E-Malt.com News article: UK: Growing interest in locally brewed products helps revive UK’s ale industry

Discerning beer drinkers are increasingly turning to locally brewed products, helping to revive an ale industry hit by rising duty, pub closures and the growth of supermarket sales, The Financial Times reported on September 4.

At the beginning of the century, the UK was home to about 500 breweries, but by last year that figure had risen to 1,442, after increasing by a further 190 in 2012, according to figures released by the British Beer and Pub Association.

The growth in demand for cask ale and the sprouting of craft beer makers has been a notable feature of the beer industry in recent years.

“It has stimulated an enormous amount of interest in beer,” said Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the BBPA.

Creating your own brewing business is helped by a tax break that gives a 50 per cent discount on duty to those who brew less than 5,000 hectolitres – almost 900,000 pints – a year.

Ms Simmonds is wary of the view that craft ale could be the saviour of the industry. It still comprises only a small proportion of the sector and the tax system is putting pressure on medium-sized breweries, she said.

Still, growth in the business of brewing is at least a fillip to an industry battered by years of rising beer duty, which have pushed prices up and led to numerous pub closures.

Nationally, Britons are consuming less alcohol. Consumption per head fell 1.7 per cent last year, according to the BBPA – the third consecutive year of decline, leaving the UK’s alcohol consumption level lower than in 1990.

According to Mike Tye, who as chief executive of Spirit Pub Company is responsible for 1,200 pubs, people are now more discerning about what they drink.

“Overall, consumers are drinking less, but at the same time they are drinking a higher-quality product, which is why value is dropping far less than volume,” said Mr Tye.

Britons are also buying almost as much beer in supermarkets and off-licences as they are in pubs. It is inevitable that off-trade sales will overtake licensed sales in the coming years, said the BBPA.

Pub closures are continuing at a rapid pace. Another 1,400 disappeared last year, cutting the total number of pubs to 48,000. A decade ago, there were 59,000.

But Ms Simmonds sees the glass as half full. “I think we have reached a tipping point in terms of beer sales. We have had an unprecedented two consecutive quarters of growth, and good pubs are doing well in this climate,” she said.


05 September, 2014