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Eebria, an online drinks service in England that connects producers with consumers in the digital direct sales segment, just released a new report on craft beer in the UK (and beyond) and the trends to look out for in 2018.
IPA’s Rule In The United Kingdom
To the surprise of hardly no one (and certainly not for those in the US) Pale Ales and IPA’s reign supreme in the UK with sales of that style rising 5% in 2017.
Big Beers Rising
In spite of a tax hike imposed on high-octane beers by the UK’s Treasury in 2011 the popularity high ABV brews in the United Kingdom continues to grow.
Around 11% of all craft beer sold in 2017 were 7% or higher, according to EeBria, an almost 100% sales increase from 2016.
Wild Beer Tepache
Doubling Down On The Double IPA
Given the current popularity of the India Pale Ale in England and that country’s growing fascination with bigger and stronger craft beers… It’s no wonder that double IPAs proved themselves to be particularly popular in 2017.
Sales of Double IPAs nearly doubled in 2017, a rise of 7.3% compared to 4.3% in 2016.
Innovation Beats Out Tradition In 2017
Where some beer analysts ‘across the pond’ have been predicting a return to traditionalism in the brewing arena, Eebria reports that the opposite proved true and that in 2017 there was “a substantial decrease in popularity of styles that would be considered ‘traditional’ in the realms of UK beer.”
Golden, Brown, Red and Amber Ales (as well as milds and bitters) rose by 7.2%, but compared to the 14% rise in traditional beer sales the previous year, their sales dropped by almost half. And in the same year that saw ESB sales waning, Sour beers rose almost 6.4%.
Dark Daze Continue In The UK
Stout and Porter sales continued their upward trajectory with Imperial Stouts in particular showing a 3.3% build over an already strong performance in 2016.
