The lite touch

The Morning Advertiser reports that, in response to the duty cut on beers of 2.8% and below from 1 October, local brewer J. W. Lees are launching two new 2.8% keg beers, a lager called Golden Lite and a smooth beer called Greengate Lite. This reflects what I have said before, that insofar as this measure has any effect, it will be in the keg and canned beer sectors. The weaker a cask beer is, the shorter its shelf life once the cask is broached, and I simply can’t see 2.8% real ales having sufficient turnover. So much for the “People’s Pint”.

And I expect the big boys are waiting in the wings with the likes of Carling Lite and John Smith’s Extra Lite which, if the category takes off at all, will come to dominate it.