Earl Grey IPAs, rhubarb gins, dry hopped lagers… there’s now more genuine choice than ever before in the booze aisle. And much of the thanks for this should go to BrewDog. While it was US craft brewers that started the craft movement, BrewDog’s blather about post-modern beer and outspoken comments about AB InBev, Diageo, etc has inspired a can-do attitude among a whole new generation of craft entrepreneurs.
As we reveal in our Britain’s Biggest Alcohol Brands ranking, which BrewDog stormed into on the back of £24.3m in extra sales, its success is opening the door for dozens of similar small-scale beer, spirits and cider producers to seize shelf space once filled by big brands.
So, while BrewDog goes mainstream - adopting the tactics of the big boys, paying for ads for the first time in its 10-year history this year - multinationals such as Diageo are going craft, releasing genuinely different, exciting products (Guinness Milk Stout, anyone?) with the speed and agility of the craft players.
If you ask me, drinkers have never had it so good.
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