Turning speciality beers into more than a novelty purchase is a challenge for pubs. Yet some licensees have managed to convert their regulars, building their businesses around lesser-known brands. The problem then is how to keep the range invigorated
People have to forget the stereotypical beer, because there isn't one now,' says Ben Tysoe, who manages Sheffield's Devonshire Cat, which sells 120 speciality beers from around the world and just three major brands - Carlsberg, Stella Artois and Smirnoff Ice.
Since opening in March 2001, the pub has purposefully used this point of difference to its advantage, promoting itself as an alternative to other city-centre venues. Tysoe says: 'Our customers don't think of speciality beers as a novelty any more, they are constantly wanting to try new beers from all over the world.
'By broadening people's drinking horizons, we find that it's also a conversation starter, which means that people aren't just concentrating on going out and getting drunk, they are going out to try different beers.'
But as speciality beers become less of a novelty and consumers' awareness increases, it's inevitable that some brands will be more commonplace, and therefore less of a surprise for some customers.
Beers have split into two groups
In the past year, as the category has developed, speciality beers have naturally separated into two groups: the more 'mainstream' brands such as Hoegaarden and Kronenbourg Blanc, which consumers recognise from other pubs or from trawling up and down supermarket aisles, and the more niche products that many pubs rotate to keep things interesting.
For Tysoe, mainstream brands include beers such as Sleeman's Canadian honey lager, Cruzcampo, Erdinger, Leffe and Fruli. Best sellers are Duvel, Kwak, Chimay and Hoegaarden. At any given time he will have five or so guest bottles, and he stocks America's Rogue beer, Austria's Hirter Privat Pils and Maes Pils from Belgium.
But, because there is no 'one size fits all' answer to which brands to stock, Tysoe's range will not suit every pub.
Sharon Prickett, who manages the Rising Sun, a Wetherspoon's pub in Redditch, Worcestershire, has less scope when it comes to selling quirky brands.
She explains: 'While most of our customers are after mainstream lagers such as Carling, Stella Artois, Foster's and San Miguel, we want to be able to offer people choice - hence the nine or 10 bottles of speciality beers in the fridge.
Beers as a novelty item
'Most see the beers as a novelty item - they might try a Singh beer one day but then go back to their normal lager the next day.
'I think licensees really have to consider what sort of area they're trading in. This is not an affluent area, I think many of our bottled brands would work better somewhere like London.'
However, in the past year, Prickett has noticed a sharp increase in the local Polish community and now welcomes 25 Poles each day. 'A few months ago some of them started up a Sunday drinking club, and it wasn't long before they asked us to bring in a beer that they drank at home, Zamkowe Jasne, a 5.5% abv lager from the Namyslow brewery in south-west Poland.'
While this could be classed as an extremely niche product, at the Rising Sun it quickly became as popular as many of the mainstream lagers.
Given that drinkers can be very brand loyal, do licensees offering beers for a short period on rotation run the risk of upsetting customers who have become attached to a certain product that is no longer available?
The Devonshire Cat's Tysoe doesn't think so. 'We do sometimes have to disappoint people when we rotate the beers, but this is only momentary. We always have another beer that is similar. For example, if we didn't have Duvel one day and a customer asked for it, I would suggest they tried Lucifer, which is very similar.
Moving from one beer to another
'I think it's very important to move people on from one beer to another, to maintain their interest in the category and also help them learn more about the different beers.
'People often thank us for suggesting they try a new beer as it shows we're interested in them.'
Paul Roland owns the Smoke Rooms, in Clapham, south-west London, where speciality and imported beer accounts for 50% of all sales. He has a choice of 10 on draught and eight bottled speciality beers. In the past year, Roland says that sales of Staropramen on draught have 'crept up, and overtaken' those of Stella Artois as his best seller. He explains: 'People are definitely becoming bored with the same generic beer brands - as a licensee, you have to sharpen the angle.'
While Roland doesn't rotate beers, he'll keep an eye on each brand to see how it's doing - and change it if it's not performing. Michelob is the latest casualty in his line-up and Roland says he has no qualms about admitting something is not right for the business.
'We choose to experiment with different beers to find out what people like. We take the view that if we've made a mistake, we haven't shot ourselves in the foot,' he explains.
The Smoke Rooms has stocked Brahma for the past six months, which Roland says has been very popular. Other top sellers include Tooheys and Steinlager since 'people are pleasantly surprised to see a couple of quite unusual Australian and Kiwi beers'.
Together with Antipodean customers who buy them, he says that many customers recognise the beers from having been there on holiday, which could explain why Sol, a top-selling beer around the world, is his biggest brand over the summer.