Letter to Wetherspoons

To the editor, Wetherspoon News, editor@jdwetherspoon.co.uk

Sent 2nd May 2017

Dear Tim,

Low Alcohell

After a recent minor stroke, the medical advice is to limit my intake to one drink per day. This has prompted an immediate interest in low alcohol beer (and wine). From my new perspective, I can see the logic of pubs stocking decent beers under 1% alcohol as there is a likely market amongst designated drivers, the health-conscious and those, like me, who still enjoy visiting a pub, but cannot drink ‘proper’ beer.
While current demand would not justify supplying low alcohol beer on tap, could I request that you look into bottled beers? My local Wetherspoon in Sidcup only stocks Erdinger AlkoholFrei which is awful. You already sell bottles of various BrewDog lines and their 0.5% Nanny State is pleasantly close to the real thing.
If you need a volunteer for your tasting panel, I’ll be happy to help and start a new trend.

Regards, Nick Blackburn, Eltham

Letter to CAMRA

Published in the June edition.

to the letters editor, CAMRA, What's Brewing, wb.letters@camra.org.uk
sent 24th April 2017

Low Alcohell

A few days after returning from the Bournemouth AGM, I suffered a small stroke which, fortunately, left me largely undamaged, but I am now advised to take no more than one drink per day. This has led to a sudden interest in low alcohol beer (and wine) and a wish to promote its availability.
Although it is initially counter-intuitive (who in their right mind would drink that?), there is a case to be made for brewing decent weak beer and making it available in pubs, notably for anyone who is intending to drive and of course for those like me who are under doctors’ orders.

A 2015 Telegraph article (http://bit.ly/2oukH8g) notes that “under current advertising rules, brewers can not positively promote lower strength drinks, between 1 and 3.5 per cent, as these products are not yet legally defined", though from the Advertising Standards Authority Non-broadcast Code, “Alcoholic drinks are defined as drinks containing at least 0.5% alcohol; for the purposes of this Code low-alcohol drinks are defined as drinks containing between 0.5% and 1.2% alcohol” (http://bit.ly/2pmfJhT). HMRC states, “Beer Duty is chargeable on … beer if [its] strength is more than 1.2% alcohol by volume” (http://bit.ly/2oRJk1e).

A CAMRA press release dated 24th November 2016 sought “a reduction in duty on beers between 2.9 per cent and 3.5 per cent ABV [as it] would encourage responsible drinking”. The weakest beer available at the AGM was Dancing Man’s Bone Dry at 3.4%, one of 16 session beers in the 3% range. Has CAMRA ever taken a view on promoting beers of 0.5% to 1%?

While waiting for the real (low alcohol) ale revolution to arrive (CAMRA^la?), I have been looking at the bottled beers which I hope pubs will stock more regularly. Brew Dog’s cunningly named Nanny State at 0.5% provides an excellent, hop-heavy benchmark and is intermittently available at some supermarkets but not at my local Wetherspoon. At the other end of the spectrum is Erdinger AlkoholFrei, an entirely unpleasant substance which Wetherspoon does stock.

If any other CAMRA members are interested in this subject, or if there is already a relevant CAMRA group, please get in touch at http://lowalcohell.blogspot.co.uk/

Finally, there is an interesting and wide-ranging piece on small beer on the Anchor Brewing blog, http://bit.ly/2ocdtcS.

Anchor Brewing

Anchor Brewing of San Fransisco has posted an extensive piece on small beer, noting
"The tradition of brewing two distinct beers from one mash is an ancient one [we] assayed to explain on our neck label—and for centuries the term ‘small beer’ was used in English to describe the weaker second beer.”

Progress so far

Sainsburys Eltham sell Brew Dog Nanny State for £1.25 per bottle. I have bought all their stock.

M&S Eltham are still out of their 0.5% Pilsner, but I did find a 0.5% Southwold which is not unpleasant and £1.60 for 500ml. Not a patch on Nanny State, but worth a try and no worse than the Southwold 2.7% I had last night.

Update, 30th April
I have now exhausted M&S's supply of Southwold.
No sign of the Pilsner.

And wine

Eisberg "Cabernet Sauvignon" £21 for 6 bottles from Amazon with Prime delivery. It's quite pleasant and, as there is no inclination to drink more than one glass with dinner, one bottle will last us three days.

Good enough to stick with for now.

We'll save a packet,

Early findings

Upon release from PRUH, I didn't want a drink for several days but recovery did not take long.

• My first acquisition was Brew Dog Nanny State 0.5%. This is accurately described as very hoppy but it is quite palatable after the initial shock. I found it in Waitrose Bromley selling for a not-entirely-unreasonable £1.29 for a 33cl bottle.
  I looked on Amazon for cases of the same and was dismayed to find it priced at £28.99 for 12, i.e. £2.41½ each.
  Neither Waitrose not Wetherspoon in Sidcup stock them and so I was forced to try Erdinger AlkoholFrei (less that 0.5%). It is described on the label as a "refreshing isotonic drink", but tastes rather unpleasant. The wheat version is worse.
• Eltham's Lidl had nothing to offer. The nearby M&S sells a 0.5% lager but had none in stock. They had one bottle of Sothwold 2.7%, rather stronger than I seek, but which I bought for emergencies.

Intro

Shortly after returning from the 2017 CAMRA AGM in Bournemouth I suffered a minor stroke which, thankfully, did minimal physical damage. The bad news is that the consultant at the largely excellent PRUH instructed me to cut down on my drinking.

I therefore have a new mission in life, to find decent low alcohol beer and wine, to persuade Wetherspoons and other outlets to supply it and persuade CAMRA to support and encourage the brewing of it.