![\"Australia](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_249563384-4a41.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe brewery makes 13,000 barrels of booze every year (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tThe brewery makes 13,000 barrels of booze every year (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
One of Britain\u2019s longest-running breweries will be closing its factory after 40 years. <\/p>\n
Exmoor Ales has been supplying pints to pubs from its factory in Wiveliscombe, Somerset, since 1979.<\/p>\n
But the firm\u2019s managing director, Jonathan Price, announced this week that the company will be moving production to the Hogs Back Brewery, Surrey. <\/p>\n
Price blamed Covid<\/a>, sky-high inflation and tax increases<\/a> for the closure. <\/p>\n \u2018This has meant we need to restructure and close the brewery,\u2019 he told the Somerset County Gazette<\/a>. <\/p>\n He added: \u2018Exmoor Ales has a strong following of loyal drinkers built up over more than 40 years, so we\u2019ve been looking for a solution that will allow us to continue employing people locally and be in charge of our own sales and future.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t Four staff members have lost their jobs in the move. The brewer\u2019s shop on Old Brewery Road will remain open, selling popular brews like Gold, Stag, Beast and Fox.<\/p>\n The new Surrey microbrewery, some 120 miles from the original site, will use the same recipes and yeast to maintain the brand. Distribution will continue from Wiveliscombe, while the Guildford-based Hogs Back will help with national sales.<\/p>\n While it took decades for foreign global brewers to get their bottles and cans on British pub menus, they now represent 92% of the UK beer market, Price said. <\/p>\n These beer giants can endure many of the financial troubles<\/a> that cause local breweries to fold, as well as have better access to pubs. <\/p>\n Price isn\u2019t alone. In only a year, Britain lost 100 breweries, from 1,815 at the start of 2024 to 1,715 this January, according to the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA) UK Brewery Tracker<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wiveliscombe, a town of only 2,900 people, was once a thriving brewery town. <\/p>\n \t\t With the shutdown of Exmoor Ales and Nuttycombe this year and the Cotleigh Brewery in 2021, Black Bear Brewery is one of the last remaining Wiveliscombe breweries.<\/p>\n Stressing that the move to Surrey is a \u2018partnership\u2019, not a \u2018takeover\u2019, Price added that it doesn\u2019t mean last orders for the brewery.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s a rotten day for me as the owner of the business, but we\u2019ll still be here and it isn\u2019t beyond the bounds of possibility that we might brew again in Wiveliscombe, but probably on a smaller scale,\u2019 Price said. <\/p>\n Loyal fans of Exmoor Ales\u2019 said the booze business\u2019 closure is \u2018worrying\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018So farewell @exmoorales. Another brewery bites the dust. Big Beer is really starting to flex its muscles,\u2019 posted one user on X.<\/p>\n Another customer, Graham Brown, added: \u2018Lovely brewery with some cracking beers, another great loss to the industry.\u2019<\/p>\n Exmoor Ales, formerly the Golden Hill Brewery, is a well-known fixture of the town for its Victorian tower and chimney. <\/p>\n It was founded by Jim Laker in 1979 before Price took the helm in 2006.<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow![\"Exmoor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_249564341-3520.jpg\")
\n\t\tExmoor Ales is moving production to a family-owned plant in Surrey (Picture: Google Maps)<\/p>\n![\"Exmoor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_249564647-715f.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe brewery supplies beer bottles to pubs up and down the UK (Picture: Exmoor Ales)<\/p>\n
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