The RUMOUR has it that it's more to do with the licencing issues reference the Alpine brew, cant remember the exact details but ultimately it is going to cost the brewery more to produce due to these issues, ie. they dont own the rights to use the name or the recipe.
The original license was from Brauerei Ayinger for use of their name and a recipe which I assume was concocted for the UK. The deal ended in May 2006 when he renamed the Ayingerbrau to Alpine and made some minor changes to the recipe, neatly dispensing with the need to pay for licensing.
