Microbrewery hits the spot with beer giant investment

The Franciscan Well Brewery in Cork has been bought by Molson Coors UK & Ireland in a multi-million euro deal.

With the investment from Molson Coors, the independent Cork brewery is planning to expand its brewing capacity and create at least 15 jobs.

Despite Molson Coors, which brews Coors Light and Carling among other brands, coming on-board, they have left the running of the brewery to the original team.

Shane Long, who owns a stake in the Franciscan Well Brewery and has produced the beer, along with head brewer, Peter Lyall, since 1998, said the buyout will allow them to grow and expand the brand the way they have always wanted.

“It was not about money. It is about being able to build the brand,” said Shane Long.

“If we are able to win European and World awards for our beers shouldn’t it be available to people around the world?”

The new brewery will produce 150,000 kegs a year of the award-winning Shandon Stout, as well as Rebel Red and Franciscan Wiesse.

The existing brewery and pub will remain, and the additional capacity will be on a new site in Cork, which will begin production this year. The objective will be to export more than half of the expanded Franciscan Well Brewery’s output to markets such as the UK, Canada, and the US, where there is strong interest in Irish craft beers and whiskeys.

Molson Coors approached the owners of the Franciscan Well Brewery after a Molson Coors rep tasted some of microbrewery’s products at the Easter beer festival held in the Cork pub.

&&Niall Phelan, head of Molson Coors UK & Ireland’s Emerging Markets & Craft Beer division, said that when his own employees started to tell him how good the beer was in the Franciscan Well, he knew he had to investigate.

“We were involved in a beer festival with Blue Moon and Grolsch in the brewery,” said Mr Phelan.

“One of our reps said that we had to come and try the beer. At that stage, we had been talking to other breweries who were very serious, but with Shane Long and Peter Lyall it was about good beer and having the craic.”

Mr Long said he had looked at what Molson Coors had done when they had acquired other micro-breweries across the world.

“I liked what I saw. They leave them alone,” said Mr Long. “So basically I am allowed to keep doing what I have always done.”

Craft beer is expected to grow from €24m to approximately €235m in retail sales value, about 10% of the Irish beer market, by 2017.

Mr Phelan said that, in order to capitalise on this market, Molson Coors was looking forward to bringing brewing back to the centre of Cork City.