Mid-strength beers and wines gaining popularity among drinkers

Lighten up - that's the message Australians are sending to wine companies and brewers as consumption of lower-to-mid-strength-drinks grows.

Sales of mid-strength beer and lower-alcohol wines are growing twice as fast as all other wines and beers as consumers make healthier lifestyle choices, Nielsen data researchers report.

While low alcohol drinks have had a poor reputation for taste in the past, producers have invested in new methods and technology to create drinks with more freshness and flavour.

The results have provided the best of both worlds for consumers who want to enjoy the health and social benefits of lower alcohol drinks, without sacrificing the taste.

Total beer consumption in Australia fell more than two per cent in the 2011-12 period, and while full strength brews (above 4 per cent alcohol) dropped by the same amount and light beer (below 3 per cent alcohol) fell by 12 per cent, mid-strength (3-4 per cent alcohol) beers recorded an increase of 1.8 per cent.

The volume of beer we drank dropped because we're opting for quality over quantity and spending more on less, industry experts say.

Drinkers want mid-strength craft beers with the full flavour and pronounced malt and hop characters of more artisan craft brews but with less clout.

Life’s too short to drink light beer, says brewer Chuck Hahn, pictured above at the Malt Shovel Brewery in Sydney.

Popular sellers include Little Creatures Rogers' ale, Murray's Punch and Judy (NSW), Bruce from SA's Lobethal Bierhaus, Burleigh Brewing's Bighead and in New Zealand, McCashin's 2 Stoke.

Sydney's Malt Shovel Brewery recently launched Constable Copper Ale in the style of a British Ordinary Bitter, with just 3.4 per cent alcohol by volume.

Its brew master, Chuck Hahn, says the market for this kind of beer was destined to happen as demand for light beer dropped while craft beer and mid-strength demand lifted.

"It was a matter of time before the two merged," Hanh says.

"People like to talk and linger over a few beers,'' he says.

"There is a bigger appreciation of craft beers. People are switching to drinking two or three craft beers rather than drinking more light beer - and life's too short for light.''

Likewise, lighter alcohol strength wines, registering between five per cent and around 10 per cent by volume, rather than the more traditional 12-13 per cent for whites and 13.5 to sometimes 17 per cent for reds, are gathering pace among younger and especially women consumers.

Lower alcohol wines are still only a niche sector of the total wine market but they're growing in popularity - close to five per cent annually.

Nielsen says that growth has grown faster in the months since the latest data was taken.

Wines in this category are made mostly by larger corporates with brands including Lindeman's Early Harvest, Jacob's Creek Cool Harvest, and Miranda Summer Hues. Two New Zealand brands also have come on line - Brancott Estate Flight and Matua First Frost.

Jacob’s Creek enlisted Naomi Watts (above left) to spruik its new lower-alcohol wine range, Cool Harvest.

Artisan winemaker David Lowe also makes a low alcohol and preservative-free white, Tinja Chardonnay Verdelho, which he says is his fastest selling cellar door wine.

He is part of a new Australian Research Council project responding to climate, water, market and economic challenges in the food and wine industries, in which he is devising early harvest methods rather than machine alcohol extraction or genetically modified yeasts.

Earlier grape harvest means less baume (grape sugar level that converts to alcohol), Lowe says.

"This provides alternatives to the challenge of dining out with strong wine, the drama with drink driving, work performance and social health effects of excessive alcohol consumption," he says.

Lauren Arthur and David Danby, both hospitality venue staffers, have embraced lower alcohol offerings in their favoured drinks.

"You have to be aware of what makes a standard drink,'' Danby says.

"The risk of not knowing is not worth it, and with these lower alcohol wines you can enjoy one or two and still drive home.''

Arthur says she has several women friends who are craft beer fans. She has tried Constable Copper Ale and says she would not have known it was mid-strength, such is the "character'' in its aroma and flavour.

"It really coats your mouth and the palate is the same as a full-strength beer,'' she says.

Source: The Herald Sun, 15 October 2013