Anspach & Hobday releases London Black in cans

Independent London brewery Anspach & Hobday (A&H) has launched its London Black brand in cans to rival Guinness.

London Black, which is a 4.4% ABV nitro porter, is known to be the only widely available alternative to Diageo’s Guinness stout brand which scores higher on ratings site Untappd, beating all major new entrants into the stout and porter category including Brewdog’s Black Heart and Camden’s Stout.

Speaking exclusively to the drinks business, A&H chairman and co-founder Jack Hobday said: “I am just incredibly proud of our team and our 10 years in the industry. For that experience to now culminate in London Black in can, and with widget, producing the perfect pour everywhere is beyond exciting. We would like to thank all those who enjoy our beers and I hope the community across the land will raise glass (and can) to the next 10 years of A&H.”

Opting for a widget can means the beer “surges” when opened and “pours just like draught”. Its release coincides with A&H’s 10th year of trading and will also see the brewery partnering with James Clay & Sons for national distribution with direct sales to London customers from the brewery and also via its website.

A&H director and co-founder Paul Anspach told db: “As well as being a beer that we love to brew, the London Black has always presented our production team with a number of technical challenges. As ever, our team have approached these challenges with gusto and ingenuity, and are extremely proud to have realised the ambition of producing the London Black in cans.”

A&H is now two years on from its crowdfunding campaign which it initiated to support London Black and has, according to its co-founders, made good on its goals with sales growing with total brewing volume and batch volume having more than doubled. Now, its London Black brand has become its flagship beer and “makes up 77% of all kegged production”.

According to A&H, the success of the beer is in its heritage as a porter “rather than being a copycat (or copy dog) of the market leader” and noted how “London Black is individual and independent in its style and representation of London’s proud brewing history”.

A&H has revealed that, “from the can, London Black pours with a classic cascade of bubbles down the glass, settling into a tight creamy head. Enjoy a perfect balance of coffee and milk chocolate on the palate and a hint of red fruits on the nose, finishing incredibly smoothly”.

Direct deliveries into local, independent off trade will commence this week, with A&H webshop and national distribution following on from 25 March. The brewery reiterated that “local, independent off-trade businesses form an invaluable part of our industry’s ecosystem” and insisted that A&H is “proud to support them by offering this sector the chance to be the very first stockists of the London Black cans”.