As the low/no drinks trend gathers pace, retailers are faced with new questions about how best to merchandise such products – and many are blurring the lines with full-strength products, finds Nigel Huddleston Merchandising low and no-alcohol drinks used to be relatively easy: a couple of beers and maybe a token wine brand, but the number of low/no drinks types, brands and pack sizes…

Manchester-based brewer Beer Nouveau compiled a list of 83 British breweries that closed in 2022 in the wake of Covid and soaring costs. The list comprised only those who’d gone public about their closure and didn’t include Beer Nouveau itself, which revealed in October that it was calling time. Among the (relatively) big independents to go were Kelham Island, Twisted Wheel and…

The International Beer Challenge 2023 is now open for entries. The competition, which is in its 27th year, welcomes beers from across the world. With the ongoing interest and innovation in beer, the IBC has set out around 80 different sub-categories for the tasting competition. Beers will be blind tasted by beer experts including retailers, supermarket beer buyers, flavour analysists, and award-winning beer writers. Judges…

Nisa has launched a deal across a range of “barbecue essentials”, including a handful of beers and ciders, as the retailer gears up for the final bank holiday (August 29) of the summer.  With Nisa expecting an “influx of customers” this weekend, it has reduced the cost of selected beer and cider multipacks as it aims to target value-seeking customers and boost basket…

SALTAIRE PILSNER, 4% For a while, Saltaire has been brewing a very impressive Helles, so I was keen to try the brewery’s new Pilsner. I was equally impressed. It’s very light in body for the style – more of a Czech 10º beer than a fuller 11º such as Pilsner Urquell for those familiar with Czech beers – but that’s not an issue. In…

The International Beer Challenge is now open for entries. The competition, which is in its 26th year, welcomes all beers from across the world. With the ever-growing interest in the beer category, the IBC has set out 80 different categories to reflect the diversity in brewing. The blind tasting event is judged by panels of respected and experienced industry experts, ranging from retailers, importers, publicans,…

Around 20 years ago, I was asked to contribute a chapter on British lager to Beer Glorious Beer, a collection of essays collated by the British Guild of Beer Writers. I started the essay provocatively with the sentence: “Do you ever get the feeling that you’ve drawn the short straw?” An essay on British lager for a book called Beer Glorious Beer? It had to…