Beer gut-ted: As many as '70 million pints' spoiled during coronavirus pandemic must be destroyed in Britain
- Reference: 1589616185
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/05/16/70m_pints_of_british_beer/
- Source link:
On Friday, the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) let it be known that as many as 70 million pints of British beer [1]will have to be destroyed due to the outbreak.
Normally, British wallop is subjected to an oral disposal process, and gets broken down into its constituent parts and redistributed, albeit in different forms. Though it's a taxing job, Britons have shown they're up for the challenge.
But given the gap between the UK government ordered shutdown on March 19 and July 4, the earliest projected date Brit pubs may be allowed to reopen, the BBPA says much of the nation's stored beer will spoil.
"It’s a great shame that so much great British beer that should have been enjoyed in community pubs up and down the country has gone to waste," said Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the BBPA, in a statement. "People won’t have a chance to drink it as it will go off before pubs can re-open."
Internet use up 40 per cent in San Francisco Bay Area – but you know what’s even higher? Yep, alcohol, weed use [2]READ MORE
McClarkin urged the government to provide more support for brewers and pubs in the form of business grants, more lenient loan eligibility, and deferment of beer duty.
The BBPA said brewers have tried to make use of unsalable beer by offering it as feed for animals and for anaerobic digesters to create organic fertilizer.
And that's a shame because the COVID-19 bio-nasty has only [3]increased interest in alcohol consumption among those who partake.
We're told by Blind – developers of an anonymous discussion app for tech industry workers, and a provider of unverifiable data from "3.5M+ verified professionals" – that 32.6 per cent of people drink alcohol while working from home.
Those figures are higher, allegedly, at certain companies: among workers at e-cig maker Juul, 47 per cent of Blind survey respondents drink alcohol while working from home. Among Lyft corporate workers (not drivers, though they probably aren't driving much at this point), 50 per cent imbibe.
That's based on 2,000 responses gathered between May 13 and May 15. But it's not particularly surprising given that work-related activities at home can occur at any hour. Answering an email after an evening's pint or glass of wine isn't all that odd.
If only there were a way to match this demand for alcohol with the oversupply of beer. Oh, right, it's called a pub.
Beer, it should be said, is not the only food or beverage at risk of wanton destruction. In Canada, the US, the UK, and elsewhere, dairy farmers have had to dump milk that cannot be sold before it goes bad.
In an already fragile dairy industry, we are taking another hit as COVID-19 disrupts the food chain
This week we got the call to start dumping milk because processing plants are full & there is no place for it to go due to the closure of restaurants, schools, and food services [4]pic.twitter.com/bt4lm1VYwt — Nikki Boxler (@NikkiBoxler) [5]April 5, 2020
France's answer has been to [6]relax safety rules governing the sale of raw milk. Keep your fingers crossed.
We at The Register pledge to do our part by clearing out existing beer supplies to make room for inventory that might otherwise get tossed. Someone has to step up. ®
[1] https://beerandpub.com/2020/05/15/70-million-pints-of-spoilt-beer-to-be-thrown-away-due-to-covid-19/
[2] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/01/bay_area_lockdown/
[3] https://apnews.com/c407ecb931c6c528b4cceb0ecc216f0c
[4] https://t.co/bt4lm1VYwt
[5] https://twitter.com/NikkiBoxler/status/1246843933587656711?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] https://www.fr24news.com/a/2020/04/france-authorizes-changes-to-raw-milk-regulations-due-to-coronavirus.html
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As per the title ;)
K'in eejets.
Just distil the lot into hand cleaner or tax free gin as I like to call it.
Re: K'in eejets.
I don't think most beers brewed for consumption are strong enough to practically distill (I believe you want to start around the 10% by volume range). Plus, some of the nastiness may have a lower boiling point than alcohol, meaning it would pass distillation and foul the result. Most distilled drinks don't come from products already meant to be drunk but rather were a way to make use of otherwise-subpar brews/wines.
Re: K'in eejets.
>>>Most distilled drinks don't come from products already meant to be drunk but rather were a way to make use of otherwise-subpar brews/wines.
Agreed. Calvados is a good example. Cider is swill.
Wash for whisky is in the 5-10% range. It is a lot like beer. At least in the fermentation process.
Re: K'in eejets.
And most beer I'm familiar with is less than that. 5% is on the strong side for a beer (most I know are in the 2-3% range), stronger and you're going into malt liquor territory where it's less drunk for taste than to just get drunk.
Re: K'in eejets.
I don't think "Malt Liquor" is a thing in the UK. Most beer here starts at about 4% and then heads upwards. Only specialist "low alcohol" stuff is less than 3. I can't remember the time I saw a beer that was less than 4% on a beer tap, and with the surge in popularity of craft brews there's an awful lot of 5.5 and 6% stuff about these days.
Re: K'in eejets.
Micro breweries have definitely helped push the trend for stronger beer. In the US you're hard pressed to find any under the 6% mark. Many are ~8%.
