A HOST of beers, ciders and wines have been quietly weakened – leaving shoppers demanding a return to their original strength.
Analysis by the Sun has uncovered a raft of booze sold in supermarkets which now have lower alcohol contents – most likely in response to hikes in booze duty by the Government.
In many cases the weakened drinks have also risen in price – a phenomenon known as “drinkflation”.
Bottles of Banks’s Amber Ale were changed from 3.8% to 3.4% in the middle of last year, while the price went up from 89p to £1 in Tesco.
One reviewer wrote on the Tesco website: “Been buying it for years but will stop now. I would also rather pay more for quality.
“There should be a petition to change it back to its original taste and abv.”
A spokesman for the Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company Group, which makes Banks’ Ale, said its reduced ABV “supports moderation”, and argued the product still has “great taste and quality”.
Meanwhile Compton Orchard Medium Dry Cider is now 4%, down from 5% last year.
Its manufacturers said the Government’s duty hikes had impacted the firm, but it added that customers also wanted lighter options now so it supplies a range of products with different strengths.
Wines have been impacted – with Sun Online previously revealing how mainstream brands including Blossom Hill and Hardys have lowered their ABVs following tax hikes.
Today we can expose further reductions. Taparoo Valley Australian Shiraz, sold by Tesco, was 14% in July 2022, at a cost of £3.99 for a 75cl bottle, but it has since fallen to 11%, with the same volume costing £4.15.
One reviewer wrote: “This wine has steadily been reduced in alcohol % which has destroyed any value for money that it had . Thin and lacking in any varietal characteristics but what can you expect for the price?”
Caparelli Italian Rose Blush 75Cl, also sold only in Tesco, has fallen from 12% to 11%, but increased from £4.29 to £5.50 in two years.
Meanwhile Tesco Green Ginger Wine has been reduced from 15% in 2022, when it was sold as fortified wine, to its current level of 11.5%. The price has also increased from £3.75 to £4.50.
Tesco said of the changes: “We work with our suppliers to ensure that our own-brand wines offer great taste and value for our customers.”
The UK Government’s alcohol duty reforms introduced in August last year resulted in the biggest increases in booze duty in almost 50 years.
The duty paid on a bottle of still wine was pushed up by 20%, or 44p, based on an average alcohol strength of 12.5% ABV.
Wines that are 11% currently have a £2.35 duty imposed on each bottle, whereas any between 11.5% and 14.5% command a flat tax rate of £2.67.
For that reason many bottles were pushed down to 11%.
From February, duty rates will change again with a new system of taxation introduced to penalise higher strength drinks, and Labour has pushed through the change in last week’s Budget.
Under the new regime, the single amount of duty paid on wines between 11.5 and 14.5% ABV – £2.67 – will be replaced with increasingly higher payable amounts according to the strength of the wine.
That means a 75cl bottle of wine at 14.5% ABV will see wine duty increase from £2.67 per bottle to £3.21, based on a predicted RPI inflation rate of 3.65%.
But for an 11% bottle the duty payable will be much less at £2.43, an enormous difference of 78p.
The resulting array of weakened plonks have been dubbed “Rishi wines”, after the former Prime Minister who championed the reforms.
Booze producers are also being incentivised to produce lower strength beers, with 3.4% bevvies falling into a lower tax bracket than 3.5% ones.
As a result Carlsberg Danish Pilsner, Grolsch Premium Pilsner and – as revealed today – Banks’ Amber Ale have been reduced to 3.4%.
Currently beer with a strength between 1.3% and 3.4% have a duty of £9.27 for each litre of pure alcohol, whereas beer with an alcohol strength of 3.5% to 8.4% carries a duty of £21.01 for each pure litre of alcohol.
The duty payable on each of these brackets are set to rise by inflation (around 3.65%) in February.
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