I gotta agree....

The UK is on a very similar path. I've been sat talking to our Marston's rep this morning and they are seeing a steady decline. Carlsberg seem to be on life support and there's serious talk about them shutting their sales operations down and just having supply agreements with wholesalers.

Meanwhile craft beer brewers and bars are popping up everywhere and snatching their own share of the market; most often from the volume brewers.

I feel that we've reached a tipping point in the UK with more beer being consumed in the home than outside. The big brewers know this, of course they do, but it's a tricky thing for them to react to. We are seeing them buying up craft brewers (Hop Stuff to Coors, Magic Rock to Heineken and plenty of others) but we aren't clear yet whether it's to grow them or close them; time will tell on that score.

For me, as a beer fan, it's the best time that there's ever been to be interested in beer and there's no reason why that should change; it should just get better.There will be casualties here, the mid-sized brewers are probably more vulnerable than the really big boys, but for consumers it's a brilliant time.
 
Steve SPF said:
The UK is on a very similar path. I've been sat talking to our Marston's rep this morning and they are seeing a steady decline. Carlsberg seem to be on life support and there's serious talk about them shutting their sales operations down and just having supply agreements with wholesalers.

Meanwhile craft beer brewers and bars are popping up everywhere and snatching their own share of the market; most often from the volume brewers.

I feel that we've reached a tipping point in the UK with more beer being consumed in the home than outside. The big brewers know this, of course they do, but it's a tricky thing for them to react to. We are seeing them buying up craft brewers (Hop Stuff to Coors, Magic Rock to Heineken and plenty of others) but we aren't clear yet whether it's to grow them or close them; time will tell on that score.

For me, as a beer fan, it's the best time that there's ever been to be interested in beer and there's no reason why that should change; it should just get better.There will be casualties here, the mid-sized brewers are probably more vulnerable than the really big boys, but for consumers it's a brilliant time.
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Recently I was at a tech conference here the the States and wound up drinking beer with an Englishman from the Yorkshire area (we were drinking Samuel Smith of coarse) and he lamented how the American craft beers were influencing the craft brewers in England and the English beer styles were being replaced with American IPA's and such. That would be sad if the English styles were replaced by American styles in England. I don't want to drink American beer in England, I want local English beers.

Have you seen this happening?
 
Cask beer is in decline but it isn't terminal. There's been an arrogance around cask brewers, they've been the high water mark for brewing for years and the truth is that many of the cellar skills needed to present it properly are absent so we get crap beer over the bar. Last July Cask Marque reported seven out of ten pints served that month were too warm; seventy percent.

There are plenty of examples of the cask sector shooting itself in the foot (don't get me started on CAMRA) and they've failed dismally to attract younger drinkers over to cask so there's definitely a problem but the true English styles won't die out I don't think.

Sam Smiths is actually a really good example of a traditional brewer that knows what it's good at, sticks to that, and controls the quality of their product all the way through to the consumer.
 
I thought you guys had ovens to store your casks in?
 
To keep the beer nice and hot.
 
I think its the same in Aus the American IPA American style Pale Ales but as with Aus we do a good job at giving it a twist of our own running with what we've tasted from the American Craft Scean and using what best suits us.

The beauty it weve got some lovely unique hops down here and over in NZ that can drive our own beer creations.
 
Hey Steve, are the UK markets seeing a rise in "Seltzers" which the big boys are certainly producing here in the USA?

I listened to an other article this morning about how the US states that have legalized recreational marijuana are also seeing a lack of beer consumption due to a substitution affect. Lemme go see if I can find that again and I'll post it. The story was how these states are creating a perfect environment for study on how food consumption should be changing. I wanna say it was a story in The Economist as the story was making reference to "Crisps" and "Biscuits" or as we yanks call them, "Chips and Cookies"!
 
Ward Chillington said:
Hey Steve, are the UK markets seeing a rise in "Seltzers" which the big boys are certainly producing here in the USA?
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We aren't seeing those yet but I'm sure somebody will get around to importing them soon.

For me, beer consumption is under pressure from many sides so no surprise that economists are blaming weed as well. I think the whole structure around how we socialise is having an impact; has been for a long while now.

Premiumisation is a factor as well, particularly in a strong economic time. That puts pressure on the volume brewers 'pile it high and make it as cheaply as possible' business model.
 
Ward Chillington said:
It was in The Economist but my news feed from the "Do No Evil" folks was a freebie I guess as all m searches came up with it behind their paywall.....:(
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An excellent source, The Economist, but they don't give much away f nothing do they? Can't say I blame them to be fair.
 
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