New guest beer provisions come into effect in Scotland from today and SIBA has developed a new portal to give licensees an idea of what’s available.
The Guest Beer Agreement is a new development in Scotland that permits tied pub tenants to request an agreement from their pub company. This allows them to sell at least one guest beer in any format — cask, keg, bottles and cans — at the price of the tenant’s choosing and change this as frequently as they wish.
“We often hear from pub-goers that they want the chance to enjoy a local beer, but pub landlords can’t necessarily provide what their customers want,” said Jamie Delap, SIBA’s regional director for Scotland.
“Under this Guest Beer Agreement, pub tenants will be permitted to choose at least one guest beer, and Scotland’s small breweries stand ready to assist them. This could be great news for beer drinkers, small brewers, and pub tenants across Scotland.”
A key condition stated in the Pubs Code is that the annual production of the beer brand chosen must not be more than 5,000 hectolitres, which is about 880,000 pints. Tenants can check for free that their chosen beer brands meet the criteria by registering and logging onto guestbeer.co.uk.
The Guest Beer Agreement is part of Scotland’s new Pubs Code and applies to all pub operating businesses. It comes into force today.
“The Guest Beer Agreement is a first for the UK and allows pub tenants in Scotland to serve at least one guest beer as long as the brand meets the stated production criteria,” said SIBA chief executive Andy Slee.
“While the vast majority of beer from the UK’s small independent breweries already meets this requirement, SIBA has created this free to use portal so that pub tenants can have confidence in the beers they select.
“Whilst most attention will inevitably be on Scottish brewers, this scheme is open to brewers from across the UK with brands that are no more than 5,000 hectolitres of production who are welcome to add their beers to the portal for free. We hope this portal will help to make the new guest beer provisions in Scotland a success.”
