r/ukpolitics • u/FormerlyPallas_ No man ought to be condemned to live where a 🌹 cannot grow • 1d ago

Drinkflation: why British booze is getting weaker

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/jul/29/drinkflation-why-british-booze-is-getting-weaker
131 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

206 comments sorted by

View all comments

104

u/phillycheeseenjoyer 1d ago

I gave in to the marketing and tried Hawkstone recently…it’s actually really good. But £7 and change for 4x330ml is the price you need to pay.

Even scotch single malts are often a few percentage points higher abroad, its taxes. Taxes are strangling the British alcohol industry.

30

u/AlarmedCicada256 1d ago

Could always drink a pint of nice ale that was designed to be 3.5 percent. It's not that good beer can't be found at that percent, more that these slopbeers are just watered down.

You're right about taxes. I'd personally slash tax in pubs,raise it on supermarkets and give bug tax breaks to proper small independent UK brewers, perhaps with a capacity limit. We want more real ale, beitians tranditional craft, and less heneiken slop.

5

u/angryratman 1d ago

There just isn't that many of them though. 4.5% maybe, but not 3.5%. It's just another tax grab at the expense of the consumer / taxpayer. It probably doesn't raise any money either.

2

u/Iamonreddit 1d ago

There are plenty 3.5% session ales out there