These are extraordinarily exciting times for beer and brewers. What is happening with the booming interest in craft and world beers chimes with a revolution that swept through the wine industry in the late 1980s and 1990s. That particular tale of the grape saw the establishment — the existing order of big wine makers of ‘Old World’ Europe — blindsided by the emergence of ‘New World’ producers from America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, who arrived on our shores with great wines to sell accompanied by an even better story to tell.
In relative terms, the same is happening in beer. It is, of course, not entirely the same, but the broad effect is very similar in the form of fundamental and positive change that reinvigorates the entire category. In the case of beer — and I say this as someone who works for one of the biggest brewers there is — the established order is being challenged by new breeds of brewers who are shaking up the entire category. Pick up the weekend papers and you will frequently read about craft beers from the UK and North America, heritage beers from mainland Europe and an array of local ale brewers springing up across the regions.
New stories
In the same vein of New World wine, brewers are developing the story of beer. They are finding new stories to tell; about their heritage; provenance of ingredients; the premium values of their production process; flavour and brewing innovations; or the entrepreneurial zeal of their founders. They are celebrating the craft of the brewer, defining new types of beer to appeal to a wider audience and making different styles more understandable through innovative packaging and easy, evocative language.
This beer renaissance is good news for drinkers. It is also good news for the UK on-trade, which has a clear opportunity to further harness this change, celebrating the quality, diversity and versatility of beer to build on-trade visits and sales. And to recognise beer’s rising stock and the pricing opportunity that exists for cared-for premium products and ranges.
Good news
I can’t write an article about the rise of beer without acknowledging that its success has been helped by the Chancellor — the scrapping of the duty escalator and two duty cuts — and the sustained campaigning by the BBPA, SIBA and CAMRA. We now have a platform of improving sales, rising tax revenues and inward investment — such as the £50m Carlsberg UK has invested in Northampton, in jobs, training and innovation since 2013 — from which we can build the case for further duty cuts.
Across our business we have craft beers that would stand up to any, but the beer revolution is not just about triple-hopped IPAs. Mainstream beers and lagers are still massive and will always be important; what is happening with beer gives all parts of the category the opportunity to grow. And that is good news for all of us.
James Lousada is CEO of Carlsberg UK and guest-edited the 23 October edition of The Publican's Morning Advertiser