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05-02-2012, 12:30
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AB-InBevare reducing the ABVs of some of their beers (http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/fmcg/drinks/beer-wine-and-spirits/ab-inbev-lowers-abv-of-stella-bud-and-becks/225330.article) in the UK. Budweiser, StellaArtois, Beck’s are all going from 5% down to 4.8% in the on- and off-trade. Theyaren’t alone (http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/fmcg/drinks/beer-wine-and-spirits/two-more-beers-follow-ab-inbev-into-low-abv/225543.article) on this decision – Carlsberg Export and Cobra are doing the same.They say this is because of ‘market dynamics’, ‘evolving trends’ towards lowerABV beers, or for ‘refreshment’. But is that really the case?


Beertax in the UK is a complicated bastard. As well as having steps dependent onbrewery output, each 0.1% of ABV makes a difference to the amount of duty abrewery pays on each keg, cask or bottle. The reality with those beers whichare being dropped in ABVs is that they will save about 2p per pint. So a 50 litre keg will save more than £1.60 in duty. Willthis saving be passed on to the drinker? (In off-sales alone, this drop couldsave AB-InBev £8.6m (http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/fmcg/drinks/beer-wine-and-spirits/ab-inbev-lowers-abv-of-stella-bud-and-becks/225330.article). And that’s justfor Stella. Which used to be 5.2% ABV - I guess I missed that reduction...)


Sohow will these beers be made? You can be pretty certain that they won’t bebrewing new versions of these beers to save the 0.2% in ABV, instead they’ll bebrewed exactly the same and then they will ‘liquor back’ to the desired ABV(See: high gravity brewing (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/High_Gravity_Brewing)). So as well as saving cash in duty, they will alsobe producing more volume from the same ingredients and brewing process so willhave even more beer to sell.


It’snot likely that any drinker will notice the difference in flavour. The more relevantthing to think about is the perception of the beers because these are flagship brands.At 5%, they have a premium association to them, so will this reduction seedrinkers looking for another 5% beer or will they carry on drinking? And willother big brands follow and lower their ABVs? If so, are we seeing a massivechange in lager in the UK? And does that mean more opportunities for qualitykeg beer and cask beer as drinkers move away from the global brands?


Theseare some of the great beer brands of the world. Beer sales might be falling, bottomlines might be getting tighter, but seeing these beers cheapened is a realshame.


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