Something unusual, unexpected and potentially very good is happening to one of Britain’s - and Burton's - most revered beer brands. The brand is Draught Bass and for the first time in many a long year, the owners of the brand are promoting it and actually trying to sell it.
The owners are the Belgium-based giants Ab-InBev, the result of a complicated series of takeovers and mergers which includes owning the Budweiser brand in America. In Britain, they currently operate as Budweiser Brewing Group. And while they have owned the Bass brand for a long time, they have largely ignored it. Until now.
They’ve not even been interested in brewing it. That job, for the last 20 years, has been contracted out to what was Marston’s in Burton, now “Carlsberg Britvic.” But Marston’s make a very good job of it and many of us aficionados think the beer is as good as it’s ever been.
Bass has gone under the radar, with no promotion, but it still sold steadily enough to sneak into the top 10 in the country among cask beers a few years ago. We are lucky in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, those of us who love Bass. It’s the beer’s heartland and there are 135 pubs in Derbyshire and 141 in Staffordshire stocking – and usually selling it rapidly – on a permanent basis. Plenty more have it occasionally or as a regular guest.
But go further afield and it’s harder to find. In some places, you won’t find any or you will only occasionally find it. For example, 12 pubs in Devon sell it permanently. There are two in Hampshire, none in Essex. How do I know these figures? Well, uniquely I think, Bass has garnered a cult following of devotees unlike any other beer.
One, Ian Thurman, diligently began a nationwide directory of pubs selling Bass a few years ago. Ian, from Youlgreave, handed over the organisation of the directory a few months ago but it is just as carefully updated still, with hundreds of people reporting on where it is available. You can see it online here, where the May update has just come out: nationalbassdirectory.wordpress.com/. In addition, a Facebook group called Great Stuff This Bass (an old advertising slogan), launched by Burton brewing historian Ian Webster, has more than 4,700 members.
That’s the background. And finally, it seems that someone with a bit of nous at Budweiser Brewing Group has realised that they might have a product worth promoting. After all, Bass as a brand is internationally known. Far more pubs have Bass mirrors hanging in them than actually sell the beer. You can buy Bass socks! There’s a ready-made marketing background and awareness waiting to be exploited.
Requests for information about Bass used to go unanswered. But thanks in no small part to polite and persistent nudging from a retired brewer, Pete Clark, from Codnor Park, the potential value of Bass has started to dawn on the company and they have started to respond.
People began to report sales reps going into pubs that didn’t serve Bass, suggesting that they might. A new Facebook page appeared called Bass Pale Ale, featuring two very professional marketing videos. We have been so used to the beer having no promotion that we wondered if it was a hoax. It isn’t. The marketing company employed to put the page together and tease the future promotion have been in touch and it’s all for real. There is a smart new pump clip. Glasses and other merchandise will be easier to get hold of. They have added a new sub-title to the product, “Trademark No 1: true quality that stands the test of time.” It’s a nod to the famous red triangle logo.
Now, I’m not getting carried away. Draught Bass is not suddenly going to get the millions thrown at it that invented lagers like Madri do. It probably won’t be pushed as hard as Molson Coors pushed Sharps Doombar to make it a national brand. But Bass is being given a chance to compete. And honestly, it’s a beautiful beer. It might not convert the sort of modern drinkers who think pale and powerfully hoppy is where it’s at but that’s fine. Each to their own.
We’re told there is plenty of capacity to brew more Bass at Marston’s and that the brand owners are happy with the quality of the product as brewed there. And now we await further developments with interest and, call me sad if you like, a little excitement. Meanwhile, I’ve put together a list, not exhaustive, of places where either I find Draught Bass to be excellent or I have a strong recommendation that it is from people I trust.
In the city of Derby (and in no particular order): Smithfield, Flowerpot, Five Lamps, Victoria Inn. In the surrounding area: Chequers, Ticknall; Harrington Arms, Thulston; Royal Oak, Ockbrook; Jolly Sailor, Hemington; Navigation, Shardlow; Swan, Milton; Pattenmakers, Duffield; Admiral Rodney, Hartshorne; Steampacket, Swanwick; Brookfield, Barrow on Trent; Coopers Arms, Weston on Trent. And in Burton: Devonshire Arms, Coopers Tavern, Roebuck, The Elms, Burton Rugby Club, The Gate at Branston.
And finally, a shameless plug. If any licensee reading this doesn’t sell Bass, or does but struggles with supply, and wants to get hold of it and its accompanying merchandise reliably, I highly recommend Chris Eaton at ASD Wholesale, Sutton in Ashfield. Chris is a Bass devotee, his company always has plenty available and he delivers regularly all around our area. He’s chris@asdwholesale.co.uk, 01623 441427.
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