Smaller brewers need relief
Visiting Battersea Beer festival in 1987-88 was a revelation for all drinkers present that year because it was the first time a truly golden ale had been produced in the UK. Exmoor Gold from Exmoor Ales in Somerset created a buzz in south west London because it was a lip-smacking departure from the ubiquitous brown ales at that time.
This wonderful brew defined a whole new incredibly popular category of beer, and many others have invariably followed in its slip stream, but it has still maintained its quality, and 30-plus years later I’d argue it still has few peers. It was very sad, therefore, to recently hear that the brewery had closed its doors at its home in Wiveliscombe, as part of a restructure that will see brewing outsourced to Hogs Back Brewery.
This closure of a chapter was put down to not only rising costs, but also the increasing difficulty Exmoor had navigating a market where it is increasingly difficult to sell their products because the larger brewers are locking out smaller producers. Exmoor stated: “The closure of a brewery is always sad, but in the current market, it is becoming all too common as global brewers close opportunities for small local brewers.”
This lock-out is achieved through a combination of tap contracts, incentives, loans for exclusive deals and aggressive sales people from the big global brands elbowing out the smaller producers. They are controlling what beers are offered to customers. A long-standing pub-owning customer of the brewery I co-owned removed our lager from the bar with an explanation that he liked the brew, but a rival large brewer had offered to fit a new carpet for free in his pub if he stocked its beer. He apologised but said he really needed the carpet. Other incentives from brewers include all-expenses-paid trips abroad – to visit the brewery, of course!
This is not unusual behaviour and is a major contributing factor behind the closure of 136 breweries between March 2024 and March 2025. The Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA) UK Brewery Tracker found the inaccessibility of pubs is having a devastating effect on smaller breweries. In a recent SIBA survey, it was found that 60% of local pubs are inaccessible to them, with 80% citing being locked out of beer lines as the primary barrier stymying sales in their local markets. This is a real issue because as much as 41% of brewers’ output is typically sold through local pubs (within a 40-mile radius of the brewery).
This scenario has ultimately come about as a result of the introduction of small brewers’ relief (SBR) in 2002, which led to an explosion in new breweries who enjoyed tax perks in order that they could then compete on price against the large global brewers. The legislation worked a treat. Arguably too well, and now the industry is suffering from something of a hangover. It undoubtedly led to too many breweries, with the result of overcapacity, and hence, closures.
More damagingly, it also prompted the big brewers to fight the increased competition by upping their game to aggressively tie up taps at pubs. Heineken-owned Beavertown Neck Oil seems to almost be the de facto “craft” beer available in so many bars nowadays as the large brewer has done a magnificent job boosting its presence – undoubtedly to the detriment of smaller, local brewers and reducing choice for drinkers.
Professor David Tyrrall, visiting professor at Staffordshire University, was instrumental in the introduction of SBR when he and a colleague analysed the market for Gordon Brown and the Treasury. He said: “The logic of SBR was to open up the market for small brewers. Being able to sell at a lower price was seen as a way to break into the market, but price is now no longer an issue.”
Recognising this, SIBA is lobbying the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for an SBR 2.0, if you like. SIBA has recently sent over extensive documentation that argues the case, not for a tax break this time, but for a mechanism of some sort to give smaller brewers access to the many thousands of pubs from which they are currently locked out.
Although Tyrrall points out that there is a lack of appetite by any administration for creating more legislation and introducing red tape, the reality is that myriad civil servants and ministers live off legislation. Against this uncertain backdrop, we have “National Beer Day/Beer Day Britain” on 15 June, when a “National Cheers to Beer” is orchestrated around the country involving raising a glass to the national drink. Let’s hope the beer you toast the day with will still be with us on next year’s National Beer Day.
Glynn Davis, editor of Beer Insider
This piece was originally published on Propel Info where Glynn Davis writes a regular Friday opinion piece. Beer Insider would like to thank Propel for allowing the reproduction of this column.