Innis & Gunn’s founder is urging drinkers to buy home-grown lager after it was revealed his was the only Scottish-brewed premium lager in the country’s top ten.
Dougal Sharp outside Innis & Gunn’s Glasgow brewery taproom. Photograph: Mark F Gibson/Gibson Digital
Dougal Sharp, who founded his business in 2003 and who has worked in the industry since 1987, believes much of the allure of some of the continental lagers within the rest of the list can be attributed to “pure marketing waffle”.
“What this current wave of Spanish, Italian, and other continental beer drinking does show me is that people are ready to drink better, premium lagers, moving away from the bland, gassy mega-lagers of the past, and that is good,” said Dougal.
“People seem to be drawn in by the marketing mirage of foreign beer. But the good news is that there are superb premium lagers brewed right here.”
Home-grown lagers contribute to local agriculture and the rural economy, and to jobs and communities in the process. And they require far fewer road miles, so less carbon. That is, of course, if they actually come from mainland Europe in the first place and are not brewed under licence here.
Having already been listed as one of the top five premium lager brands in the Scottish on-trade sector (according to CGA), Innis & Gunn’s is now ranked as the number six premium lager brand in the off-trade in the latest Nielsen Data, making it the only home-grown premium lager in Scotland’s top ten.
Hailed as being, ‘crisp and zesty’, the growth of Innis & Gunn’s lager, from launch to more than 340 stores since March, helped Innis & Gunn towards a 5.8% growth in total lager sales in the last year.
“We believe in our lager — there’s nothing else like it — so it’s amazing when that’s vindicated,” said Dougal.
“Launching our bottled lager in supermarkets this year was a crucial milestone, and we are incredibly proud that more people than ever before are choosing our zesty and aromatic lager. Ultimately, we want to be Scotland’s favourite premium lager. This is another step towards that goal.”
The Lager Beer recently won gold at the World Beer Awards. Scooping the top prize in both the country and taste categories, Innis & Gunn was the only Scots beer producer to win the top prize, beating big names from home and abroad. Hawkstone Lager, launched by Jeremy Clarkson, won best lager in England, and overall gold, at the same awards.
Dougal said: “It is great to see Jeremy Clarkson fighting the same fight with Hawkstone Lager in England. He is growing the barley, brewing the beer, and showing the huge difficulties experienced by our farmers across the UK. I am glad he is getting behind farming because it’s important to us all.
“We buy all of our malting barley from British farmers, and we are a major supporter of the Royal Highland & Agricultural Society of Scotland, through events like the Royal Highland Show, Scotland’s biggest outdoor event.
“It’s no surprise that when you pay that much attention to what goes into your beer, it wins prizes. Home-grown lager is a movement worth getting behind.”
