Meantime to be sold – again!

British media called upon their readers to spare a thought for the folks at Meantime Brewery, about to be offloaded by AB-InBev just seven months after being bought by SABMiller.

There were plenty of eyebrows raised when the Greenwich craft brewer Meantime was sold to SABMiller in May this year. On the other hand, Meantime's escape from the clutches of AB- InBev will raise a cheer in some quarters of the brewing industry.

There's speculation that AB-InBev has already received an offer for Meantime, but even if it hasn't, one surely won't be long in coming, pundits say.

Founded in 1999 by respected brewer Alastair Hook, Meantime makes a range of highly appreciated beers - London Lager among them - and has been expanding its presence beyond Greenwich to install its “brewery tanks” in bars in the north of England.

In the meantime, the brewer's staff has every reason to be upset. They are mourning the death of Glenn Payne, 61, a man described as an “institution” of the British beer industry who transformed the UK craft beer scene, after he was found on a beach in Wales on 6 December 2015.

Mr Payne, a former senior beer buyer for the supermarket chain Safeway who helped establish craft beer in the UK, was an early investor in Meantime and later became its Director for Sales and Marketing (2005-2006).