West Norfolk beer on ‘promoting a spurious connection with Spain’
In his weekly The Bar Man column, Jeff Hoyle discusses the rise of new beer brand…
Ah, there he is. The guy dressed in his chulapo, a style associated with 19th Century Madrid. You will have seen him on the bar in your local and on the bottles in the supermarket. Since his debut in 2020, he seems to have been everywhere pushing the virtues of Britain’s fastest-growing beer brand, Madri Excepcional.
Just in case the illustration and name don’t register, the slogan that is used to promote the beer is El Alma de Madrid, The Soul of Madrid leaves little doubt about what you are being encouraged to purchase. Surely the marketing manager who suggests that it is inspired by ‘nineteenth-century Spain and ‘the progressive spirit of modern Madrid’ would not be trying to pull the wool over our eyes?
The brewing giant behind the brand, Molson Coors, suggest that a collaboration with one of the breweries in their group, La Sagra, helped to develop the beer. That’s La Sagra in Toledo, not Madrid. So where does this beer taking Britain by storm come from? The small market town of Tadcaster in Yorkshire, though if you are abroad you may come across a Canadian brewed version.
Some scurrilous people suggest that the beer is actually Coors Light with a bit of extra hop oil, but surely the experts from La Sagra would not put their reputation on the line for that. And the drinkers have spoken. Their choice of Madri has propelled it up the charts of the country’s favourite drink, but how much of the support given by the owners of the brand in terms of advertising, promotional materials and cheap deals has contributed to that?
Madri is just the latest of the Mediterranean lager brands to hit our shores. Birra Moretti (La Autentica) features a picture of an Italian gentleman in traditional costume and while it did originate in Italy, it is now part of the Heineken empire and the bottle you consume is likely to have originated in Manchester.
Birrificio Angelo Porreti is still based in Italy, but owned by Carlsberg, who have a brewery in Northampton and Peroni is part of the Asahi empire, still produced in Italy. I wouldn’t bet against the production of either of them being moved to Britain. Does it matter? Would we be happy to see English-branded products being produced abroad? Probably not.
If your patriotism goes beyond flag waving, you could seek out Wrexham Lager. Dating back to 1881, the brewery closed in 2000 but the brand was revived in 2011. The Roberts family have been brewing to the old recipe since 2011, and had a boost with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic in 2012 as it is widely believed to have been sold on the ship.
Now, perhaps with the ascent of the local football team and the Hollywood aura around the town, the aim is to increase production ten-fold and sell 13 million pints per year within five years. You could be part of the new trend, and early adopter or, like me you could seek out a pint of cask conditioned ale.
In the final analysis, everybody is welcome to choose their own drink. CAMRA has never been an organisation that vilifies lager, but rather one that has tried to educate drinkers about the taste and style of drinks available in order that customers make an informed choice. Go ahead and drink Madri if you wish, but I would be happier if its name and branding represented its true origins rather than promoting this spurious connection with Spain. Tadri, perhaps.
bar.man@btinternet.com
