It’s official: today’s youngsters are a bunch of lightweights. Well: that’s one way of putting it. You might prefer to describe them as “generation sensible”. Last year, a study of nearly 10,000 young people in the UK confirmed what many have long suspected - that young people are shunning alcohol.
The study found that between 2005 and 2015, the numbers of people aged 16 to 24 who described themselves as non-drinkers rose from 18 per cent to 29 per cent, while the numbers who had never drunk alcohol rose from 9 per cent to 17 per cent. So: almost a third of British youngsters do not drink alcohol. This is quite a turnaround.
The study did not investigate why this is happening, and there are many theories to explain this shift in drinking patterns, health being foremost among them. But whatever the explanation, this represents a dramatic change in the nation’s drinking habits; for most people of middle age and older, drinking alcohol in their younger years was a formative experience, a kind of proving ground, often beginning with under-age drinking. Getting drunk or having “a few too many” was seen by many as part of a normal night out.
So this new abstemiousness is good news for the livers and other major organs of the younger generation - but not so good news for people who run pubs and bars, where alcohol is of course an essential part of the offering. Pubs are closing at a rate of 18 a week and this shift in drinking habits is not helping to keep them open.
The zero heroes
But now brewers are beginning to fight back by developing alcohol-free beers and ciders that can compete with the “real” thing in terms of flavour and style. So if you run a pub or a bar, you would be wise to consider stocking a decent range of non-alcoholic and low-alcohol drinks, as they are soaring in popularity: another recent study found that sales of low-alcohol and alcohol-free beer have seen a rise of 381 per cent since 2017.
Those with long memories will remember early attempts at alcohol-free beers such as Barbican, which resembled beer in its colour and fizziness rather than its actual taste (interestingly, Barbican is now sold as a “non-alcoholic malt beverage” in Muslim countries where alcohol is forbidden). But today’s offerings are much more sophisticated, the results of years of painstaking research.
Low in alcohol, big on flavour
So how are they made? Essentially, they are brewed in the same way as a regular beer, using the same ingredients. Then the alcohol is removed, either by heating the beer, which causes the alcohol to evaporate, or by a process called reverse osmosis, which uses a series of filters at a cold temperature. These processes can affect the taste, and the technique of injecting carbon dioxide to give the product its “fizz” can leave a metallic aftertaste, but new methods have been developed to retain those essential beer flavours. The results are often flavoursome and satisfying brews, with beer experts often giving them the thumbs up in taste tests.
Brewing giants such as Anheuser-Busch InBev and Heineken have launched dozens of low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beers in the past three years. Among them is Heineken’s 0.0 and Budweiser’s Prohibition - whose name harks back to the origins of low-alcohol beer in Prohibition-era America. Guinness has developed a lager, Open Gate, which has 0.5 per cent alcohol.
Smaller brewers have also entered the market with low-alcohol beers such as Brew Dog’s amusingly named Nanny State. And now alcohol-free beers have received the ultimate seal of approval from the Campaign for Real Ale, whose Great British Beer Festival last year offered alcohol-free beer for the first time in its history. These were from the Dutch craft brewery Braxzz, which has developed an alcohol-free IPA, amber ale and the world’s first alcohol-free porter.
These beers are not only low in alcohol or alcohol-free; they are low in calories, too, typically containing around half the calorie count of regular beer - another selling point among health-conscious youngsters. Some Olympic athletes have started using non-alcoholic beer as a recovery drink, partly because it helps them to rehydrate, but also because drinking beer is a social activity and drinking alcohol-free beer ensures that they don’t miss out on the fun. This is a key factor for anyone running a pub or bar: people like drinking together, and these days it doesn’t seem to matter whether or not the drink contains alcohol.
Naught percent profits
For the publican and bar owner, the advantage of these new products is that they carry little or no duty, thus increasing your profit. There has been some consumer resistance to the fact that most of these beers are served in bottles. If you want to sit and sup a pint of one of these beers, you’ll usually need to buy, and pour, two bottles, which can be expensive. But now brewers are upping their game even further by offering low-alcohol beers on tap. The Suffolk-based brewer St Peter’s, for instance, now offers its alcohol-free beer Without on draught, as well as in bottles.
Canny publicans and bar owners will serve these beers as part of a wider push to attract younger drinkers. For many youngsters, the pub is seen as an off-puttingly old-fashioned place, but there are ways to freshen up your offering. Free Wi-Fi is a necessity, so if you don’t have it, you would be advised to install it - and make sure that the password is well publicised.
Furniture, too, can make a difference. By introducing more contemporary-looking pub chairs and pub tables, you can give your pub or bar interior a livelier, more eclectic appearance. You don’t need to go for a complete overhaul - but a mixture of traditional furniture and newer pieces will help create a more youth-friendly “vibe”. Tables such as Trent Furniture’s Shaker table in a light oak finish will add a touch of cool, while Trent Furniture’s Tall Dakota chrome bar stool will introduce shine and clean lines.
Your drinks offering, meanwhile, could be extended to include not just alcohol-free and low-alcohol beers, but low-low-alcohol ciders, too (one of the most popular is from Stowford Press). And there is plenty of fun to be had with alcohol-free cocktails. Many pubs and bars now offer tea and coffee, with an espresso machine behind the bar. And the trend for pubs to offer activities and experiences seems to be here to stay.
So perhaps there is life yet in that grand old British institution, the pub. It has had to adapt in the past in order to survive, and now it will need to adapt again to cater to the tastes and habits of the sensible, clean-living younger generation.