UK: Brewers tap into new drinking trend with lower-strength beers

Lower-strength beers are making a comeback in Britain as brewers try to recruit new drinkers and offset worries of tighter regulations and fears over excessive, or binge, drinking, beermakers and analysts said November 16, Reuters accordingly reported.

Brewers hope a flurry of new, lower-alcohol beers will tap into a trend away from higher-alcohol premium beers towards more moderate drinking and help deflect pressure on the UK government to tighten up rules over alcohol sales.

The makers of Britain's top two-selling beers, Carling and Foster's, are offering or testing products at half the alcohol of their standard beers, while the brewers of premium beers such as Stella Artois, Beck's and Budweiser have launched products with the same alcohol of their standard cousins.

Britain's drinkers have been encouraged by brewers over the last 20 years towards premium beers, largely from continental Europe, led by the phenomenal growth of Stella Artois and also Kronenbourg 1664 and Grolsch. But now there is a rethink.

Analysts say there is a reaction against high-alcohol beers with UK drinkers demanding a "session" beer for drinking more on one night, while the lower-alcohol beers may encourage more "drinking occasions" and attract new drinkers such as women.

"Over the last three years we have seen a bit a pullback from premium beers to more sessionable beers amid a consumer reaction over excessive alcohol," said one analyst.

The brewers say it is all about increasing choice to enable consumers to drink beer at lunchtimes, ahead of key meetings, after football training and on quiet weekday evenings without the worry of the after-effects of high-alcohol beers.

Some of Britain's biggest brewers such as Coors Brewing, InBev and Scottish and Newcastle Plc (S&N) have launched or are test-marketing such lower-alcohol beers, as well as U.S. giant Anheuser Busch and Guinness. Carling brewer Coors, part of Molson Coors Brewing Co., introduced its mid-strength Carling C2 last year in pubs at 2 percent alcohol alongside its mainstream 4.1 percent, and launched it in supermarkets and drink stores this August. "It's for people with busy lives that want the flavour and refreshment but not necessarily the alcohol," said Paul Hegarty at Coors Brewing, and points out that mid-strength beers already account for 13 percent of Australian pints served in bars.

Lower alcohol means a lower price with one leading UK supermarket retailer selling C2 at ₤1.50 (US$2.83) a litre compared with Carling at ₤1.76.

Britain's biggest brewer S&N, which owns the Foster's brands in Europe, has been test marketing Foster's Quench, a 2 percent alcohol beer, in selected UK pubs over the last few months alongside Foster's more traditional 4 percent strength beer.

Even spirits and beer giant Diageo is testing a mid-strength Guinness in 80 Irish pubs with the new product at 2.8 percent alcohol against traditional Guinness at 4.2 percent, but says it is too soon to talk about a national roll-out.

Analysts say this move could herald a shift back to lower- strength beer, as 50 years ago Britain's traditional ale-type beers, typically drunk by heavy industry workers, used to be 3 percent or less.

While standard beer brewers are cutting alcohol levels in half, premium beer makers are cutting their alcohol to around the standard level of 4 percent from the current 5 percent.

The world's biggest brewer, Belgian-based InBev, launched a 4 percent version of its German Bremen-brewed Beck's beer as Beck's Vier (German for four) six months ago only in the UK to be sold alongside its Beck's 5 percent beer. Then three months ago, buoyed by the success of Beck's Vier, it launched a 4 percent alcohol beer Peeterman Artois in UK pubs to complement its Stella Artois at 5.2 percent, Britain's top premium beer and third-biggest seller overall.

"Both are doing very well and seem to have struck a chord with consumers in producing a premium version of a standard lager beer," said InBev UK spokesman Robert Bruce, who added the products are priced between standard and premium beers.

U.S. beer giant Anheuser-Busch launched Bud Silver to tap into what it calls the "super standard" beer market in which drinkers are looking for premium brands at lower alcohol.

It is brewing Bud Silver at its London brewery which went into national UK distribution in July with the 4.1 percent alcohol beer compared with Budweiser at 5 percent.

Meanwhile, InBev launched a lower-alcohol version of Belgium's top-selling beer Jupiler earlier this year as Jupiler Blue, with 3.3 percent alcohol compared with Jupiler at 5.2 percent, as a sign continental European drinkers long used to Heineken and Carlsberg beers at 5 percent may be looking for more choice.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .