Yorkshire ale powerhouse Theakston looks set to join the ranks of fellow family brewers Fuller’s and Marston’s with its own standalone craft beer brand.
The brewer, best known for its Old Peculier ale, has applied to register the trademark ‘Peculier Brewing Company’ with the Intellectual Property Office.
It is seeking class 7, 16, 21, 32, 33, 40 and 43 trademarks, covering brewing machines, advertising and beer mats, ales, other alcoholic beverages and services for providing food and drink.
A spokesman for the brewer called the move “just an intellectual property exercise aimed at protecting - and future-proofing - our famous Old Peculier brand identity in an ever-changing brewing industry marketplace”.
However, it has also filed a freshly designed logo for the ‘Peculier Brewing Company’, which suggests there may be more to the story than simple trademark housekeeping.
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The move would make Theakston the latest of the UK’s family-owned brewers to ramp up its focus on craft brewing projects as consumer interest in traditional ales flags.
West London-based brewery Fuller, Smith & Turner for instance, has this week completed building work on a new 10-barrel pilot plant adjacent to its Chiswick home, where it plans to create a range of small-batch beers and explore potential additions to its core range.
Craft had “clearly played a role” in the decline of traditional bottled ale sales, said Fuller’s marketing director Jane Jones. “Sessions on low abv are a thing of the past and experimentation with lots of different beers is very much the way it is being consumed. Younger consumers want a range of beers which is constantly evolving.”
Burton brewer Marston’s, too, has launched its own standalone craft brewery to try out more experimental, trendier recipes. Called DE14, two of its beers (End Point IPA and Flight Suit Orange Pale Ale) are now stocked in Morrisons.
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