What you need to know
Beer is the largest drinks category in the UK, worth £16.7 billion in 2015. Penetration remains high at 63% of adults, with usage still heavily skewed towards men. Following a number of challenging years in the immediate aftermath of the recession, the category’s volume decline has been largely halted and volumes have remained broadly level in recent years. Value growth has been modest and buoyed largely by inflation and the growth of many premium brands such as craft beers. Craft beers have driven ale sales in particular as many of the UK’s new craft brewers prioritise this style of beer.
From £16.7 billion in 2015, Mintel expects the market to continue growing modestly and reach £18.1 billion in 2020. Much of this will be fuelled by rising prices, with volumes only expected to grow by 2% over the five-year period.
Covered in the report
This report looks at the UK market for beer sold in both the on-trade, ie out-of-home outlets such as pubs, restaurants and clubs where the drink is consumed on the premises, and the off-trade (or take-home) market, eg supermarkets, off-licences and convenience stores.
The beer market is divided into three main segments:
Lager can broadly be described as a light/amber, clear, carbonated beer brewed with pale-kilned malts which, after fermentation, is filtered, pasteurised and conditioned before being packaged in cans, bottles or kegs for sale. Lagers were often previously loosely defined as premium/standard/economy, based on their alcohol content. However, this picture is now changing as many beers reduce their ABV slightly and as lower-alcohol beers become more popular, benefiting from government tax breaks on beers with an ABV of 2.8% or less.
Spirit- and fruit-flavoured beers are also included within lager in this report.
Ale is sometimes referred to by consumers as mild or bitter, but the term ‘ale’ is used throughout this report. This refers to top-fermented beers including bitter and mild, pale, export and brown ales, stout, porter, barley wine and strong ales, as well as Indian and American pale ales, among others. These beers are so-called because the yeast floats to the surface during fermentation, as opposed to lagers, which are bottom-fermented. Barley wine is simply a beer with a very high ABV.
Cask ales are pulled by hand pump and oxidise in an aerobic environment once opened, which demands quick throughput to maintain optimum condition and means they are served from a cask without additional carbon dioxide or nitrogen pressure. Cask ales go through a process of ‘secondary fermentation’ while being stored in pubs, meaning that each barrel often has a unique taste. They are sometimes referred to by consumers and/or the trade as ‘real ale’. However, the definition of real ale also includes ales which are bottle conditioned.
Alcoholic ginger beer and bitter are also included within ales in this report.
Stout is a derivative of porter, originally an 18th century brown mild ale. Stout is a black, dense beer, which is usually top-fermented, and made with dark roasted barley and an abundance of hops, which provide the characteristic flavour.
