Beer seller EeBriaTrade has compiled 12 months worth of data, based on its sales, to offer insight into beer trends in 2018.
Unsurprisingly, pale ales and IPAs still remain king and even saw 5% sales growth over the past year to 60% of sales.
However, there has been a significant shift in purchasing elsewhere, showing the maturity of the market and the desire for consumers to keep up with the new and exciting beers that UK brewers are turning out.
Statistical highlights
Strength in numbers: more than 11% of total craft beer sales are of beers 7% ABV or more. This stat was a mere 5.3% of total sales this time last year, but as more and more venues begin to offer third and two-third pint measures, publicans can now afford to buy in higher-ABV beers and still retain a profitable margin. Across all styles, the overall average ABV grew to 4.91% from 4.83%.
Double your money: sales of double IPAs, coincidentally, have nearly doubled, from 4.3% to 7.3% in a 12-month period. Consumers are looking for those hard-hitting, hoppy, juicy and chewy double IPAs.
Sour patch: it’s been well documented that, as the craft beer market grows, so does the popularity of more challenging styles, and sour beer styles are at the forefront of this growth. With that in mind, EeBriaTrade saw sour beer sales almost double from 3.4% to 6.4% in just a year.
Untraditional: the term ‘craft beer’ brings connotations of innovation, modernisation and pushing boundaries when it comes to the UK beer scene and the traditional beer styles that lie within it. Notably, there has been a substantial decrease in popularity of styles that would be considered ‘traditional’ in the realms of UK beer as, over the past year, golden, brown, red and amber ales, as well as milds and bitters, have seen their sales share drop by almost half (14.2% to 7.6%).
The imperialists: there has been a steady growth of darker beers being sold by EeBriaTrade, and most notably within this style imperial stouts stand out as their sales have more than doubled from 1.2% to 3.3% of its total sales over the past year.
