Lower strength drinks heralded as Stella Artois, Becks and Budweiser switch to 4.8% & 'mid-strength' 2.8% Guinness announced

Brewing giants AB InBev will reduce the strength of popular lagers in the UK from the end of this month to keep line with "evolving UK category trends". The world's largest brewer will reduce the % Alcohol By Volume (ABV) of Stella Artois, Budweiser and Becks from 5% ABV to 4.8% ABV. See Daily Mail report.

The move will reportedly save AB inBev up to £8.6 million a year in duty on off-trade sales alone, but follows an £11.6 million decline in Stella Artois sales. Sales of 'triple filtered' 4% ABV Stella have also suffered after an initial good start. The news comes after the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group recently enjoyed a tasting session of lower strength drinks. But brewers have been suffering from the effects of rising costs, with off-trade beer sales reportedly plummeting faster than on-trade sales for the first time in 15 years.

Daigeo has also just announced a 2.8% mid-strength Guinness to be released for the off-trade. By dropping from the standard 4.1%, the new line will take advantage of the 50% duty discount on beers with an abv of 2.8% or below, introduced in October last year. High-strength beers of 7.5% abv and above must now pay an additional 25% tax. Under the Responsibility Deal, Heineken is expected to reduce the alcohol content of Strongbow by 1% (currently 5.3%) by 2013.

Whether or not such changes in the strength of drinks can have significant impacts on public health, the structure of taxation and pricing levers will remain central to alcohol policy debates. Recently the IFS called for taxation over minimum pricing approaches, and "to tax all alcohols at an equivalent rate per unit" which "would require policy action at the EU level which the Government should pursue."

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) however have continued to speak out against the the alcohol duty escalator after the 2011 budget confirmed the Government would continue with alcohol taxed at 2% above the rate of inflation (RPI). The BBPA highlight duty on beer has increased by 60% since 1995, compared with a 15% increase in duty on spirits, and instead call for a tax system which encourages consumption of lower strength drinks in pubs as supervised environments.