From Bass's ale to Bass's sale.

In case you hadn't heard, the most celebrated, indeed, the greatest name in British brewing is currently up for sale. Or rather, the rights to brew it in Britain are. Of course, I'm talking about 'Bass', the 'East India Pale Ale' whose legendary red triangle trade mark came to symbolise the highest quality sparkling pale beer. That brief description doesn't, in any way, do justice to Bass's fame. It's too long and, the last 50 years apart, too glorious a story to relate but be aware, it's a subject close to my heart. Today, in our totally skewed brewing landscape, the Bass brand is in the hands of the global behemoth "AB InBev". Mouthwatering name eh? It arrived there in the 1980s when 'AB In Bev' was just a twinkling C02 bubble in the brand manager's eye, that is, before the enormous Anheuser Busch corporation of America merged with plain old Interbrew of Belgium. Bass meanwhile (the company that owned the Bass ale brand), sold the family silver by jettisoning the Bass brand in choosing to get out of brewing to concentrate on 'leisure'.  AB InBev - if you haven't yet placed them - are the chaps whose quest for world domination continues apace through brands like Stella Artois and that utterly characterless American, faux lager beginning with 'B'. You know the one - brewed with adjuncts such as rice and served so cold, there's practically zero flavour to interfere with the drinker's concentration on making that all-important style statement in showing off the bottle's label.

AB InBev freely admit they have no interest in the cask ale (that's to say, traditionally brewed English type ale) but, under their stewardship, the great name of Bass, in common with another notable name now 'for sale', Boddingtons, has been allowed over 20 years to sink from being adrift in the choppy waters of lager and alcopops marketing, to almost forgotten obscurity. Of course, it's had no advertising support as the parent group have been too busy helping drive down the flavour expectations of a new generation of British drinker to rock bottom. Dumbing down doesn't even begin to describe it. But if Bass has been reduced from the best selling cask ale in Brtain in 1980 to the beer that Britain forgot, with some irony, I can report that the brand is seen as a stylish, popular choice in the US. Here, sales of a bottled export version of Bass are still very healthy. What really stinks is this. For £15million, you can get your hands on the rights to brew and sell Bass in Britain. But you don't get the rights to the beer in America, nor, do you get to own the brand itself which includes the world famous Red Triangle trade mark. 

In other words, AB InBev, an American-Belgian giant is happy to run Bass into obscurity and at the same time, hold onto the revenue streams that their marketing policies have somehow failed to crush. I pray a new owner comes along who understands the history and potential future of Bass but worry that on these terms, there's no incentive for anyone to re-invigorate this once great name.