Last orders for Phipps Northampton Brewery Company's classic imperial pint bottles as supplier refuses to make more

Phipps Northampton Brewery Company classic imperial pint bottles will soon be a thing of the past as the supplier is no longer making them.

The vintage beer and cider bottles were the staple size from the 1930s until the UK entered the European Economic Community in 1973 when they started to shrink.

Bulmers used them which made it worth producing but the cider giant has switched to its own design which has made it unviable with just a few independent breweries buying them, such as Phipps.

Alaric Neville, managing director at the Kingswell Street brewery, said: "We have enquired about commissioning a run but been told the minimum order would be two million bottles.

"Unless anything changes or a new small scale producer steps in, our current stock of imperial pint bottled beers will be our last.

"We are getting a lot of traffic for this news from our Facebook and Twitter feeds so I think it is striking a chord with people."

Phipps brought out three heritage beers in imperial pint bottles, complete with special bottle labels, to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day last year.

Alaric added: "We at Phipps love to follow the traditions of our company's long history and our imperial pint bottles have become a treasured product for many who remember these bottles in their younger days.

"Even younger drinkers cannily know they are getting a proper Phipps pint rather than the short 500ml measure.

"We have sent out messages to all UK and Ireland bottle wholesalers, which may turn up some stock in the short term but unless a major glass bottle manufacturer steps in, that's it for this classic bottle and size after nearly a century."