I’ve been running my Instagram account for over two years now. Mainly, I review beers but I’m constantly on the prowl for new knowledge in terms of hops, beer styles, breweries, and whatever else I can find. I get a lot of this from other posters but there are also some great podcasts out there too.
As I immerse myself ever more into craft culture, I have to ask myself, are we too snooty?
Before the angry mob turn up at my door, let me explain.
From everything I’ve listened to, there’s a general feeling that big supermarkets giving contracts to craft breweries is a bad thing. Primarily because it affects the business that local bottle shops get but also because breweries need to brew more, and there’s naturally a risk that the quality of the output gets dampened.
It’s a bit of a vicious circle too, because to stay afloat, bottle shops need to increase their prices and it feels over-inflated. Especially when you can get multi-buy deals in places like Tesco.
It’s a tricky situation and I’m not sure how that gap can be bridged.
On the other side, supermarkets act as a gateway for most people that get into craft beer (they did for me) and that can propel drinkers to bottle shops in search of new breweries and styles. So there’s an argument that one feeds the other.
Now, I don’t think that’s the snooty bit, but it provides a good context to my point. Which, is that the discounter supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl don’t get the praise they deserve in terms of the beer they sell. And not just that, but people tend to turn their noses up too.
In terms of competition to local businesses, Aldi and Lidl don’t post much of a threat. They have their own breweries that brew beers specifically for them and for people that shop in those stores, it’s likely to be the only place they can afford to buy craft beer. So, the likelihood of them paying £4 or £5 for a can is extremely low.
And I think that’s where the snootiness comes in. Because they’re supermarket owned breweries, their beers are deemed to be of lesser quality that the bigger breweries such as Beavertown, Tiny Rebel or Verdant.
I can categorically say that whilst they may not win awards, I enjoy the majority of the beers I pick up from those stores. Now, I’m not talking about the discounter lagers they do, but the actual craft beers from the likes of William Bros, 10/4 Brewing and The Hop Foundry.
Let me give you an example.
In 2020 I picked up a Hop Foundry beer called Push Pineapple and if I did awards, that would have been a front runner for the best beer I’d had that year. It was a Milkshake IPA that had absolute lashings of pineapple and that sweet finish that you get when you finish a glass of milk. And because large sections of the craft scene turn their noses up at discounter craft, they missed out on an amazing experience.
And this isn’t a one off.
William Bros brew an amazing Blood Orange IPA. As soon as you open the can, you get a strong orange smell, and it has a really intense orange flavour too. Again, it’s another amazing beer from Aldi that a lot of people won’t get to drink because it isn’t mainstream.
Can the discounters be a little shady? Sure. They rip of designs, styles and flavours and I can understand why bigger breweries get annoyed but is it a massive issue? No, it isn’t.
I guess the overall point I’m trying to make is that you shouldn’t turn your nose up at supermarket created beers. Drink whatever you want and share your experiences because they’re unique and will introduce others to those beers. But don’t look down on people that drink those craft beers from the likes of Aldi and Lidl.
You can get some absolute hidden gems that quite frankly, perform better than bigger breweries do.