It's probably not actually "bad".
Chances are good that it's still quite drinkable, but the flavo(u)r doesn't age all that well[0]. There certainly shouldn't be any health issues ... part of the reason humans started fermenting plant sugars in the first place was to preserve them.
They should re-label it to reflect this and sell it at a small markup over cost ... I'll bet you a dollar that pints of John Smith's or the Broon that are several months past their sell by date, but labeled as such and priced at, say, 50% of a newer pint, would absolutely fly off the shelves.
Your Government could do it's part by changing applicable laws to allow it, and waiving taxes on the older beer, thus helping to stimulate the economy. Talk about patriotic! Drink old ale for England!
[0] This can be fixed with a simple recipe change. Barleywines (for example) can often be aged for years, or even decades. Many variations get much better with age. I started putting away several cases of Anchor Brewing's [1]Old Foghorn every year back in '92. The Wife and I split a bottle once in a while, the old ones are absolutely fantastic.
[1] https://www.anchorbrewing.com/beer/old_foghorn
Re: It's probably not actually "bad".
There is an off-licence near me that sells mostly out of date beer, occasionally several years past "best before". It's fine, usually.
Though I expect the stuff in cans and bottles keeps a lot better than in a keg.
Re: It's probably not actually "bad".
There is an off-licence near me that sells mostly out of date beer
There is a pub near me that sells nearly out of date beer. It's called 'Spoons
Re: It's probably not actually "bad".
Beer keeps for a very long time as long as its sealed. It does age. Which in wine is considered a good thing, in beer, not so much. That's a fashion thing. The USA,ians seem to have developed an obsession about freshness with beer. Slapping born on dates as well as the more usual use by dates and other marketing gimmicks on their beverage containers. I can't help thinking this has more to do with trying to conjurer up a analog of built in obsolesces than any reasons that might improve the lot of their customers.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Mines the one with bottles of homebrew in the pockets...
Re: It's probably not actually "bad".
It doesn't age well if it's kept in glass, as beer will react to light and start to "skunk." Dark glass slows the process but doesn't fully block it. Plus it depends on the beer, as ale doesn't have to be kept as cold as lager.
"McClarkin urged the government to provide more support for brewers and pubs in the form of (...) deferment of beer duty"
But, but, that's just the reason it's going bad -- if only we'd all done our beer duty, there would no beer left!
I wonder
The consequences of putting so much unprocessed beer into the environment, can we expect kaylied cod and pissed prawns around Britains sewerage outlets?
Re: I wonder
There are procedures you have to follow to get the tax back on the out of date beer. Presumably the government thought about environmental considerations when writing those rules.
Re: I wonder
kaylied cod and pissed prawns
Mmmmmm, beer battered prawns.
Unfortunately, getting pissed then battered does sound more like a Friday night out in Glasgow than the makings of a culinary delight...
'Spoons
Standard procedure for disposal of stale beer.
Note
The pub opening date will apply to England only as the Devolve Nations are doing our own thing since we value health and wellbeing over big bucks unlike Boris' England only rules.
So I will continue to source my beer from Aldi on my weekly shopping expeditions. I buy English beer (Wychwood) and Scottish beer (Harviestoun). I buy good beer regardless of where it's from.
The dangers of no stock rotation
Of course what the BBPA should be doing is taking a leaf out of the government's book and continually changing the guidelines so the beer is still officially considered as meeting the quality threshold.
Milk consumption?
"This week we got the call to start dumping milk because processing plants are full & there is no place for it to go due to the closure of restaurants, schools, and food services"
Many countries, including UK, have for a long time had an overproduction of milk. I'd really like to know how exactly the UK consumers have changed their habits.
My kids consume probably just as much milk during lunch time at home than they did at school, and it's probably the same everywhere. Our household dairy consumption hasn't been affected at all, I'd say.
Restaurants? Whenever I dine out, my choice of beverage is beer, wine or water.
Re: Milk consumption?
I'd really like to know how exactly the UK consumers have changed their habits.
Food poverty is the answer.
[1]Exclusive: almost a fifth of UK homes with children go hungry in lockdown
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/03/exclusive-fifth-of-uk-homes-children-hungry-lockdown
Pub near me was selling all tap beers at £1 a pint, bring your own container, £2 for a 5 litre container. I think they managed to shift it all and it was quite funny to see loads of people with milk cartons and other assorted containers queuing round the block.
This seems the most sensible solution. Surely it helps everyone if Pubs can do this with their fresh stock?
i need to get out more
Strange no-one mentions the occasions when he has been served a "bad pint". In fact its ages since I heard the expression. Must be something to do with publicans springing for refrigeration in recent decades. Or punters having got used to craft beers tasting like ditch water.
To put it another way, I very much doubt all the beer reckoned to have gone off will go down the drain.....
"32.6 per cent of people drink alcohol while working from home."
And the bulk of the other 67.4% are liars.