The relatively recent demise of Cains was a truly bizarre case of fiddling while Liverpool burned. Even as brewing ceased, the owners were in denial and 'highly confident' about the direction of Cains, citing a forthcoming modern new microbrewery on the site and a bright future for the brand, neither of which have materialised in the three years since.
But was the beer ever any good?
Certainly the Cains brand had a cult following in its Liverpool heartland, and in its final years gained national distribution via Wetherspoons.
Their flagship Formidable ale was the sort of malty, fruity 5% bitter that was very common during the 1990s, but at which most of us would probably turn up our noses these days, while I recall Dr. Duncan's IPA as very weak and insipid.
Cains did experiment a bit. Their cask lager and raisin beer were attempts to move beyond the traditional British styles. They even came up with a Double Bock in 2008, returning the favour decades after the Beatles played in Hamburg, though at 4.5% it wasn't perhaps the most realistic take on the style.
But none of it was much cop. My heart never soared when I saw a Cains beer on the bar. Their mild and ordinary bitter were both pretty glum and their seasonal specials were worse than their rivals were putting out, even back in the 90s.
I'd love to share a positive memory of drinking Cains beer, but I simply don't have any. The truth is that their mysterious demise and the denial thereof is probably more interesting than the beer ever was.
I've heard that small quantities of some of their beers might still be in production elsewhere to serve the Liverpool clientele and I've little motivation to try and find out if this is the case. If they ever do come back as some sort of micro, I'll try the beers, but I won't be expecting too much.
Cains 1850-2013
"It's unusual for a Victorian-era regional brewery to simply close."
ReplyDeleteWell, what usually happens is that they get taken over by someone else and either closed immediately (Gales) or a very few years later (Hartleys).
But quite a few have simply closed because the owners decided to quit brewing and become a pubco, including Gibbs Mew, Brakspear and Mitchells.
The Dusanj brothers were always a pair of dodgy chancers who never really had the volume, either from tied estate or free trade, to keep a large brewery going.
Also, FA was a pale, easy-drinking, deceptively strong premium bitter akin to Tanglefoot and Pendle Witches' Brew. I certainly wouldn't have described it as malty and fruity.
ReplyDeleteI remember the Bitter very fondly; ten years ago most of the Beer Guide pubs in 'Pool sold it at reasonable volumes. The FA wasn't a big feature. The events of 2007 and owners losing the plot are better explanation than poor beer. Even in the city's Capital of Culture year they mucked it up, with supplies to local Spoons stopping in late Summer as I recall.
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