Watneys, the iconic beer brand from the 1970s, is planning a return to supermarket shelves, provided its backers can raise the necessary funds. The brand, best known for its Red Barrel bitter and the notoriously tricky-to-open Party Seven cans, fell out of favour in the 1980s due to its bland taste.
Three friends have reinvented Watneys as a craft ale, with a new slogan: 'We're back and taste nothing like we used to.' The new range includes Slapstick, a 7.5% double strength IPA, craft lager Irony, and pale ale Sarcasm.
Nick Whitehurst, one of the brewers, told The Sun: 'It has an amazing past and we are looking to give it an amazing future, too.' The brand was founded in 1837 and reached peak fame in the 1970s, endorsed by stars such as Michael Caine in a 1959 advert.
Backers are now trying to raise £400,000 to get the ale on supermarket shelves. Watneys returned to pubs in 2016, using spare capacity at other London craft breweries. Whitehurst added: 'We're modern and relevant and have a business model to make Watneys a key brand.'
