When I lived in Sutherland (far north of Scotland) it was quite common to order a whisky and a ginger beer. Separate glasses rather then mixed - so with the ginger beer as a chaser.
I've just tried Wellington Imperial Stout, from Guelph, Ontario. I should have paid more attention to the label that says 8%, rather than the 4 or 4.5% that ish my prreeffered range. I thoughted it could be a plesaunt channge froom the GUiinness, but it seeems to huv had sum unneckpsected sidee effects.
Watch out for Imperialism in beer. I tend towards IPAs when I drink beer (I’m really more of a wine person), which tends to commit me to at least 6%, but 8% is really over the top.
We were in Niagara last weekend - with family, so itinerary driven to some extent by practical considerations - but got to sample a very nice Riesling (Thirty Bench at only 11.5%) and a very decent Merlot from Peninsula Ridge.
Watch out for Imperialism in beer. I tend towards IPAs when I drink beer (I’m really more of a wine person), which tends to commit me to at least 6%, but 8% is really over the top.
We were in Niagara last weekend - with family, so itinerary driven to some extent by practical considerations - but got to sample a very nice Riesling (Thirty Bench at only 11.5%) and a very decent Merlot from Peninsula Ridge.
Fortunately in the UK we have lot of lower gravity beers and IPAs are often closer to 4%. This is because we have a session culture that expects to drink several pints over an afternoon or evening.
Watch out for Imperialism in beer. I tend towards IPAs when I drink beer (I’m really more of a wine person), which tends to commit me to at least 6%, but 8% is really over the top.
We were in Niagara last weekend - with family, so itinerary driven to some extent by practical considerations - but got to sample a very nice Riesling (Thirty Bench at only 11.5%) and a very decent Merlot from Peninsula Ridge.
Fortunately in the UK we have lot of lower gravity beers and IPAs are often closer to 4%. This is because we have a session culture that expects to drink several pints over an afternoon or evening.
And recent tax changes have encouraged this I believe
Watch out for Imperialism in beer. I tend towards IPAs when I drink beer (I’m really more of a wine person), which tends to commit me to at least 6%, but 8% is really over the top.
We were in Niagara last weekend - with family, so itinerary driven to some extent by practical considerations - but got to sample a very nice Riesling (Thirty Bench at only 11.5%) and a very decent Merlot from Peninsula Ridge.
Fortunately in the UK we have lot of lower gravity beers and IPAs are often closer to 4%. This is because we have a session culture that expects to drink several pints over an afternoon or evening.
And recent tax changes have encouraged this I believe
It has been so for a very long time. AIUI it's more that brewers are trying to get into lower tax bands more because of rising costs in other areas.
We drank a fair amount of local beer when we were in the UK a while back and I do remember it being generally lower in alcohol - and not anemic in flavour like some North American “session” IPAs.
Twangist is correct - the ABV bands now in use only date back to August 2023, when a number of other changes came into effect, as part of the largest change to alcohol duties in over 50 years.
Twangist is correct - the ABV bands now in use only date back to August 2023, when a number of other changes came into effect, as part of the largest change to alcohol duties in over 50 years.
2023 changed the banding but it had always been true that stronger beers attracted a higher duty rate.
This turns out to be the case for rather less of the time than I had previously thought.
For example, between 1992 and 2011, there was just a single rate.
And further back (from a Treasury call for evidence in 2020):
In 1830, owing to the difficulties of collecting beer duty (in 1838 49,200 brewers’ licences were issued), beer duty was abolished in favour of higher malt taxes. Hops duty was replaced in 1862 with a Brewers’ Licence Duty on total production. In his 1880 Budget, Gladstone abolished the malt tax in favour of a reformed beer duty, devoting a remarkable over 8,000 words of his speech to the topic. This system, which was charged in reference to the sugar content of the wort (its original gravity), remained in place until the current system of beer duty was introduced in 1992.
This turns out to be the case for rather less of the time than I had previously thought.
For example, between 1992 and 2011, there was just a single rate.
And further back (from a Treasury call for evidence in 2020):
In 1830, owing to the difficulties of collecting beer duty (in 1838 49,200 brewers’ licences were issued), beer duty was abolished in favour of higher malt taxes. Hops duty was replaced in 1862 with a Brewers’ Licence Duty on total production. In his 1880 Budget, Gladstone abolished the malt tax in favour of a reformed beer duty, devoting a remarkable over 8,000 words of his speech to the topic. This system, which was charged in reference to the sugar content of the wort (its original gravity), remained in place until the current system of beer duty was introduced in 1992.
This would still result in stronger beers attracting more tax as OG is closely tied to final ABV. It would also favour lagers which contain less unfermentable OG raising sugars than darker ales.
Comments
Very fine: 4 weeks to be properly ready, 3 to be drinkable..
Other ale will be available
We were in Niagara last weekend - with family, so itinerary driven to some extent by practical considerations - but got to sample a very nice Riesling (Thirty Bench at only 11.5%) and a very decent Merlot from Peninsula Ridge.
Fortunately in the UK we have lot of lower gravity beers and IPAs are often closer to 4%. This is because we have a session culture that expects to drink several pints over an afternoon or evening.
And recent tax changes have encouraged this I believe
It has been so for a very long time. AIUI it's more that brewers are trying to get into lower tax bands more because of rising costs in other areas.
2023 changed the banding but it had always been true that stronger beers attracted a higher duty rate.
For example, between 1992 and 2011, there was just a single rate.
And further back (from a Treasury call for evidence in 2020):
This would still result in stronger beers attracting more tax as OG is closely tied to final ABV. It would also favour lagers which contain less unfermentable OG raising sugars than darker ales.