, “What we have to do is to do what the supermarkets can’t do: sell fantastic cask ale and do it well”.
Tim is absolutely right - and that is what we have done.
Many small brewers chase the bottled beer market thinking that it is the answer to poor cask sales volume, but, without scale, you simply cannot make it work.
There is no margin in bottle beers sold to supermarkets unless it is sold in massive scale. It is good peripheral business, but it is only a small part of a jigsaw of brand opportunities.
Six years ago, I set out to recreate a West Wales brewery that would produce fantastic cask beers - a model for the rest of the small brewing industry in Wales.
With the support of our loyal and expanding customer base, we have a real opportunity to create a well-positioned regional brewer that can service pubs throughout our trading area.
I now have one of the best brewing teams in the UK, a dedicated team of young professionals, who every day make it their business to brew great beers for our customers.
As a result we have won more top awards at international level than any other brewer in Wales and Llandeilo can proudly boast being the home of one of the best beers in the world.
So, what is my prediction for 2012?
There’s no doubt that 2012 will be challenging.
Increases in utilities, malt prices, and labour costs will all mean that we have to achieve increased efficiencies, but for all that (if what we have bid for in terms of new business comes through) our business will double in size and our greatest task will be to manage the change that will have to come with that increased production.
While other pundits worry about the macro economic climate and the collapse of the Euro, I shall be urging my team to do what we do well, and for us as a team to focus on what we can influence - our market, our loyal customers, and the brewing of great beer.
The next generation are now all but in place to guarantee the very best of Welsh brewing remains in West Wales. Some 245 years after the Buckley name made its first association with brewing, the dream lives on.