You're being
lied to
about British
beer.
Four foreign-owned corporations make 80% of it. The 'imported' lager in your hand was probably brewed in Burton-on-Trent. That craft IPA on the bar is owned by Heineken. Here's how we lost our pint — and how to win it back.
Britain used to brew twice as much beer as it does today.
In 1979 the UK produced 12 billion pints of beer a year. British-owned breweries made 96% of it.
Today we brew half that, and four foreign-owned corporations make 80% of what's left.
Half our pints and most of our established brewers, gone in a generation.Beer in the UK, 2026
BBPA Statistical Handbook 2025; Brewers of Europe
Your 'continental' lager was probably made just off the M1.
Most of the big-name 'foreign' lagers sold in UK pubs and supermarkets aren't imported at all. They're brewed here, often to UK-only recipes with added water, then dressed in the flag of somewhere more glamorous.
Tap a label to see where it's really made.
Tap any label to flip it
So-called 'imports' are being brewed in Northampton, Burton-on-Trent and Hartlepool — with a Union Jack swapped for a foreign flag.Beer in the UK, 2026
CAMRA producer research, 2025. Locations verified via brewery filings.
Seven of the UK's ten best-selling 'craft beers' are made by the big four.
In most countries 'craft' has a legal definition: the brewery must be independent of the big corporations.
Not here. Try spotting the real thing.
Independent brewery, or owned by a global corp?
Founded in 2011, Beavertown sold a minority stake to Heineken in 2018, before they took full control in 2022.
Drinkers want indie beer. The market won't let them have it.
There are around 1,600 small independent breweries in the UK. Between them they hold just 7% of the market, squeezed out by pub company contracts, line maintenance deals and supermarket listings all tied to the big four.
When asked what they'd choose if bars were free to stock anything, drinkers said the demand for indie beer was three times higher.
Four corporations are making sure you drink what they want to sell, not what you want to buy.Beer in the UK, 2026
Quaffale brewery register; CAMRA consumer surveys; SIBA market reports.
If all this makes you angry — good.
Now do something about it.
CAMRA has campaigned for the rights of beer drinkers and pub-goers since 1971. We've saved thousands of pubs, protected cask beer, and kept independent brewing alive. But we can't do it without members.