I get the impression that the Griffin brewery will continue as usual making the beers for the UK market (for now at least,) but Asahi are getting the international trademark rights to do with as they please. Following the Beer Orders ~20 years ago limiting the pub holdings of brewers, the majority of brewing companies found more money in the real estate than the beer. Of course many great names simply went out of existence. They were sold off in pieces (Bass for example sold its plants to Coors, now Molson Coors, trademarks to InterBrew, now AB InBev, and then the real estate got variously liquidated.) In order for the reorganized brewing industry to be viable at all, further rounds of consolidation and shutdowns were necessary. Many of the old brewers' brands were continued for a short while by new licensees, but relatively few still survive. Ironically some brands that went extinct in the UK still survive internationally as mere trademarks -- Whitbread, Manns, Boddingtons -- while some brands continue in some recognizable form in the UK while they are just exploitable trademarks internationally (like Bass Ale.) And I'm afraid what we will get as "Fullers" will be just random liquid with a brand name slapped on, like the "Bass Ale" AB InBev sells here. Supplying pub accounts in the UK isn't where Asahi see potential for profit. Whatever they do with their international trademarks, let's hope they don't shut down the UK brewing operations at the first opportunity. Perhaps Fullers' recent attempts to position themselves in the "craft" category will help.
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