Mediterranean-style lager is one of the ‘biggest opportunities’
The trend for “Mediterranean-style lager is reshaping the UK beer picture” and is sating British drinkers’ thirst for crisp summertime beers. Jessica Mason reports.
The latest claim comes amid the launch of Firebrand’s newest beer release, a 4.8% ABV gluten-free Mediterranean-style lager named Rising Tide, which, according to its early stockists, has already “gone down brilliantly” with customers.
Speaking to the drinks business, Firebrand Brewing Co head brewer and co-owner Joe Thompson said: “The growth of Mediterranean-style lager is reshaping the UK beer picture in terms of what drinkers want from their pint.”
The assertion from Firebrand has followed a similar claim made as early as 2023 by the beer writer Pete Brown when he initially said: “If we look at premium lager, it’s now 111% of the volume that it was in 2019. This is ‘the Madri effect’ which opened up a new category called ‘Mediterranean lager’.”
‘This shift is translating into beer volumes’
Echoing this still today, Thompson told db that, as a beer style “world lager is now a huge player, with two of the top three on-trade brands being Mediterranean in style, which is a real eye-opener in terms of how this shift is translating into beer volumes”.
As such, Rising Tide, which is brewed using Spalter Select hops and made in Launceston in North Cornwall, has become a permanent addition to Firebrand’s core range. It has, according to Thompson, been “designed to meet growing consumer demand for premium, independent Pilsner-style beers in pubs, bars and venues across the UK”.
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‘Our version’
Thompson revealed that he also knows that “more and more consumers are looking for something that goes deeper than just flavour profile” and, because of this, his brewery is “tapping into all of that by brewing our version of a Mediterranean-style Pilsner, but with Cornish identity at its heart”.
Richard Ashton, co-owner of The St Mabyn Inn, Cornwall, said: “Rising Tide has gone down brilliantly with our customers already. It’s an easy drinking, refreshing lager, which is exactly what people are looking for right now.”
Refreshment that reminds of coastal scenes and sunny days
Thompson explained: “Drinkers want well-made, great tasting beer from producers with a genuine provenance and passion for their craft. Firebrand, being an independent brewery on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, is pretty far from the Mediterranean, but we share a coastal lifestyle and temperate climate and we want consumers to sit back on a sunny day with a refreshing pint of Rising Tide and almost feel like they’re in the Med ..almost.”
Thompson added that the beer style was “premium, yet approachable” and described this style of beer to be “one of the biggest opportunities in the market”.
Rising Tide is now rolling out across venues and is available in 30 litre and 50 litre kegs.
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