Carlsberg UK signs distribution deal with Brooklyn Brewery

Carlsberg UK is partnering with Brooklyn Brewery to handle the exclusive distribution of the Brooklyn Brewery beer portfolio in the UK.

The deal follows an agreement to transfer distribution rights from James Clay effective from 30 December 2016.

Independent brewer Brooklyn Brewery produces a range of popular beers including Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Scorcher IPA, Brooklyn Summer Ale, Brooklyn East IPA and Brooklyn Sorachi Ace, each imported from New York and overseen by iconic Brewmaster, Garrett Oliver.

The Brooklyn Brewery beer range will complement Carlsberg UK’s existing premium beer and cider portfolio, which includes craft cider Bad Apple, Danish style pilsner Carlsberg Export, Italian lager Poretti, Belgium ale Grimbergen, Spanish lagers Mahou and San Miguel, and Sweden’s Backyard Brewery range including Shed Head, Bee 17 and Lawnmower.

In the free trade Carlsberg UK will manage the Brooklyn Brewery portfolio through its newly-launched brand and sales division, House of Beers, which and provides specialist support to customers operating premium pubs, bars and restaurants in major cities across the UK.

House of Beers’ team of brand ambassadors will drive the continued growth of the Brooklyn Brewery portfolio through unique events, range advice and staff training.

“Brooklyn Brewery is at the forefront of the craft beer revolution, brewing quality beers that drinkers seek out and enjoy,” Liam Newton, vice president of marketing for Carlsberg UK, commented. 

“Brooklyn Lager has seen value growth of 54% over the past year in the UK [Nielsen]. The Brooklyn beer range will complement our existing portfolio of premium, craft and speciality beers and ciders and we will ensure it thrives well into the future, like it has in the past.”

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“This move is an extension of Brooklyn’s relationship with Carlsberg throughout Europe, and we look forward to working creatively with Carlsberg UK on the continued development of the Brooklyn brand in the UK,” Eric Ottaway, CEO of Brooklyn Brewery, added.

“We would like to thank everyone at James Clay for the great work they have done to build Brooklyn to this point in the UK. They have been great partners and brand builders for the last 15 years.”

A statetment from James Clay added: “We hope Brooklyn Brewery’s new partnership with Carlsberg builds on the foundations laid for the brand over the past 15 years and would like to express how much we have enjoyed working alongside the talented and committed people at the brewery.

:After recently moving into a new facility in the North of England, the largest exclusively dedicated to craft and speciality beer in the UK, and acquiring the wholesale arm of London-based beer distributor Utobeer, this transfer allows us the resources to invest and support expansion from our existing and potential new brewery partners from across the world.”

The agreement between Brooklyn Brewery and Carlsberg UK follows an 11–year relationship between Brooklyn Brewery and the wider Carlsberg Group, which sells Brooklyn products in over a dozen international markets.

The brewers have also co-operated to open two microbreweries: the New Carnegie Brewery in Stockholm, Sweden, which opened in 2015, and EC Dahls Brewery in Trondhom, Norway, which opened in August this year.

Founded in 1988, The Brooklyn Brewery produces beers that are available in 27 US states and more than 30 countries. The Brooklyn Brewery is located in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York.