Renegade Brewery’s new managing director speaks about the company's evolution and future
Renegade Brewery’s new managing director has revealed his vision for the company’s future as well as reassuring customers that it won’t forget its past.
Ian Rogers, known as the founder of Wychwood Brewery and the iconic Hobgoblin beer brand, came out of retirement to join Renegade in April and he has been an instrumental part of its recent transformation.
Mr Rogers became the brewery’s managing director soon after Yattendon Group bought the assets of West Berkshire Brewery following the former company’s descent into administration nearly a year ago.
Speaking to the Newbury Weekly News, Mr Rogers discussed the evolution of the business from West Berkshire to Renegade, its new focus and goals, and the significance of the updated brand.
He said: “Renegade is not parochial. I think it is a better brand and we are very pleased with the name. It also suggests a bit of irreverence.”
A key factor in West Berkshire Brewery’s rebrand to Renegade was to help target a new market for the company.
Mr Rogers said: “The cask business is dying; it’s nowhere near as busy as it was. The main reason is because people are buying craft.”
The surge in popularity of craft beer in recent years has been marked by the success of companies such as Brewdog, Beavertown and Camden Town Brewery.
He continued: “This is where young people aged between 18 and 39 are buying their beer. They’re not buying cask conditioned beer.”
Mr Rogers’ theory is that younger beer drinkers don’t want to drink what their parents drink. This has driven the younger market away from cask and to more “weird-type” beers such as IPAs and hazy brews.
To try to appeal to this market, the brewery released four new beers when they rebranded, two of which are IPAs, one is a peach lager, and the other is a stronger version of the already established Renegade lager.
All these new products feature their own signature character on their can designs, with a notable one being the 19th century tattooed boxer Queensbury Jack that adorns his namesake IPA.
Mr Rogers said: “I knew that we had to move to that type of product. That’s why I came in with a plan of utilising Queensbury Jack, which we’ve done.
“But we’re not throwing the baby out with the bath water. We’re still doing all of the cask beers like Good Old Boy and Mister Chubbs.
“We are probably concentrating slightly more on the craft beer with the new brand, but we’re still selling lots of cask beer.”
He wanted to reassure fans of West Berkshire Brewery’s cask beers that they wouldn’t have to worry about Renegade forgetting its roots. The beers would continue to be sold in similar packaging while the company began to introduce new craft products.
Mr Rogers hopes that Renegade’s focus on both craft and cask beers and the strength of its new brand would launch the brewery into the national market, something it hopes to be a part of within the next three years.
He said that the company had “definitely” seen its sales improve since the rebrand two months ago.
One of Renegade’s established products that underwent a visual change was its titular lager.
Renegade Lager, which used to be packaged in classic red, 1950’s-style cans, now features a robot sheriff called Maverick on its black label.
Mr Rogers wanted to assure fans of the lager that only the packaging had changed, not the taste.
