County beer’s price is up as alcohol content falls (From York Press)

County beer’s price is up as alcohol content falls

10:45am Wednesday 16th January 2013 in News

THE alcohol content of one of Britain’s best known beers – which was founded in North Yorkshire – is to be reduced next month as the price of a pint increases.

The alcohol-by-volume (ABV) content of John Smith’s Extra Smooth will be lowered from 3.8 per cent to 3.6 per cent.

Dutch brewer Heineken, which owns the brand, will bring the reduction into effect from February 4, along with a price increase of about 2.5p a pint.

John Smith’s was founded in Tadcaster and the majority of its beer is still brewed in the town.

The ABV reduction will result in duty savings for Heineken which it said would largely be passed on to its trade customers.

A spokesman for the firm said: “We can confirm that we are in the process of advising customers about the decision to lower the alcohol-by-volume content of John Smith’s Extra Smooth from 3.8 per cent to 3.6 per cent on all draught and canned product delivered from February 2013.

“The move to 3.6 per cent ABV is designed to bring John Smith’s Extra Smooth in line with competitor smooth ales that already sit at or below this alcoholic strength. We will pass on a proportion of the duty savings to our trade customers, while reinvesting some cost savings in the brewing and marketing of our leading ale brand.

“Extensive research conducted with John Smith’s retailers and consumers consistently confirmed that a 0.2 per cent reduction in ABV does not compromise on the taste and quality that has made the brand the UK’s most popular ale, and we are confident that John Smith’s Extra Smooth will continue to lead the ale category going forward.

“Along with many UK brewers, we will be increasing the wholesale list price of our beers from next month to reflect increases in raw materials and production costs.”