Carling lager weaker than advertised

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ajthemackem said:
Point being that if Carling was advertised at 3.7%, custom would be lost. And you being a case in point makes me think that it's a bit of careful wordplay from the company. ;)
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They said, amazingly, that they didn't change the branding as the wholesalers would want a slice of the money they'd saved in ingredients and taxes.

Bloody right they would too.

AlpineExile said:
Let's quote the full sentence shall we:

<< Molson Coors said beer was allowed to have a natural variation of 0.5%, and said customers had not been misled. >>

But this was not a natural variation - as you might get with a real ale - now was it dear Messrs Molson and Cours?
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That's exactly it. Mainstream lager is practically a sterile as fuck chemical process measured down to the gram.

There's literally no variance between batches. Everything is utterly controlled. It's not a craft.

They're simply utilising the leeway they've been given, to utterly deceive their customers. Customers who should now dump them and try something new.
 
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Discopants91 said:
Didn't know this 0.5% leeway existed like.

Explains why some beers of the same abv get you way more blattered.
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Nah. Very little that you drink in a normal bar will have more than 0.1% variance.

The 0.5% is for small volume brewers who don't have lab level control over every little thing.

Slow joe said:
They're not because the tax is up to 5%. You can go 0.5% either way.
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Nah, the tax is down to the last drip of actual alcohol.

People see examples in the press, which can give the impression that it's done by a whole percentage point. But it's not. That why everyone is chipping away at it
 
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So they're not ripping off HMRC because they're legally permitted to drop the alcohol level by 0.5%, but have been deliberately producing it at that lower level for donkeys, but maintaining the higher sale price (which must factor in the expected higher tax on 4% ABV) so they're ripping off the rest of the entire supply chain, mainly those who drink it.

Or a meringue?
 
Vinny the Mackem said:
So they're not ripping off HMRC because they're legally permitted to drop the alcohol level by 0.5%, but have been deliberately producing it at that lower level for donkeys, but maintaining the higher sale price (which must factor in the expected higher tax on 4% ABV) so they're ripping off the rest of the entire supply chain, mainly those who drink it.

Or a meringue?
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That's exactly what they're doing.

Saving money on ingredients, time and tax. And not passing a penny of that saving on.
 
Le Chuck said:
a - the article says otherwisw
b - why has stella dropped from 5 to 4.8
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A) I fill in our tax duty form and write the cheques.
B) I don't work for Stella but I'd guess it's to save on tax, 5% or more is more expensive than 4.8. For our 9gallon casks we pay £9.64 tax for 3.8-4.3% ales.

PTR said:
That's exactly what they're doing.

Saving money on ingredients, time and tax. And not passing a penny of that saving on.
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Sorry but that's all wrong. They'd pay the same tax on 3.7 than they would on 4, plus no money will be saved at all on time, ingredients yes but barely noticeable.
 
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Frijj said:
4.0% on the labels, 3.7% in reality.

They're allowed a 0.5 PP variation though so not illegal...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41059610
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Is this not against the trade descriptions act and misleading the buyer
0.5% is 12.5% variation of the stated value if my maths is right
What if oil companies and milk suppliers all started doing it
Government needs to force them to say it's an approx figure and could vary by the range stated
People,can then make an informed choice
We are paying the taxes on the 4% so,why aren't the company on the average value

PTR said:
They said, amazingly, that they didn't change the branding as the wholesalers would want a slice of the money they'd saved in ingredients and taxes.

Bloody right they would too.


That's exactly it. Mainstream lager is practically a sterile as fuck chemical process measured down to the gram.

There's literally no variance between batches. Everything is utterly controlled. It's not a craft.

They're simply utilising the leeway they've been given, to utterly deceive their customers. Customers who should now dump them and try something new.
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Is this carlings ratner moment
I hope so
Its fraud in any other,line of business
 
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Slow joe said:
A) I fill in our tax duty form and write the cheques.
B) I don't work for Stella but I'd guess it's to save on tax, 5% or more is more expensive than 4.8. For our 9gallon casks we pay £9.64 tax for 3.8-4.3% ales.


Sorry but that's all wrong. They'd pay the same tax on 3.7 than they would on 4, plus no money will be saved at all on time, ingredients yes but barely noticeable.
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From what I've checked before, and from the evidence that everyone is downgrading to save on tax, this doesn't seem to be correct.

Also, from a quick Google
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...tor-tax-pay-beer-wine-cigarettes-spirits.html

They give examples as follows
"Duty on 4% beer was cut .9p to 44.4p a pint and on 4.2% by 1p to 45.6p a pint."

Clearly says there's a difference in tax for each fractional difference in strength.


Also, weaker beer will ferment out, and condition faster, and the savings on malt will be substantial.
 
TDalt said:
If you want a really bad lager, try tuborg. Good god that is horrible. In fact good idea for a thread.
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I guess it depends where the Tuborg is brewed. I like the Tuborg that is brewed in Switzerland. It's made in the same brewery that makes Swiss Carlsberg - and is cheaper - but I much prefer it.
 
Ok, found the official government website, you pay tax to 4 decimal places on the strength!

Step Action
1 Total the quantity of beer expressed to 4 decimal places at each particular strength, which has passed the duty point in the accounting period.
2 Where necessary, convert the quantity to litres.
3 Divide litres by 100 to convert to hectolitres (hl), expressed to 2 decimal places.
4 Multiply the result by the strength of the beer to convert to hectolitre percent (hl%), expressed to 2 decimal places.
5 Add together all the hl% totals for the beers of different strengths.
6 Multiply the total hl% by the applicable duty rate to find the duty figure.


https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ty/excise-notice-226-beer-duty--2#calc-of-abv

Section 7.7

@Slow joe
 
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