Less alcohol and higher price for ‘favourite’ beer

Brewer Heineken has announced a “no nonsense” approach to rising production costs and taxes – it is cutting the alcohol in Britain’s “favourite pint” and pushing up prices.

John Smith’s Extra Smooth, famously marketed as “no nonsense beer”, is being reduced from 3.8 per cent alcohol to 3.6 per cent in a move that will save duty.

Heineken, which owns the brand that has a brewery at Tadcaster, in North Yorkshire, also confirmed it will be raising the cost of the bitter by about 2.5p a pint, while other brands will go up between 4p and 5p.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Those beers that have a weaker alcohol content pay a lower rate of duty than higher strength rivals – but last night the company said it would reinvest a proportion of the savings.

A spokesman for Heineken UK said: “We can confirm that we are in the process of advising customers about the decision to lower the alcohol-by-volume (ABV) content of John Smith’s Extra Smooth from 3.8 per cent to 3.6 per cent on all draught and canned product delivered from February 
2013.”

He said the move was “designed to bring John Smith’s Extra Smooth in line with competitor smooth ales that already sit at or below this alcoholic strength”.

“We will pass on a proportion of the duty savings to our trade customers while re-investing some cost savings in the brewing and marketing of our leading ale brand.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Extensive research conducted with John Smith’s retailers and consumers consistently confirmed that a 0.2 per cent reduction in ABV does not compromise on the taste and quality.”

Some customers are less than happy with the move, however, despite assurances by the Dutch brewer that taste won’t be affected. Members of the working men’s club in Grimethorpe, near Barnsley, have warned of 
their own “no-nonsense” response.

“The brewery wants to weaken the beer and raise the price,” Philip Evans, club secretary, said. “We are going to sit the rep down and tell him it either goes down or it goes out.”