10
Bido Lito! April 2015
there is a certain danger of craft beer becoming a victim of its
own success. As breweries such as BrewDog become bigger and
bigger and Derbyshire’s Thornbridge grow in size and are able
to sell their craft-style ranges to supermarkets at a low cost,
smaller breweries become priced out.
When asked how he sees the scene developing on
Merseyside, Seiffert paints a rosy picture but is obviously aware
of the hazards: “Another five breweries [in Liverpool] in the next
five years, more craft beer bars and shitty bars trying to jump on
the trend. We’ve had a few enquiries from bars who don’t know
anything trying to jump on the bandwagon, but they will end
up stocking the poorer end of the craft beer stuff which they
are prepared to pay for – the ones brewed by the big breweries
which look cool but is mass-produced stuff.” The more positive
side of this vision seems to be borne out by his own brewery’s
plans. LCB have owned premises on Bridgewater Street in the
Baltic Triangle for the last 18 months. Excitingly, they hope to
move there this summer and open their own brewery tap which
will sell twenty-five draught beers from Liverpool and further
afield. And with Mad Hatter already in the vicinity and new kids
on the block Ad Hop adding to Liverpool’s vibrant scene, drinkers
will continue to see the benefit of a burgeoning scene.
The latest indicator of the strength of the movement in
Liverpool was the opening up of the BrewDog bar, and, while
some may bemoan craft beer becoming mainstream,
the city’s brewers only see benefits in the
Colquitt Street beacon. “They’re a
recognisable brand so people
who don’t drink craft beer will
still know BrewDog,” says
Seiffert, “so they’ll go to
the bar ‘cos it’s a cool
place; they’ll try some
beer and that will
lead them on to
more; it can only
be a good thing.”
The Scottish brew
chain
certainly
seems to be giving
the local scene
a platform, with
‘meet the brewer’
evenings
featuring
Liverpool Craft and Mad
Hatter a regular fixture
of their events programme,
bidolito
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