Drinkflation: why British booze is getting weaker

Published 29 July 2026 · general

Name: Drinkflation. Age: The current round started in 2023. Appearance: To the naked eye, no appreciable change. But drinks are getting bigger? Drinks are staying

Name: Drinkflation. Age: The current round started in 2023. Appearance: To the naked eye, no appreciable change. But drinks are getting bigger? Drinks are staying the same size. Then the price of these same-sized drinks is getting higher? Prices are also staying the same. So what is happening? The drinks are getting less alcoholic. Which drinks? Specifically, beer. Even more specifically, Carling Original, which is being reduced in strength from 4.0% alcohol by volume (ABV) to 3.4%. I hadn’t noticed. You won’t have done, because the change doesn’t come into effect until October. And also because I don’t drink Carling. Or indeed beer. Good for you.

Anyway, if they’re actually reducing the alcohol, why is it called drinkflation? It’s a coinage based on shrinkflation: the practice of reducing food portion sizes – putting fewer crisps in the bag, say – while keeping prices the same. Sneaky. Are any other beer brands considering doing something similar? Lots already have: Foster’s has gone from 4.0% to 3.4% ABV over the last three years; Sol went from 4.2% to 3.4% in 2025. Carlsberg, Grolsch, John Smith’s, Coors and Amstel have also reduced their alcohol levels. Is this because drinkers prefer weaker beer? Or is it a bid to curb the nation’s alcohol consumption on the sly?

Neither. It’s a bid to save money and maximise profits. How much money can you save by reducing the level of alcohol by a few measly percentage points? A lot. But it’s not the alcohol that costs money, it’s the tax. I have no idea what you’re talking about. The move could have something to do with the changes to alcohol duty in 2023, under which packaged beer between 3.5% and 8.4% ABV attracts a levy of £22.58 per litre of pure alcohol. I don’t know what that amounts to. For a 4.0% beer it’s about 41p a pint. Whereas a 3.4% beer is subject to a duty of just £9.96 per litre of pure alcohol, or about 19p a pint.

That’s quite a difference, but what if people don’t like Carling’s new weak beer? The company claims the 3.4% version actually ranked “higher for overall taste” in consumer tests. It also laid the groundwork for the reduction by introducing a stronger and more expensive Black Label version in February, at 4.7%, creating a “value-premium price ladder” within the brand. Do say: “Alcohol duty must strike a difficult balance between raising revenue and improving health.” Don’t say: “3.4%? My urine is stronger than that.”