We’re barely three months past the introduction of a 50% duty reduction for beers 2.8% abv or less in strength, and the country’s national and regional brewers have responded, bringing to market a plethora of lower strength ales, stouts and lagers.
The fruits of this surge in creative brewhouse labour were on evidence last week at the House of Commons, where a tasting was held for these low-strength wonders. There were 16 beers on offer. Some, such as Guinness Mid-Strength and Carling 2.0, pre-dated the tax break; most owed their existence to the duty reduction stimulus.
Amongst the newest of the new was from Caledonian Brewing Co, a cask ale with a name that allowed for no misunderstanding, with it branded simply as 2.8. “We have always been good at brewing low-strength beers but we have never been below 3% before,” said managing director Stephen Crawley. The beer’s mouthfeel benefits from a shed load of hops: Challenger was the main variety used, supported with additions of Willamette, Stryrian Goldings and Super Styrian.
The first impression was of a beer with some body and flavour. Other entrants weren’t nearly as accomplished and may well not find favour with both customers and consumers for their lack of flavour. Some brand extensions suffered in comparison with their fuller-flavoured stronger root brand; those that set their own course fared better perceptually.
Public health minster Ann Milton was in the room, congratulating brewers for their efforts. “I think we have destroyed the myth that lower strength beers don’t taste good,” she assured the assembled throng. “It shows that the industry can act in a responsible way to encourage responsible drinking.”
Fair enough, but the minister went on to reiterate the initial logic for the tax break, the curbing of alcohol abuse.
“We have a problem with alcohol but it is complicated,” said Milton. “Over one-half of people do not drink above the government guidelines. Twelve to fifteen per cent abstain altogether. The problem we have is the people who do drink to excess, who do drink a lot of alcohol.”
In other words, there is a minority who abuse alcohol and do so with regularity. These people are highly unlikely to suddenly switch to lower strength beverages, even if they are cheaper at the bar. Nor is the additional pence on a 500ml can of high-strength lager, those above 7.5% abv, likely to deter consumption of Carlsberg Special, Tennent’s Super and the like. The logic of the benefits of lower-strength beer is flawed socially.
But the tax break has stimulated product innovation, for whatever reason. There was at least one brewer in the room who felt that the industry was simply showing willingness to appease a government ever-intent on browbeating beer, and he was undoubtedly not alone.
Minimal alcohol, minimal interest?
The unanswered question is whether there is a market for these beers. Retailers are prepared to find out – as The Brewery Manual reported exclusively last week, Tesco is supporting the initiative by stocking a range of low strength beers in its supermarkets. Amongst the pub groups Punch Taverns has taken a lead, trailing Caledonian’s 2.8 in the north of the country and Greene King’s Tolly Ale in the south, making these beers available to its tenants.
Will publicans stock these beers? With a limited number of handpumps it may be difficult for a licensee to see his or way clear to pull a favourite off the bar in favour of weak beer.
Will the benefit be passed on to consumers? Punch intends to pass on the discount to its tenants; whether they in turn offer a price break remains to be seen.
And the great unknown is whether consumers will sample, enjoy and return to these offerings. In some areas, perhaps in Scotland where lower strength offerings such as Belhaven Best are established, Caledonian’s 2.8 has a chance at acceptance. It’s a logic that Stephen Crawley acknowledges, yet he too says, “But we don’t know if people are going to buy it.”
So the market will dictate, and the likely buyers are those envisioned by the proponents of Carling 2.0 when it came to market – middle-aged and older consumers, making healthier, active lifestyle choices that allows for enjoyment but with less alcohol in the mix.
Carling’s low-strength offering isn’t near the success envisioned at its launch. In supermarkets it is unkindly shelved amongst the brands that qualify as distress purchases. These new low-strength beers will be a slow burn; those committed to marketing and developing their brands may well be rewarded at a later date, and the state and its health system stand to benefit as well.
Back at Westminster, the realpolitik of brewer, publican and a city centre throng out for a good time was brought home by a young brewer, Jim Wilson from the Brentwood Brewing Co, whose low-strength beer, BBC2, was on offer. What, Wilson challenged, was the minister going to do about pre-loading before heading out to unjustly much-maligned pubs: “Beer is not the scourge,” he challenged. “It’s cheap spirits; it’s cheap wine.”
Milton was suitably chagrined. “Your point is well made,” she told Wilson. And on that note the impromptu ministerial Q&A was brought to a close, cementing the impression that the government has yet to address comprehensively the social issues that really matter. Minimum pricing, anyone?
Larry Nelson
24th January 2012
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