Does anyone want to drink weak booze?

Cheap booze 1 © by Mel B.

This article titled “Does anyone want to drink weak booze?” was written by Fiona Beckett, for The Guardian on Wednesday 8th February 2012 20.00 UTC

The government thinks the answer to Britain’s binge-drinking problem is to water down alcoholic drinks. It sounds sensible, but alcohol carries not only flavour but body, which makes a drink satisfying. Would you taste the difference?

Wine

“Alcohol adds body and sweetness as well as the perception of flavour,” says Dr Jamie Goode, author of Authentic Wine. “With a wine of 14-15%, you can remove some of the alcohol by a process like reverse osmosis. But take too much out and you have to sweeten to compensate.” Mosel rieslings are low in alcohol (8%), as are cava and prosecco (11%), but 12-12.5% makes wine taste like wine.

Beer

Many producers responded to October’s 50% duty cut for beers of 2.8% and under with some flavoursome brews. “Low-alcohol beer is a challenge,” says Fergus Fitzgerald from Adnams. “You have to use speciality malts and hops to bulk out the flavour.” Still, Tesco’s sales of low-alcohol beers soared 47% last year.

But there does seem a bit of a double standard here, with drinks manufacturers being clobbered while food producers who could be held responsible for our obesity problems get off scot free. Is the government going to ban butchers selling pork belly? I don’t think so.

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