Camden Hells beer bottle

Source: Camden Hells

Shoppers have taken to social media to complain they were unable to find the brand on draught in pubs and sports grounds

Camden Town Brewery has launched a pasteurised alternative to its core Hells lager amid reported production issues.

A limited amount of pasteurised Flipping Hells will go into the on-trade as a replacement for its “never pasteurised” Hells lager. 

It comes after shoppers took to social media to complain of the lack of Hells on draught in pubs and sports grounds.

Responding to customers on Twitter this week, AFC Wimbledon – which sells the brand at its grounds – tweeted it had “been informed by Camden Town Brewery that they currently have production issues”.

The Grocer also heard from one pub manager, who said: “We were left without any for nearly two weeks. Down here when I’ve spoken to [other] pubs they are all having the same issues.”

However it was “back in stock on our order list now”, they added.

Camden Town Brewery recently updated its website to remove references to its previous “never pasteurised” claim, which was the focus of a major marketing campaign last year.

A website capture from 14 May 2022 via web archive tool The Wayback Machine shows the range – now dubbed simply ‘fresh beer’ – was previously sold as ‘never pasteurised fresh beer’.

A spokeswoman for the brand said Camden had released a “limited-time supply of Flipping Hells pasteurised in to the on-trade, marking a continuation of our efforts to get drinkers involved in the Camden brand and to learn about what pasteurisation means in the context of beer.”

The brand had “announced on our social channels that we’re looking for drinkers with the freshest taste – those who think they know their Hells from their Flipping Hells should get out and try it, then apply to be our new chief freshness officer with the chance to win fresh beer for a year”.

The stunt would “get people talking about the brand”, she added.