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Greene King plc () is a Brewing and catering company based and operating in the United Kingdom , especially England . It is listed on the London stock exchange, and is a component of the FTSE 250 share index.


LOCATION AND HISTORY

The Greene King brewery is situated in Bury St Edmunds , Suffolk , UK and was established in 1799 . There is a visitor centre next door to the brewery, and tours can be arranged. The company also owns Pubs and hotels including the Hungry Horse chain. Greene King dominates the pub scene in many parts of East Anglia , with a large number of both urban and rural establishments. The company has won awards for its pubs in recent years and Greene King IPA, the brewery's bestselling ale, won the Gold award at the 2004 CAMRA Great British Beer Festival in the Bitter category and runner up in the Champion Beer Of Britain category.


TAKEOVERS

Greene King has recently been put under the spotlight by the British Consumer Group CAMRA , who claim that it is becoming a Monopoly , buying out other breweries and limiting the choice for the consumer. These claims are based on the fact that Greene King proposes the Buyout of these breweries whilst promising to continue the sale of the current brews. However, CAMRA claims, these beers are either discontinued or do not meet the standards of the beer's former brewers. They claim that this is largely due to Greene King not liaising sufficiently with the previous company before discontinuing the product for a short period and transferring production to the Suffolk brewery and attempting to replicate it without full knowledge of the beer's former recipe.

Recent acquisitions include Belhaven , Morland , Ruddles and Ridley's .


NOTABLE BEERS

This is a list of the most notable beers currently brewed by the Greene King Brewery:


Beers brewed under the Greene King banner

  • ''Greene King IPA'' - The UK 's biggest selling Cask Conditioned session bitter at a strength of 3.6%.

  • ''Abbot Ale'' - A premium cask bitter at 4.9%, also available filtered and pasteurised in bottles at 5.0%.

  • ''The Beer To Dine For'' - A pasteurised bottled 5.0% beer in the currently popular golden lager style.

  • ''Strong Suffolk Ale'' - Largely only available pasteurised and bottled, at 6.0%. This is a blend of two ales: Old 5X , a 12% ale left to mature in oak vats for a minimum of two years, and BPA, a weak young beer which is added just before bottling.

  • ''Ale Fresco'' - a 4.3% cask summer bitter.

  • ''Fireside'' - a 4.5% cask winter bitter.

  • ''XX Mild'' - a 3.0% cask mild. A beer with declining sales. Production had been contracted out to the smaller Ridley brewery, but since Greene King have taken over Ridley and closed down the brewery the future of this beer is uncertain.

  • ''Light Ale'' - a pasteurised and bottled 3.0% pale mild normally used in a mix with a stronger cask ale, such as Abbot Ale.

  • ''St. Edmunds Ale'' - a pasteurised bottled 5.5% premium bitter .

  • ''1799'' - a strong cask ale of 6.2% which is also available bottled.



Beers sold under the Ruddles banner

  • ''Ruddles County'' - A 4.3% Bitter available on cask nationally and pasteurised in bottles in most British Supermarkets .

  • ''Ruddles Best Bitter'' - A traditional 3.7% session bitter with National distribution.

  • ''Ruddles Orchard'' - This 4.2% cask bitter consists of Ruddles County with the addition of Apple Concentrate . Also available pasteurised in bottles.



Beers sold under the Morland banner



''Old Speckled Hen''

A popular 5.2% abv Pale Ale , available both as a Cask Ale and Pasteurised in bottles. First brewed in 1979 by Morland Brewery in Abingdon, Oxfordshire to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the brewery's MG Car - the mud splattered Ol' Speckled 'Un. Brewed since 1999 by Greene King. Greene King have retained the unique strain of yeast first used in 1896.



Beers sold under the Ridley's banner

  • ''Old Bob'' - Still popular in Essex despite the beer's new journey from Bury St Edmunds ; it is 5.1% and available both on cask and bottled.

  • ''Ridley's IPA'' - A beer on the verge of Extinction , this 3.5% session bitter is now only seen in former Ridley's "tied houses" (i.e. those that were owned by the Ridley's brewery before the Greene King takeover). It is unknown how much longer this beer will be available.



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