Dare to go low (From York Press)

Dare to go low

12:20pm Saturday 4th February 2012 in Pints of View

Paul Marshall pulls a pint of Great Heck Light Ale at the Waggon & Horses

GAVIN AITCHISON tries some low-alcohol ale and is pleasantly surprised

I WAS sitting in The Phoenix last Saturday, flicking through a newspaper on the bar, when my eye was drawn to an interesting little article.

It was a report on the rise and rise of low-alcohol beers, which are currently enjoying record sales and which, over the past few months, have thrown off their rather iffy image of old.

The catalyst for the revolution is no mystery. The introduction of staggered beer duty rates last autumn has meant breweries pay more tax on drinks with an ABV of 7.5 per cent or above, but less on anything at 2.8 per cent or below. On October 1, weaker beer became less expensive overnight and brewers – always keen to save a few quid and test their skills – have been experimenting.

As chance would have it, just a few days before heading to The Phoenix, I sampled one of these gentler ales myself for the first time, round the corner at The Waggon and Horses in Lawrence Street.

The imaginatively-named Light Ale, from Great Heck Brewery near Selby, immediately stood out for its price; at £2.40 a pint, it was notably cheaper than the other ales on offer. But equally distinctive was its ABV of just 2.8 per cent – considerably lower than anything else alcoholic on the bar.

If I’m honest, I ordered it out of curiosity rather than confidence. For a long time, low-alcohol beers have had a reputation for being pretty insipid and unimpressive, a paltry sop to those with work to do, but rarely much fun.

Not any more though. The Light Ale was bursting with flavour, packed full of hops to give it a real oomph. Had I not known the ABV, I’d never have guessed it to be as low as it was. Indeed, a friend who tried it without knowing thought he was the victim of a wind-up.

Great Heck’s is the only one of the new lightweights I’ve tried so far, but there are plenty of others out there to be sampled too.

I’m told the Artful Dodger on Micklegate recently had January’Sale by Wychwood, also 2.8 per cent, and a few weeks ago, the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group worked its way through 19 equally light beers from around the country, and came away raving. Group secretary Robert Humphreys said the politicians were “amazed and greatly impressed” by the variety and character on offer.

Only time will tell whether such enthusiasm lasts, but good-quality low-level beers certainly give a new dimension for landlords, allowing them to appeal to customers keen to restrict their alcohol intake, without forcing them to compromise on taste. It worked for me at the Waggon, when I was being cautious ahead of a 5.30am start the next day, and there’s no reason it won’t work for others too.

Camra say half of all pub-goers have suggested they’d welcome such beers becoming more widely available, and are full of praise for those who have embraced the new tax levels so skilfully. Here’s hoping more breweries and landlords will now emulate those who have led the way.

• I FOUND myself back on an old stomping ground the other day: The Flag and Whistle in Huntington.

It’s just undergone an impressive £100,000 refurbishment and although not spectacular enough to justify a long trek if you live across town, it’s a busy and lively local, of the sort that many communities would kill for.

A few years ago, friends and I sometimes drank here after playing football on the all-weather pitches nearby and, knowing it was a fairly modern pub, we always assumed the name to be a footballing one, reflecting the referee and linesman’s kit. It was some time before a local pointed out the real reason – namely that it is on the site of an old station.

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