Brewery survey: how much drinkable beer is poured away?

P600 Sun 25 Oct 08:04
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Brewery survey
Good beer shouldn't go to
waste.
I'm Simon. I want to help
UK breweries sell more of
their beer and pour less
of it away. I've started
with Best Before Beer, a
weekly list of the beer
breweries are selling off
on their own shops, and I
have more ideas.
What I don't know is how
much drinkable beer gets
poured away in a normal
year, and from all my
research I can't find a
single number from anyone
who's counted it.
About 3 minutes, 13
questions, nearly all tick
boxes. Anonymous: no names
collected. Answers are
combined and never shown
singly.
Beer here means finished
beer in cans, bottles,
kegs or casks that could
have been drunk. It does
not mean spent grain,
yeast, trub, cask sediment
or beer lost during
brewing.
What is known
The UK brewed about 6.8
billion pints of beer in
2025. Nobody can say how
many of them were poured
away.
HMRC does not publish it.
WRAP, the body that made
food waste a national
issue, does not measure
it.
In about 4 months of 2020,
3 water companies gave
pubs and breweries
permission to put around
14.5 million pints into
the sewer.
Your answers
We do not store your name,
your brewery, your email
or your IP address. Each
set of answers is saved
with the date it arrived
and nothing else. We will
publish the results on
this page, with the
questions and the raw
counts.
The questions
1. How much beer did you
brew in the last 12
months?
1 hl is 100 litres. 100
cases of 12 x 440 ml is
about 5.3 hl.
2. Roughly what share went
into each format?
Leave blank if not sure.
Cask %
Keg %
Can %
Bottle %
3. In the last 12 months,
did you pour away, destroy
or dispose of drinkable
beer because it was near
or past its date, or could
not be sold?
If never, go to question
8.
4. Roughly how much in
total?
Pick a unit and give a
number, or a share of what
you packaged below.
Number
Or as a share of what you
packaged:
5. Which formats were most
affected?
Up to 2.
And which styles? Up to 2.
6. Main reasons?
Up to 3.
7. How did you dispose of
it?
Tick all that apply.
8. When beer comes back
from customers, who
usually bears the cost?
9. Have you claimed duty
relief on spoilt or
returned beer, or
Alcoholic Ingredients
Relief, in the last 3
years?
If spoilt beer: has HMRC
accepted out of date but
drinkable beer?
10. What do you do with
short dated or surplus
beer now?
Tick all that apply.
And the most common?
11. What did lost beer
cost you last year,
counting beer, packaging
and unrecovered duty?
12. If a service sold your
surplus or short dated
beer straight to drinkers,
clearly labelled, would
you use it?
If yes or maybe, what
would you need? Tick all
that apply.
13. Anything else?
No names or contact
details, please.
Thank you. Simon
[email protected]
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Brewery survey
Good beer shouldn't go to waste.
I'm Simon. I want to help UK breweries sell more of their beer
and pour less of it away. I've started with Best Before Beer,
a weekly list of the beer breweries are selling off on their
own shops, and I have more ideas.
What I don't know is how much drinkable beer gets poured away
in a normal year, and from all my research I can't find a
single number from anyone who's counted it.
About 3 minutes, 13 questions, nearly all tick boxes.
Anonymous: no names collected. Answers are combined and never
shown singly.
Beer here means finished beer in cans, bottles, kegs or casks
that could have been drunk. It does not mean spent grain,
yeast, trub, cask sediment or beer lost during brewing.
What is known
The UK brewed about 6.8 billion pints of beer in 2025. Nobody
can say how many of them were poured away.
HMRC does not publish it. WRAP, the body that made food waste
a national issue, does not measure it.
In about 4 months of 2020, 3 water companies gave pubs and
breweries permission to put around 14.5 million pints into the
sewer.
Your answers
We do not store your name, your brewery, your email or your IP
address. Each set of answers is saved with the date it arrived
and nothing else. We will publish the results on this page,
with the questions and the raw counts.
The questions
1. How much beer did you brew in the last 12 months?
1 hl is 100 litres. 100 cases of 12 x 440 ml is about 5.3 hl.
2. Roughly what share went into each format?
Leave blank if not sure.
Cask %
Keg %
Can %
Bottle %
3. In the last 12 months, did you pour away, destroy or
dispose of drinkable beer because it was near or past its
date, or could not be sold?
If never, go to question 8.
4. Roughly how much in total?
Pick a unit and give a number, or a share of what you packaged
below.
Number
Or as a share of what you packaged:
5. Which formats were most affected?
Up to 2.
And which styles? Up to 2.
6. Main reasons?
Up to 3.
7. How did you dispose of it?
Tick all that apply.
8. When beer comes back from customers, who usually bears the
cost?
9. Have you claimed duty relief on spoilt or returned beer, or
Alcoholic Ingredients Relief, in the last 3 years?
If spoilt beer: has HMRC accepted out of date but drinkable
beer?
10. What do you do with short dated or surplus beer now?
Tick all that apply.
And the most common?
11. What did lost beer cost you last year, counting beer,
packaging and unrecovered duty?
12. If a service sold your surplus or short dated beer
straight to drinkers, clearly labelled, would you use it?
If yes or maybe, what would you need? Tick all that apply.
13. Anything else?
No names or contact details, please.
Thank you. Simon
[email protected]
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