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3rd October 2023

Greene King Launches New Apprentice Brew Dark Tide

Greene King Brewery will be launching Dark Tide, a new limited-edition cask ale for October which has been created by brewing apprentices from Nottingham University.

The Suffolk brewer has partnered with the National Brewing Apprentice Programme for the third year running to enable student brewers to get invaluable hands-on experience of creating a beer, that has also formed part of Greene King’s Future Brewers range.

Over the last three years, students on the apprenticeship programme have worked to create beers such as Harvest Moon and the popular Spring Break. Dark Tide is the latest creation to join this year’s Cask Fresh Releases calendar at Greene King and will be available for outlets to stock.

Dark Tide is a 4.7% traditional English porter that has a gentle bitterness, with chocolate and coffee notes and hints of blackcurrant and spice. The name behind the beer, Dark Tide, is inspired by the sensation of the malt hitting the tongue, similar to the tide lapping on the beach, and is also a nod to the rich ebony colour that is well-known with porter.

Alan Fulcher, Technical Brewer at Greene King, said: “It’s always a fantastic experience working with the apprentice brewers from Nottingham University and I’m so proud of what they’ve created over the last three years, including the newest brew.

“This year we briefed the 12 brewing apprentices on a porter style beer, as we wanted to create a completely different style from the rest of the seasonal portfolio and we also felt like this style of beer really suited the season.

“The apprentices then split into three groups to create a recipe to match the brief and pitched their recipes to us in an informal Dragon’s Den style. All three recipes were incredible, and it was hard to choose which to use, however we did settle on what is now the recipe for Dark Tide.

“If you want to support the brewers of the future, I encourage you to get Dark Tide onto the bar this October and give customers a flavour of what’s to come.”

The exclusive cask ale forms part of the wider Fresh Cask Releases calendar, a portfolio of 18 limited-edition cask beers available at specific times throughout the year ahead.

To order from the Cask Fresh Releases calendar contact your Greene King sales representative or call 0345 600 1799.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

For further information, please contact pressoffice@greeneking.co.uk.

About Greene King

Greene King is the country’s leading pub company and brewer with c.2,600 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland.

At Greene King we are passionate about delivering our purpose to ‘pour happiness into lives’. That’s for our customers, our team, our pub partners, our suppliers and the communities in which we live, operate and serve. Founded in 1799 with offices in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk and Burton on Trent in Staffordshire we employ around 39,000 people across the group with four divisions: Greene King pubs, Destination Brands, Partnership and Ventures, and Brewing & Brands.

  • Greene King pubs are located where people and communities come together; pubs enjoyed in cities, towns and villages throughout the country
  • Destination Brands is a mixture of food and drink-led brands including Hungry Horse, Farmhouse Inns, Chef & Brewer, Wacky Warehouse, and Pub & Carvery, Pub & Dining and Pub & Grill
  • Partnerships & Ventures includes Pub Partners, which runs our tenanted and leased pubs business and Hive Franchise pubs, and our Ventures Brands which is made up of Metropolitan Pub Company, Hickory’s, Hotels Group and Crafted Pubs
  • Brewing & Brands covers the brewing sides of the business. Quality ales are brewed at the Westgate brewery in Bury St Edmunds and the Belhaven Brewery in Dunbar. Our industry-leading portfolio includes Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale, Ice Breaker and Belhaven Best and our premium beers, Level Head and Flint Eye, brewed for the modern-day drinker.

For further information, please contact pressoffice@greeneking.co.uk.

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