Good news for all beer drinkers (not, unfortunately, lager): Thirst for craft beers cheers the breweries British drinking tastes changing as latest figures show move away from lager please log in to view this image Jeremy Moss and John Bjornson of the Earl Soham microbrewery in Debenham, Suffolk. It started modestly nearly 30 years ago – before the term "microbrewery" was even coined – in a disused chicken shed at the back of a tiny Victorian pub in rural Suffolk. Now, from its three brews a week in the winter season, the Earl Soham Brewery produces 45 barrels – the equivalent of nearly 13,000 pints – every week, including the coveted Victoria bitter, which is the favourite tipple of local boy turned rock star Ed Sheeran. At the brewery's new premises in Debenham – where in the early afternoon the Heath Robinson-style maze of metal chutes, pipes and tanks has just completed the daily brew – there is a vague whiff of the old-fashioned malt and hops that are the key ingredients in the brewery's popular range of five cask beers. Its co-owner, John Bjornson, explains how his best-selling "light, hoppy and bitter" Victoria has been brewed using a mixture of local malts to creative a distinctive flavour, with English First Gold and Sovereign hops. British drinkers' thirst for such artisan and craft beers appears to be unquenchable. Sales of the brews rose by 8% last year to an estimated 1.55m barrels, according to a new report from the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA). It said that chancellor George Osborne's decision to scrap the controversial beer duty escalator last year had helped to boost the sector. Separate figures confirm that British beer tastes are changing. In a huge shift, demand for lager, which has dominated the UK beer market for nearly 50 years, is falling, while sales of stronger-tasting ale and stout continue to grow as they win over an increasing number of converts. The latest figures from the retail analysts Kantar show that, year on year, sales of ales in off-licences and supermarkets grew by 4% and demand for stout was up by nearly 4%, while sales of lager fell by nearly 4%. Marston's, the brewing giant that includes Banks's, Brakspear, Jennings and Ringwood, has responded to consumer demand with a range of seasonal ales for 2014 called "revisionist beers", which will sit alongside its main brands. The collection has been launched through Tesco. The range has been given its name because Marston's gave five regional breweries free rein to revise its popular styles and give them a distinctly individual new twist. The range includes a Belgian pale golden beer and a dark India pale ale, influenced by US styles. Tesco's ale buyer, Chiara Nesbitt, said: "The UK beer market is undergoing its biggest change since canned lager was first introduced here in the 1960s and these days there are more choices available for drinkers than ever before. "For the beer novice, a trip down a beer aisle these days can be as daunting as seeking out a good wine, which is why we have worked with Marston's to launch a range of easily identifiable brews." The current change could be daunting, she said: "Ten years ago we had about 30 bottled beers and some of our bigger stores would perhaps have stocked what was then considered exotic world brews, such as San Miguel. But nowadays, UK beer drinkers have become more discerning, which is why we now stock more than 300 bottles of ales and carry a whole range of specialist world beers." Paul Charity, managing director of sector specialist Propel Info, said the trend away from lager and towards ale was also being seen in pubs and hotels. "Consumers are searching out new and unusual flavours and are increasingly interested in authenticity, which in the world of beer means brewed locally or using traditional methods or ingredients." John Bjornson agreed, saying that while his brewery supplies about 200 pubs in East Anglia, he sees the greatest growth potential in its bottled beers, which are currently sold through local farmers' markets. "Consumers can buy our beers for just £2.35 for a 500ml bottle (just short of a pint) compared with £3 from the pump. For some people, it may be more attractive than going into a pub, he said. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/mar/11/craft-beers-breweries
Larger in any configuration is the worst drink invented even more so if its got the name Carling on it. I've never understood the fascination with this stuff and I refused to drink the Hull Brewery version which was utter tripe. Gassy, overpriced, especially when it first appeared it was and still is vile, larger was the reason I started to look away from beer. Mild became unobtainable for many years and what was available had the taste of drains. So it made me look elsewhere and luckily wine was plentiful and becoming affordable. A bottle of wine, even in a pub can be reasonable but not always, some places took the p*ss with prices and still do. But now a bottle of wine is far more preferred to a few pints of what is available and I won't change back. Larger was never a starter with me when it first appeared and never will be, cheers. " title="Cheers">
Made me laugh a few years ago when they started trying to promote it as being organic and wholesome, with pictures of shimmering wheatfields on the adverts. ****ing piss. Can anyone "taste" the difference between that and Fosters? I reckon anyone who claims to "enjoy" the stuff doesn't understand the difference between liking the taste of summat and liking the effect!
