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Cast your mind back to the Spring Budget, you can't, well you are not the only one. This bit of sneaky taxation had passed me by until a certain Leeds brewery brought my attention to it.



On October 1st there will be an increase in taxation on beers above 7.5%. For those of us who are not accountants, and who is?!, this will lead to a rise of around £10 per barrel in the cost of beers supplied to customers. It is assumed that the price will be passed on to the customer, and then the consumer. So if a usual barrel produces 70 pints, I will leave you to do the maths, but take it from me the drinker will suffer, as usual.




This increase will only affect the stronger beers, but plenty of those brewers in the 'craft' beer market (sorry Elaine!) brew beers of a strength that will fall into that category. It will also hit the foreign bottled beer market apparently. This will obviously impact on the new wave of pubs and bars whose market is primarily based on the stronger, specialist beers, and hit those drinkers who enjoy, sensibly I may add, stronger beer or foreign classics.




Yet another short sighted bit of government legislation that is hitting the wrong people and driving more to the supermarket, away from the pubs and bars just when they are just starting to get their acts together. Thanks a lot Mr Cameron.




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