PINTS are getting weaker as beer giants cut down on alcohol – without reducing prices.
Popular brands including Fosters’s, Old Speckled Hen, Bishops Finger and Spitfire have watered down their brew – while selling it in bottles and cans the same size as before.
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A new law change which comes into force in August will peg the duty charged on most drinks to their alcohol strength alone – so more brewers will likely dupe punters with “drinkflation”.
The Mail on Sunday reports that the alcohol by volume of Foster’s has dropped from four per cent at the start of this year to 3.7 per cent now.
Old Speckled Hen is down from five per cent to 4.8 per cent, Spitfire is down from 4.5 to 4.2 per cent and Bishops Finger to 5.4 per cent to 5.2 per cent.
These sneaky dilutions will save brewers 2p or 3p on every bottle and can made.
But they are still charging the same prices for their beers – pocketing the cash skimmed off rather than passing it on to pub drinkers.
Massive booze giant Heineken has refused to rule out watering down its beers including Amstel, Birra Morretti, John Smith’s, Newcastle Brown Ale and Heineken itself.
Beer expert Colin Angus said that industry-wide drinkflation could cost the government £250million in duty payments from brewers.
Greene King, which makes Old Speckled Hen, said: “Events of the past few years have significantly increased costs.
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“Greene King continues to look at ways we can absorb those increasing costs to ensure we continue to offer our customers the same great value and taste of Old Speckled Hen.”
Shepherd Neame, brewer of Spitfire and Shepherds Finger, said: “Consumers are increasingly choosing drinks with a lower alcohol content as part of a healthy lifestyle.
“We hope this will encourage more people to try our award-winning flagship beers.”
Heineken said: “We keep our portfolio under review.”
It comes as JD Wetherspoon is set to spend £3million building a brand-new pub with a posh roof garden – as well as an army of bouncers and CCTV cameras keeping watch over noisy punters.
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
