That old saying “export or die” seems to be lost on the British brewing industry. I’ve just returned from judging in the Brussels Beer Challenge, a major competition that gives awards to breweries across the globe.
A total of 17 countries were represented and 168 awards — gold, silver, bronze and ‘honour-able mention’ — were handed out. A paltry nine awards went to brewers from the UK. We were scarcely at the races.
Great passion
The challenge is a prestigious affair, with judges drawn from most European countries, the USA and Japan.
British judges were there in good numbers — in fact, there were more British judges than awards given to breweries from our country.
The event, despite the name, was held not in Brussels but in Liège. This gave me the opportunity to visit the historic and cultural heart of the French-speaking region of Belgium, though as always in this small but divided nation you wonder at times precisely where you are.
The main square, called the Place de la République Française, suggests the good people of the city would rather be in a different country. And if you’re in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, you don’t call the place Liège, but Luik.
Confused? It’s a confusing country. It’s held together not by national pride but by beer. The Belgians — both French and Dutch speakers — are united by a great passion for the drink, which comes in a diversity of styles. The country may be best known as the home of Stella Artois, but for beer connoisseurs it offers far more than mainstream lager.
To name but a few, in Belgium you will find ales brewed by monks, beers made by “wild fermentation” using yeasts from the atmosphere, spiced wheat beers, fruit beers, and sour red beer stored in wooden vessels where it’s attacked by natural bacteria.
Honourable mention
But the Brussels Beer Challenge looks beyond Belgium and canvasses beer from far and wide. And it reflected the backgrounds of their home countries. There were German and Czech Pilsners, dark German lagers, pale ales, golden ales, IPAs, porters and stouts. In addition, there were classes for bitter and best bitter.
So there was plenty for British brewers to get their teeth into. But most of them seem to have taken their gnashers out and left them to soak in Steradent.
The only gold medal won by a British brewery went to Joseph Holt, of Manchester, for its Fifth Sense best bitter. The same brewery won silver for its 1849 bitter, Sharp’s won silver for its Single Brew Reserve golden ale and bronze for its Doom Bar and Honey Spice Tripel, while Thwaites netted bronze for Lancaster Bomber and Tavern Porter.
Thwaites picked up an honourable mention for its Big Ben brown ale and an honourable also went to Ilkley Brewery for its chocolate-flavoured Mayan.
Intensely proud
I don’t know how many British breweries entered the competition, as that’s confidential information. The organisers don’t reveal how much they charge for entries but it can’t be prohibitive as there were a large number of beers representing the USA.
Not surprisingly, Belgian brewers were the biggest prize winners, but the States weighed in with 36, while Italy bagged 28. The Italians were bursting with pride. There are now around 600 small craft breweries in the country. Italy has a beer culture, as well as a wine one, and the brewers are intensely proud of their products and anxious to let the rest of the world sample them.
Why bother to export? With the exception of countries such as Italy, where beer is a new phenomenon, consumption is falling in most European nations. Growth has to come from selling abroad.
Belgium accounts for just 1% of world-beer production. In 2007, 21 independent brewers came together to launch a family brewers’ association, inspired by the work of the Independent Family Brewers of Britain (IFBB).
I learned that 50% of the Belgian family brewers’ production is exported and 80% of that figure goes to other European countries. This means costs of transport are low and, as a result, Belgian craft beers now enjoy wider recognition.
Common cause
Britain is a bigger player on the beer scene. We produce far bigger volumes of beer than the Belgians and are famous for our pale ales, IPAs and bitters. Famous, yes — but few drinkers abroad drink them as so little is exported.
The British Beer & Pub Association tells me 17% of British beer is exported. If you strip out sales to Ireland, which is a special relationship, the figure falls below 17%.
We need to export because we should be proud of our beer. And brewers need the income. Beer consumption continues to fall in the UK — we are in a similar situation to the Belgians, and British brewers need to follow their lead.
The IFBB and Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) must make common cause. They should pool resources and appoint beer ambassadors to open up foreign markets.
They should, in the words of the Good Book: “go forth and multiply!”