There are some excellent beers about these days. A great improvement on 20 years ago. This is a list of bottled beers including many microbreweries and craft beers. http://www.swipes.co.uk/beerlist.cgi I'm trying to work my way through them.
i find only the first lager tastes good on a hot summers evening - after that it all gets a bit meh! i like my ales but not that hoppy standard fare - i especially enjoy Doombar (caramel), Scarborough Fair (zesty) and Cerddin Breweries 19th hole (zesty) - some of the Cherry Dark ales are great too , just hard to find
The only time I drink lager is the draught Stella in our local Italian. Dunno why but it's fantastic! In the last few years my taste has changed a bit. I used to drink really hoppy ales but now usually go for one that's advertised as a Summer ale or blonde ale or golden ale. Generally quite citrusy and totally quaffable.
Ah, my favourite subject. The quality and range of beers now available in Australia is exceptional compared to a few years ago. There was a time (when I first started drinking about 35 years ago - not that long in the scheme of things), you'd walk into a pub over here and simply ask for a beer. Simple as that, no choice. If you were real lucky, there'd be two available - Carlton Draught or Victoria Bitter. There was only a minimal difference in horribleness. I'm talking about Victoria but I think it was basically the same all over Australia with the beer being restricted to the local brew and the local populations of the various States showing the necessary loyalty by consuming the local beer and declaring everything else as rubbish. Apart from now having the benefit of imported beers from around the world, there are now a number of local and boutique breweries that are producing quality beers. It is unusual to go into a pub and not have a reasonable choice. Personally, I prefer a good ale but on a really hot day, throwing down a super cold lager is very refreshing.
That list appears to be well out-of-date, Mr.S! In my local (this lunch) were 3 beers (= 3 taps): Tydd Steam "Stargazer", Humpty Dumpty "Little Sharpie" and Beeston Brewery "Worth the Wait". All excellent and unlisted!
Probably is well out of date. For some reason I can't remember, I had it saved in my bookmarks. It is just bottled rather than draught though.
I'm well into my Belgian Beers , love a beer called Kwak so much I got the brewery in Belgium to send me the official glass , with wood stand (the glass can't stand on its own) the glass is formed to catch the sediment at the bottom, they was horrified I was drinking it in a normal beer glass ... Anyway Kwak, Duvel, leffe all beautiful beers
All lager is is beer left to ferment naturally. Lagers brewed here under licence are indeed ****e, but foreign ones which aren't full of chemicals and CO2 aren't. A lot of the beers in Europe which you get when you ask for a bier are lagers. And a lot better than a lot of ours. The easiest example is to compare a Belgian brewed Stella with one brewed under licence here. Same with the proper Oranjeboom and the one brewed under licence here.
That German one in Polar Bear is pretty good. Expensive though as I found out that night. Not the drink but what happened later.
There are 100s, 1000s of brilliant lagered beers in the world, unfortunately they are very hard to come by in the UK. Our local, as well as having 5-8 cask beers on depending on the time of the week has some good ones: Kozel, Bitburger, Kostritzer Black & Duvel Single are the usual ones but this is an exception, not the norm. I remember the dim and dismal days of the 70s when cask beer was hard to find. Red Barrel, Trophy, Tavern, Double Diamond and crap of that ilk was pervasive -- no wonder some folk turned to lager. I don't like seeing how a lot of pubs have reverted to those creamflow/smooth type beers (like the Brickmakers for example), they are just as crap as the keg rubbish that foisted on us during the dark ages. A lot of people deride CAMRA and the image of a typical member but they have done a lot to save British Beer and hopefully now will succeed in the new challenge of saving the British Pub.
I've just got back from Belgium. There's a pub in Leuven (home of InBev) that has over 2,000 beers draught and bottled that are just from Belgium! Crazy!
I got into that Punk IPA a few years ago before it got all trendy, still a great IPA- Black Boy in Old Town has it if anybody not tried it. Not really snobby about lagers as there are lots of nice ones
Strong beers, bars open far longer than here, loads of students but no sign of trouble. The police and licencing authorities in Hull are always objecting to new bars or trying to restrict them saying there are too many but if we had as many bars per 1,000 people in Hull as there were in Leuven there would be about 600 in Hull and they would. E open for a lot longer. Don't know how you found it but I found it a lot more pleasuarable experience being out and about there than I do here. And the beer was a lot better too.
Leuven is a University town - a bit like Oxford or Cambridge at a guess. Very old and probably only taking on elitist students, seemed that way. There seems a very different mentality to drinking in mainland Europe, none seem to go out with the intention of looking for trouble like they do in the UK.
