The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has reacted angrily to the closure of Sharp’s brewery in Rock, and is demanding new consumer laws.
This follows confirmation that Molson Coors will be moving cask production of ‘Cornish original’ Doom Bar 417 miles away to Hartlepool. The group now wants a ‘pasty-style’ guarantee, in law, to prevent the beers being marketed as Cornish.
Molson Coors announced a consultation, with a view to closing the brewery, earlier this year. At the time, CAMRA Cornwall raised fears that the brewing giant could follow in the footsteps of Carlsberg, who market Wainwright as a ‘Lake District Original’ despite brewing it more than 100 miles away in Wolverhampton.
“This is a betrayal of the founders of Sharp’s, the 40 people whose jobs are at risk, and the locals that have supported this business for decades,” said Dave Pedlar, chairman of Cornwall CAMRA.
“We’ve known for a while that the Sharp’s cask production was moving out of the Duchy, but Hartlepool is 417 miles away, which is as far from Rock as Brussels. We need ‘pasty-style’ consumer protection laws that stop Molson Coors from continuing to market these beers as Cornish.”
Since Molson Coors announced their intentions to close Sharp’s in February 2026, CAMRA have launched a new, UK wide campaign and ‘Beer in the UK’ report to raise awareness of the tactics of global brewers in the UK beer market. The campaign highlights misleading marketing practices, and how independent brewers struggle to get their beers onto bars.
CAMRA chief executive, Tom Stainer, said: “It’s entirely ridiculous that a beer named after a sandbank in the Camel Estuary, and marketed as a ‘Cornish original’, is now going to be made in Hartlepool. Once again, global brewers are closing breweries, trashing our reputation as a great brewing nation, and misleading ordinary drinkers.
“This is why we’ve launched our new campaign to expose ‘Big Beer’ in the UK, their misleading marketing tactics, and demand that the Competition and Markets Authority investigate how global corporations dominate the beer market. We need decisive action to deliver a fairer beer market for independent brewers and ordinary drinkers.”
