Beer: Has the taste of sweets left a sour taste?

With many beers now sounding like they are from your local sweet shop, has ale brewing “jumped the shark”??David Schaffer hopes not.?

White chocolate, raspberry, marshmallow, pineapple, marzipan, chocolate shortbread, peanut ice cream, jam doughnut – any of that bring beer to mind??

Well, if, like me, you are a fan of microbreweries that have produced countless new and fabulous IPAs and other brews, across a few short years – the answer is no… isn’t it?

Who is drinking these kinds of beers, if indeed they still deserve to be called beer?

It would seem the market could be sizeable – the US-based Research and Markets Report, for example, forecasts that by 2027 global sales of fruit beers will top $375m a year.

But, if a brewer is turning to the likes of chocolate and marshmallow to, let’s be honest, disguise the beer taste, who exactly is it appealing to?

Lager, lager, lager

When I was maturing into drinking age at the end of the 1980s, the market was dominated by lager.

Take a quick glance at the most popular beer ads of 1989 in the UK and it is all about Lamot Pils, Hofmeister, Carling, Fosters, Castlemaine XXXX - not a bitter or ale in sight.

The irony is not lost on travel website Culture Trip, which was inspired to look up the ads after Hofmeister was re-launched in 2017 as a “craft lager” rather than the “bland, fizzy, weak-as-tea” version it used to be, as they put it.

At the time I found a few ales – Bass, Ruddles County, Courage Directors were my faves – but they were outnumbered (and normally had the image of “what your Dad drinks”) especially if you wanted to cut a dash on the dancefloor with a pint in hand.

And that would not really change until the UK government introduced the Small Brewers’ Relief tax reduction scheme, also known as “progressive beer duty”, in 2002.

Fast forward to 2021 and the Brewers’ Journal reported in March that there are now more than 3,000 small breweries to be found in the UK, up 7.5% from 2019.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, after 20 years of great growth in independent cellar activity, CAMRA is warning that the government wants to increase again the amount of tax to be paid.

However, the organisation that is celebrating 50 years of existence this year after being founded by four lonely real ale enthusiasts, still feels there is a fight on to stop the demise of the cask.

Controversial topic?

Looking at its Beer Styles Guide from 2020, speciality flavoured beers including fruit ones are present, but they are relegated to the bottom of the heap, dare I say it, as an apparent afterthought and not something that will aid that particular fight.

In light of that it is surely no surprise that judges at The Drinks Business’ Beer and Cider Masters Awards 2020 who, on assessing the flavoured beer category, stated “citrus-forward styles were favoured over anything overly sweet or fruit-infused”.

But have I hit on a topic that is more controversial than it should be??I mean, I can understand why brewers who do produce this stuff have ignored me, but brewers' trade bodies don’t seem to want to respond to my inquiries either.

Despite repeatedly contacting CAMRA to get further explanation for a trend that is apparently being snubbed by the experts, I have failed to raise a response.?

It is a similar story with The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), who also do not seem to want to talk to me.

Like CAMRA’s tasting notes though, a quick look at SIBA’s North East Independent Beer Awards for 2021 shows its overall winner was newcomer brewery Metalhead, of North Shields, for Pretty Vacant – a double dry hopped blonde ale.

There was though no sign of a category for a sweet beer.

'Bit of fun'

I did however hit pay dirt when I contacted none other than former Coronation Street star Adam Rickitt.

Adam took over Cheshire craft beer shop and micro bar Dexter and Jones in 2017 – and at first he seems to agree with the snub, saying you wouldn’t find him sitting down with the likes of a milkshake IPA.

But he quickly counters this by welcoming such innovations, simply because it is a “bit of fun”.

“I do think there is a market for the wacky stuff.?People come into our shop, and they might buy nine IPAs but then also get one funky one to try,” he tells me from the bar in Knutsford.

“But what this market also does is give the breweries something to experiment with.?The results can then be fed back into the traditional stuff as well.?

“There are so many combinations of hops out there, so the funky stuff fits in.”

He stresses that without an appetite for experimentation the beer market runs the risk of stagnation.

Joke’s on me?

The British Beer and Pub Association agrees the focus on keeping pace with consumer trends is crucial for the industry.

“The British brewing and pub sector is the envy of the world. We have a long-standing heritage of brewing some of the best and most innovative beers around. Cask beer in particular is unique to the UK and is best enjoyed in the pub,” a spokesman said.

“A lot of innovation has taken place in the sector recently and in particular the boom in low and no alcohol beer, providing people with a great tasting alternative to a normal pint."

Maybe then the joke’s on me – are these simply beers that are brewed to appeal to those who don’t drink beer?

After all, the cider market had a similar overhaul a few years back, thanks mainly to brewers from Sweden and New Zealand.

If this does explain the appeal, what does it portend for the future of my ale, a drink apparently first brewed by the Egyptians about 7,000 years ago, ironically using a fruit – the date!?

Whatever the reason for what I fear is a “jump the shark” trend, you won’t find me drinking the likes of jam doughnut IPA again – once was enough.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a chocolate milk and even a pina colada… but please don’t ruin my beer.?

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