BrewDog Backs Minimum Pricing

BrewDog were the first company to publically back the Scottish Governments proposals for a minimum price per unit alcohol policy. As the proposal looks set to become reality not just in Scotland but also in the UK we feel the step will only help get more people drinking great quality craft beer. In addition it will be a further nail in the coffin of the industrial brewers who are becoming more and more out of touch with beer drinkers in the UK.

The plans will accelerate the changing dynamic of beer purchasing.  We can move on from the totalitarian reign of thieves and pimps who sell corporate brews to good men who soak it up like vermin, blissful in their ignorance.  

Beer consumption at home has now overtaken beer consumption in the on-trade in the UK. When people drink beer at home, overall, we feel they are looking for a more premium experience than they would be in the cut and thrust of a busy bar environment.

The new minimum price of £0.50 per unit for Scotland and an anticipated £0.45 a unit for the rest of the UK will not affect any craft brewers pricing (Punk IPA currently retails in the off trade for around £0.90 per unit equivalent).

The proposals will mean that the multi-national corporate hammerheads no longer allowed to discount their liquid cardboard to embarrassingly pathetic levels it will act to level the playing field in the off trade. Craft brewers can’t, and shouldn’t, discount their beers and sustain losses. With less of a price differential now in the off trade between industrial and craft beer it will be far easier for the consumer to trade up to awesome craft brews.

Sure you will still be able to buy beer for less. But if you want it to taste of hops and malt, not silicone and cardboard then it costs a little bit more.

The average monolithic lager is brewed with roughly 12 kilos of malted barley per barrel, the average craft ale (like a 4.5% pale ale) is brewed with around 25 kilos per barrel. At BrewDog, our average beer is made with over 40 kilos of malted barley per barrel. On average we use 25 times more hops as an industrial brewer to make one barrel of BrewDog beer.  A lot more beer for just a little bit more money.

Irresponsible beer mega- conglomerates have previously relied on the off trade as the mechanism to grow their brand with no regard at all for their impact on society and it’s most vulnerable members.  This also served act as a barrier to craft beer sales as they used all the dirty pricing tricks in their armoury to keep small and successful craft brewers out of the market place.

With every other sector of beer sales are falling, craft beer is gathering more and more momentum. We fully believe that once people taste amazing craft beer they will not go back to paying a little bit less for a massively inferior industrially brewed beer.

We are proud that the Government has taken this bold step which will help our society overall and also get more people drinking great craft beer. Both are very lofty and worthy objectives in our view.

Those stupid little corporate freaks think they got us fooled with their tasteless, mindless, visionless crap.

Walk tall, kick ass and learn to speak craft beer.

j   x