northernseagull
Active member
- Mar 12, 2013
- 676
I wonder what that'll mean for the Dark Star pubs if anything at all?! They can leave the hop head alone...
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[Sussex] Fullers buy Dark Star
- Thread starter Dirk Lehmann's Python
- Start date
Got to disagree on the HSB. Still an absolute fave. On the others, I bow to your knowledge. Let's hope they recognise that they are buying a jewel to protect and not one to just stick into Chiswick whilst maintaining some window-dressing brewing in PG.
Disappointed as I like their beer and I’m sure there will be some dumbing-down along the way. But, let’s not forget, Britain and Brighton/Sussex have plenty of other excellent brewers to choose from.
The most worrying aspect for those that have grown the business is that Fuller's are taking 100% of the company to allow it to invest in future expansion. No headline acquisition price or talk of transition for the MD.
Lankyseagull
One Step Beyond
Gales Festival Mild was a great beer, many pints enjoyed pre-match in the Withdean years at The Basketmakers. Had one pint of the Fullers brewed version and it was nowhere near as good.
I'm not sure that the quality of Dark Star will be that affected if it is still to be brewed at Partridge Green, but at least here in Sussex we have the magnificent range of beers from Burning Sky to drown our sorrows with!
Tubby Mondays
Well-known member
Yeah I had the outbreaks of gout to prove it!
Bold Seagull
strong and stable with me, or...
I used to leave just outside Horndean village and the head brewer used to play at Petersfield Squash club, so had a bit of an education from him!
Lankyseagull
One Step Beyond
I thought that was the result of our infamous trip to Snargate...
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beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 35,300
if it changes their brewing, that would be disappointing but the trend is for wider variety. nothing wrong with Fullers output anyway imo.
attila
1997 Club
Once Mark Tranter and Rob Jones had left this was always on the cards. And that is the nice way of putting it 
Fashinable though isn't it.
Lets be honest most these beers taste like rotten old socks. Ok , so they have an edgy name like Goblins anus or something but they taste like utter utter shi te.
Cowfold Seagull
Fan of the 17 bus
As a teenager in west London, l was brought up on Youngs beer, and absolutely loved Youngs Special. Although Charles Wells still brew it, to me it has a totally different flavour to the original version. No doubt they have, in their wisdom, decided to change the recipe.
A great great shame in my book. If it aint broke, as the saying goes, why try to fix it?
Cowfold Seagull
Fan of the 17 bus
For me Doom Bar isn't the same beer since Sharpe's was taken over by Coors a few years ago.
mejonaNO12 aka riskit
Well-known member
I'll be honest, when I was 18 and the only one drinking Harveys in a crowd of a Fosters, I never thought "god, I'm fashionable".
fataddick
Well-known member
A lot of Dark Star purists reckon the quality of the beers has dropped a fair bit in recent years anyway, ever since it switched from being a brewery run by brewers (most of whom left to do other things) and became a brewery run by PR/marketing types. Given the latter, a takeover/sale has probably been on the cards for a while. Also bear mind in mind that Dark Star announced in March 2015 that they would be opening 20 new pubs over the next five years. Three years later they've managed just two (Haywards Heath and Horsham) which very much suggests their dreams of expansion were beyond their financial ability. Presumable this new deal will address that. As far as their four existing pubs are concerned, the Morning Advertiser reports that a separate company (run by the Dark Star directors) has been set up to run them, so I doubt anything much will change at the Evening Star etc. Fullers already have hundreds of pubs, so (unlike their acquisition of Gales who had 111 pubs) it's unlikely Dark Star's four are much of a factor in the takeover.
Marshy
Well-known member
I think the article said the Pubs would remain as they are.
Who knows might even see even more variety, as has been said I can think of a lot worse partners for Dark Star.
As for Hophead... its not my thing... I love ale but not the Hoppy ones.
fataddick
Well-known member
Here's the MA report (which has a lot more detail than the OG one): https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2018/02/20/Fuller-s-announces-Dark-Star-take-over
smudge
Up the Albion!
If you like washing down your KFC with a drop of Dark Star then it's not a good week.
Not enough Fullers pubs. I want more.