Made with all-British ingredients, it comes in at 5.1% ABV. English-grown Harlequin, Jester, and Olicana hops deliver a zesty fruitiness with a full-bodied malty undertone. It finishes with a pronounced hop-forward flourish.It sounds very appetising, and I’d certainly give it a try. But it’s very different from the standard Old Peculier, which is a dark, sweet, rich, warming ale. And I can’t help thinking that this has the potential to dilute the image of the original beer. You have to wonder why it couldn’t simply be branded as “Theakston IPA”.
However, it seems to be an increasing trend to extend the brand name of a popular beer to others in the hope that they will benefit from a kind of halo effect. Something similar happened to Hobgoblin, where the original beer, another dark, sweetish brew, was joined by an IPA and a Gold. Wainwright, originally a pale gold beer, has now had an Amber version added, which looks suspiciously like an ordinary bitter. Several beers have had Gold spin-offs, including Shepherd Neame Spitfire and Brains SA and Reverend James, while Timothy Taylors renamed their Ram Tam as Landlord Dark.
Going back forty years, most beers were simply identified by the name of the brewer and the type of beer, such as “Bloggs’ Best Bitter”. But, increasingly, they came to be given distinctive names, which helped with recognition when there were more different beers on the bar, and the free trade grew in importance over tied houses. Thus Robinson’s Best Bitter became Unicorn and Taylor’s Best Better Boltmaker. The actual name of the brewer tends to be downplayed in favour of the brand.
Some of these have become so recognisable that the breweries felt it would be advantageous for other beers to piggyback on their reputation. But if you add the name to something very different, you run the risk of undermining the reputation of the original beer. Old Peculier was very well known as a distinctive rich, dark beer, but if the name is now also given to a pale, hoppy IPA it blurs that image.
Times are hard and beer and brewery business is struggling, something has to be done. This is something so it has to be done. I'm surprised they didn't add rainbow colours to the label.
ReplyDeleteAll depends on where the brand value or equity sits.
ReplyDeleteObvs they think both the brewery & existing product bring trust and recognition to this.
Only damages the core brand if the new product is crap.
As for Robbies Unicorn, my understanding was it was an attempt to de-commodify products like "best bitter", whether that's worked or not is anyones guess. I think Robbies is a fairly strong brand in the North as are most of the regionals but that's strong as in strong opinions. Many know the breweries but as many distrust as trust in my observation. Not sure the beer names have created strong brands. Most customers take their pick on colour and abv to decide whether they might like it.
As I say of Unicorn, the point of giving it a unique name is simply to make it easier to recognise and order in the free trade. It's not really an exercise in brand-building. Robinson's have done one or two brand extensions for Trooper, though, with varying degrees of success.
DeleteThere are two Robinsons pubs in Ambleside, the Unicorn and the Golden Rule. Regulars at the latter would avoid drinking the Unicorn Best Bitter out of loyalty to their pub, or so the story goes. So it was rebranded for this pub only as Bridge House Best Bitter, after the tourist attraction at the bottom of the hill.
DeleteI agree, it’s a mistake. Old Peculier conjures thoughts of a very specific taste, and a very different one to IPA. There’s a good reason Guinness don’t do things like this for example.
ReplyDeleteThey did do Guinness Bitter in the 1990s, but it wasn't a success.
DeleteAlso Cherry’s smoothflow.
DeleteOscar
Sometimes the name of the beer becomes the entire brand itself, like Wainwright, where the brewer is relegated to the back label of packaged beers, and not mentioned on draught, and allows other beers - Gold, Amber, to be sold under what's become a strong brand, albeit a real con to suggest it's a "Lakeland Original". I think Theakstons are riding this IPA off the back of the very strong and well-known Peculiar 'brand' despite Theakston being just as strong. Perhaps we can expect to see more, say, a Peculier Porter, to join the ranks?
ReplyDeleteAnother bleedin' hoppy IPA. Tonight as I stared into my very average pint of Stonehenge Heel Stone the same thought came to me that always does when faced with a plain bitter. Why doesn't anyone brew an old-fashioned,nutty brown ale any more ? They used to transform the dullest of pints.
ReplyDeleteSadly the last pint of OP I had was dreadful.
There are still hundreds, if not thousands of nutty brown beers available. Styles fall in and out of fashion, and have since beer as we know it was first created.
DeleteI think he was referring to the half-pint bottles of brown ale that people used to use in splits.
DeleteI was right about Theakstons developing Old Peculiar as a brand in its own right. They've launched "Spirit of Old Peculiar" whisky.
ReplyDeleteWith Hobgoblin I suspect that the name of the beer is more widely known than the name of the Wychwood brewery. Selling a Hobgoblin IPA and gold makes sense. I'm not sure about Peculiar IPA. Is Old Peculiar particularly well known?
ReplyDeleteThey have recently done a Collaborative brew with Tiny Rebel, to produce Chocolate old Perculier, it's a lovely beer, but surely only a short term gimmick. As a traditional strong dark beer, an IPA version is ridiculous, the brand outside beer enthusiasts is almost invisible.
ReplyDeleteI can see the appeal of the chocolate version, as that's a logical extension of the brand, and by all accounts was very good.
DeleteAround here, one just says, 'Harveys', and that completes the order - so it seems! We usually make sure that it's available when we meet up!
ReplyDelete