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Carling LOSES crown as Britain’s best-selling draught beer as sales of rival lager soar
Last year's top ten lagers have been revealed by industry experts
ITALIAN-style Birra Moretti is shifting more pints than Carling to become Britain’s best-selling draught beer.
Punters splashed out £246.7million on Moretti in the last quarter — pumping up sales 9.6 per cent compared with the same three-month period last year.
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Owners Heineken, which snapped up the Italian firm in 1996, put the increase down to pubgoers opting for more premium pints despite an overall dip in beer drinking.
It was also boosted by a multimillion-pound, nationwide marketing campaign for the launch of unfiltered Birra Moretti Sale Di Mare.
Heineken’s Veronica Sica said Brits are loving Mediterranean-themed lagers, showing “the increased importance of great quality experiences and a willingness to pay more for them”.
Moretti is brewed in Manchester while Coors-owned Carling is brewed in Burton upon Trent, Staffs.
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The American giant also makes Madrí Excepcional — marketed as Madrid’s Modern Lager despite being brewed in Yorkshire.
Data firm NIQ said its sales hit £93.3million last year.
And Cruzcampo, Birrificio Angelo Poretti, Peroni and San Miguel have all also done well.
Industry analysts CGA says last year’s top ten lagers also included Foster’s, Stella Artois and Tennent’s.
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How to save money on beer
Happy hours are still big business, but signing up to certain apps can be the key to freebies.
The Young's On Tap app offers treats and rewards, including discounts, directly to your mobile phone.
Boost to pubs as Labour promises new powers to protect closure-threatened boozers — and hints beer duty will be frozen
Ember Inns and Greene King offer similar deals through their apps.
Every year, Wetherspoons slashes the price of food and drink at all of its pubs across the UK for one day only.
The popular pub chain gives customers a 7.5% discount to mark Tax Equality Day.
This year, it will fall on Thursday, September 12.
If you are a bottled beer fan, you will usually save a few pennies by switching to tap. But have you thought about buying your own mini kegs for home?
Tesco sells a give-litre keg of Adnams Bitter for £17.50, which works out at £3.50 a litre.
Buy the same beer bottled and you will spend £4.20 a litre.
Sign up to be a member of the Campaign For Real Ale — Camra — and get some serious perks.
For £30 a year, members are given a wide range of deals, including discounts at over 3,300 pubs nationwide.
Find out if your local is part of the scheme at camra.org.uk/discountscheme.
You could save by choosing pubs that sell their own-brewed pale ales.
They will sell at a cheaper price per pint than those from an external brewery, according to The Good Pub Guide.
You could also opt for beers with lower alcohol content, as these tend to be cheaper — great if you just really like the taste of beer.
Meanwhile, Heineken announced plans to invest £39million to help reopen 62 previously shuttered British pubs.
It will also invest hundreds of thousands of pounds to renovate 94 of its current watering holes.
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By the end of the year, Heineken aims to have reopened 156 such pubs since the start of 2023, reducing the number of closed pubs in its estate to pre-pandemic levels.
Meanwhile, we tested the best Spanish larger in UK supermarkets - and the delicious winner was from budget store Iceland.
HEINEKEN'S UK HISTORY
HEINEKEN N.V. is a Dutch multinational brewing company, founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam.
The beer giant's operations in the UK date back to 1864 when it first started exporting beer to the UK market.
It wasn't until the late 2000s that Heineken expanded its British presence to a whole new level when it acquired Scottish and Newcastle (S&N).
The British brewer, which owned big-name brands including Strongbow, Bullmers, John Smith's and Newcastle Brown Ale, was snapped up by Heineken in 2008.
The acquisition also saw thousands of S&N's pubs transfer ownership, and Heineken soon rebranded them as Star Pubs & Bars.
As of 2024, Heineken runs over 2,400 of these sites.
The beer giant also produced over 300 brands and 165 breweries worldwide.
Big-name brands produced by Heineken also include:
- Amstel
- Moretti
- Tiger
- Desperados
- Red Stripe
- Kingfisher
- Old Mout Cider
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