From big, beasty high ABV beers to ‘better for you’ brews, Michael Donaldson finds the two trends are both on the rise…

Bald statistics never tell a full story, but the pattern of beer consumption over the past 16 years as laid out recently by Statistics New Zealand does give us an outline as to how we approach beer these days.

Earlier this year, in releasing the data on “alcohol available for consumption” to the end of 2021, Stats NZ made these points:

·       The volume of low-alcohol beer (below 2.5% ABV) rose for the first time in five years.

·       The volume of beer with more than 5% alcohol rose for the eighth year in a row to reach 47 million litres, over five times the volume of 2010.

It’s also worth noting that the total litres of beer consumed in 2021 – 292 million litres (or roughly 687 million pints*) – stayed basically the same as the previous year, which was up slightly on 2019. And in that mix of numbers, beer with an ABV of 2.5%-4.35% fell 16%, which broadly represents “mainstream” beer that you’d normally buy in pubs up and down the country – pubs that were empty, or restricted, for much of 2021.

So yes, there was a bit if shuffling around of consumption patterns, but largely consumers moved in two directions: to lower alcohol and to higher alcohol, leaving a hole in the middle that represents how we used to drink. You could call this a “pandemic curve”, but that’s not the full story. The full story is that these patterns have been in place for years, accelerating in the past seven or eight years, roughly corresponding with the craft beer boom.

There are plenty of factors at play, but those NZ Draught styles that dominated our pubs for decades are going out of favour for more premium products, such as craft offerings from the likes of Emerson’s, Panhead and Tuatara, which are now available in pubs that used to serve largely Lion Red or DB Draught (to generalise).

And our desire for a bit more alcohol in our beer is a trend that doesn’t seem like slowing down. As craft takes a larger share of the market, those 5-6% pale ales, bigger hazy IPAs and imperial stouts will start making up a bigger chunk of that over-5% beer consumed. Effectively, I think we’re shifting our consumption to better quality at one end and better-for-you at the other end.

Creative packaging like Urbanaut’s big beer, small can series, where they package double digit ABV beer in 250ml cans, speaks to our desire for higher ABV “experiences” but without the headache. Or take Liberty Brewing’s cult Prohibition Porter (12% ABV) which comes in a 330ml bottle, or three standard drinks. A few years ago that would have been a 500ml offering or 4.7 standard drinks.

Higher alcohol does a number of things that enhance the drinking experience. It improves mouthfeel, creating a slick, rich texture; it helps carry flavour; it creates a gentle, warming heat; it can be perceived as bringing a sweet taste (but that depends on your personal set of tastebuds); and technically, yeast doesn’t work quite so well with higher ABV beers, leaving some residual sugar which is a good offset to bitterness and why big, hoppy beers can taste so balanced.

Some of my favourite examples of higher ABV, but beautifully balanced beers, include Urbanaut’s Copacabana Brut IPA (7.1%), Epic Hop Zombie (8.5%), Renaissance Stonecutter Scotch Ale (7%), McLeod’s Belgian Tripel (8.6%), 8 Wired iStout (10%) and practically any hazy IPA from Garage Project. 

*A “pint” in a pub is typically 425ml, the discussion on a “real pint” can wait another day.

Michael Donaldson is a Beer Writer of the Year, journalist and author

beernation.co.nz