Cains beer returned to pubs last summer after almost a decade away, but production has now ceased once again.
The Liverpool brewery dates back to 1858, but it closed down in 2013. The brewery site became the Cains Brewery Village - a collection of retail and hospitality businesses at the centre of the Baltic Triangle's reinvention.
However, last year, business Mikhail Hotels & Leisure Group revived the brand as a brewer. In April 2022, the company announced plans to brew Cains beer, branded as 'Liverpool in a pint', once again, using a site on Stanhope Street in the Baltic Triangle.
READ MORE: Cains stops brewing less than a year after returning to Liverpool pubs
Mikhail, which operates Irish bar Punch Tarmeys, The Brewery Tap and ArCains in the Baltic, promised multi-million pound investment that would see the new facility spread across three floors, creating 40 jobs. Cains beer returned to Liverpool pubs last June.
It was all going well. In October 2022, Cains Bitter won the Gold in the Cask British Beer (up to 4.4%) category at the SIBA NW Independent Beer Awards and you could find Cains beer in venues across the city.
However, less than a year after coming back, production of the beer stopped last month.
This was due to a royalty dispute with the brand owner, as initially reported by The Business Desk. Legal teams are working on a dispute over a royalty clause, believed to be in relation to volumes of beer production. Two of Cains' brewers were let go.
It is another false dawn for Cains - a brand which has changed hands, gone under and stopped brewing many times in its 165-year history. Here, we trace the story of 'Liverpool in a pint' back to its 19th century beginnings.
The beginning
Irish brewer Robert Cain founded his brewery in Stanhope Street in 1858. Born in County Cork, he moved to Liverpool with his parents in the 1820s, growing up in Islington.
Having worked as a cooper, he then set his sights on brewing beer. He began brewing in the 1840s around Scotland before moving to the Baltic.
He set up Cains and grew his business interests around the city. He would buy out smaller businesses and run their pubs, as well as building pubs of his own.
Cain owned over 200 pubs around the city. His company Robert Cain and Sons built three of the city's most ornate pubs - The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, The Vines and The Central.
He became one of Britain's richest men and lived a life of luxury in Grassendale Park, as well as owning mansions on Aigburth Road and in Hoylake. He was an influential man in the city and was said to have played a key role in the Conservative Party controlling Liverpool in the late 19th century.
He entered the House of Lords in 1933, joining many other British brewers in the chamber - leading to the nickname of 'The Beerage'. His 1907 funeral was a significant event, with 3,000 people said to have attended St James' Cemetery to pay their respects.
Decades of change
Cains changed hands a number of times after Robert Cain's death. In 1921, it merged with Walkers of Warrington and was called Walker Cains. Higsons bought the site on Stanhope Street two years later and brewed Cains beer for some time.
Higsons was bought out by Manchester brewery Boddingtons in 1985 and the brewery closed in 1990. GB Breweries then bought the site for canning purposes, but swiftly restarted brewing Cains beer.
Cains was then acquired by Faxe Bryggeri A/S (now Royal Unibrew) - the brewers of strong Danish beer FAXE. The company viewed it as a way to break into the UK market, but struggled and put the brand up for sale in 2002.
The Dusanj brothers
Ajmail and Sudarghara Dusanj bought Cains in 2002. Initially, the brothers found success and won awards for their beers.
Cains produced the official beer of Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture in 2008, while the raisin beer and Cains Lager had many fans.
However, Cains fell into administration in 2008, with unpaid tax and debts hitting £38 million. There were recoveries, but five years later, brewing completely stopped at Cains.
Production of beer at the Stanhope Street brewery was suspended in May 2013. The firm has shut its loss-making supermarket own label brewing and canning operation, and the loss of 38 jobs came with it.
The Brewery Village and the brief return to production
With production stopped, the Dusanj brothers turned the Baltic site into the Cains Brewery Village, which is now home to a number of pubs, bars, retail businesses, The Baltic Market and will soon welcome BOXPARK, another food and drink hall concept.
In 2018 entrepreneur Andrew Mikhail acquired the Cains name and brewing returned to the Baltic last year with a fanfare. However, bar any remnant barrels, you'll struggle to find the beer in any pubs. The Cains brand lives on through the Brewery Village, but, for now, its beer does not.
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