It is the beer that no brewer can afford to ignore and is being credited with spearheading the real ale revival. Golden ale, a light, more hoppy cousin of bitter, is stealing drinkers away from lager to such an extent that it is now being described as a game-changer in brewing circles.
Demand for the ale has soared by nearly 70% in the UK over the past two years. Sales rose from 47,133 barrels in the 12 months to April 2013 to 79,565 barrels in the same period last year. Golden ales are now outselling fashionable craft ales by 10 to one, according to official industry figures.
What started off as a niche segment of the real ale market – it was developed by British brewers in the 1980s specifically to win over younger drinkers who favour lighter, thirst-quenching beer such as lager – now appears to be coming of age.
Last month, in a move that raised eyebrows across the beer industry but made sense to experts, brewing giant Guinness launched Guinness Golden Ale.
“The bigger brewers are under pressure from younger drinkers who don’t want to drink what dad drinks, and if dad drinks stout they’ll have something different,” said Roger Protz, editor of the Good Beer Guide. “And Guinness has had to respond to that. It had to create something that appeals to younger drinkers. Golden ale has attracted younger drinkers who tended to be bypassed by the older independent family brewers, whose beers didn’t appeal to younger drinkers. I think golden ale has done a tremendous job of attracting young people into the market.”
Tesco recently launched an own-label golden ale in a move that has been supported by the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra). And last week the Nicholson’s Pubs chain released figures showing sales of paler-coloured ales increasing by 27% over five years.
“It’s not a passing fad,” Protz said. “The whole trend is to go for much paler drinks. The British consumer prefers white wine to red wine.”
Tom Stainer, editor of Camra’s monthly What’s Brewing newspaper, said golden ales “provide a great starting point for drinkers keen to move from lagers to cask beers and explore the wide range of tastes provided by real ale”.
He said the summer months would be a boon time for the beer. “Golden beers and pale ales have particularly given drinkers a great, refreshing choice in the warm summer months – there’s nothing better or more refreshing than a hoppy, golden beer in a pub garden.”
Popular golden ales at the moment include Thwaites Wainwright, Greene King Old Golden Hen and Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted.
Experts say golden ale is eating into lager’s market share. “Golden ale is having such a dramatic effect on the beer tastes of the nation because it combines the refreshingness of lager with the flavoursome qualities of ale,” said Tesco ale buyer Chiara Nesbitt. “Five years ago we stocked about 15 golden ales but demand has soared so much recently that we doubled our range – it really is proving to be an entry point ale for traditional lager drinkers.”
Protz added that the rise of golden ale reflected a fragmenting marketplace, with the number of brewers mushrooming across the country.
“On the one hand you have 30 pubs a week closing but you’ve also got about 30 new breweries starting up every week,” Protz said. “That’s quite an astonishing situation. What the smaller new brewers are doing is bursting out of the old bonds placed upon the brewing industry. When I started writing about beer there were virtually only two types of beer brewed in this country – mild and bitter. Now, of course, there are dozens and dozens of different styles of beer.”
