A change in the sands

I was looking at the craft beer selection in the supermarket, and some guys ‘clink clink clink’ from behind stole my attention.

He was going wild, hoarding as many bottles of beer as he could in to his trolley. The bright £1 sign per bottle seemed to be his motivation. He smugly left, and I investigated.

Sam Adams Blonde Ambition. A bright ale. Upon closer inspection brewed in the UK by Shepherds Neame.

Now, are we to think some bright spark at Shepherds Neame has thought of a great way to get lager fans who have moved to craft beer across to bitter? Or is this a plan from the American brewers, who have seen the size of the bitter industry, to take a bigger slice of the pie?

Many pubs still don’t serve draft craft, but many do sell hand pulled bitter. A supermarket normally has 10x the shelf space devoted to bitter as to craft beer.

I think that we are going to see more of this crossing from craft to bitter. This can only be a good thing. As I supped the beer earlier, I thought that the bottle of Blonde Ambition had nothing to do with craft beer. No punchy flavour, nothing interesting, although very drinkable all the same. To be honest I am surprised that Sam Adams signed this off.

Over the next couple of months we’ll see more craft brewers venture to bitter, and I am sure some of it’ll push boundaries and set us up for a treat or two.