There was more devastating news today as one of the most respected breweries in Hampshire announced it was going into voluntary liquidation.
Fallen Acorn stated:
Despite doing our best to weather the storm that the industry has been facing since COVID-19 and now from the inflationary impact on consumers and hospitality, trade has yet to return to normalised levels. Further, a combination of an increase in material costs, utilities and increasing cashflow pressure puts the business in a position where it cannot continue to trade any further.
Born as Oakleaf
The brewery started in Gosport as Oakleaf in 2000 and very quickly established itself as one of the leading producers of quality beers winning multiple awards, including taking the Hampshire Beer of the Year Award five times with its flagship cask ale Hole Hearted, one of the first beers to use Cascade hops.
A new name
In 2016 it was taken over which led to a rebranding and a new brewery name. As well as traditional cask beers Fallen Acorn increased its production of high quality craft keg beers and gained a deserved reputation of being one of the most innovative breweries in the UK.
They were known for pushing the boundaries in brewing and for "breaking the divide between traditional and craft and instead seeing all as simply, beer."
We had the World in Our Hands
Amongst its most recent releases was the 11% Imperial Stout We had the World in Our Hands. That name proved itself sadly a reflection of the breweries position; one not helped by the continuing lack of support for the brewing industry by the current Government!
Our Government should be ashamed
How many more breweries will be lost; how many more people put out of work; how many more livelihoods lost; how many more communities devastated, before the Government wakes up and provides meaningful support?
This Government has a lot to answer for.
