About this episode
Britain is a brewing nation, with a long tradition of creating incredible beers to be enjoyed in any number of taverns, inns and pubs. Pete Brown - beer blogger and author - believes that Britain should be truly proud of its remarkable brewing heritage and charts the ups and downs of beer in the UK from Burton-on-Trent's special water via Lloyd George's unsuccessful attempt at Prohibition through to the importance of the glass that we sip our beer from. On October the 1st new taxes came into effect that lower the tax on beer with less than 2.8% alcohol by volume (abv), and raise it on brews with more than 7.5% abv. With concerns across the UK about problem drinking, and debates about minimum unit pricing and glass sizes, Sheila Dillon asks if it is time to re-evaluate our relationship with beer, or can it be part of the solution? Dan Saladino visits the second largest brewing company in the world - SABMiller - at their new research laboratory in Nottingham to see how their research into a new generation of low-alcohol beers is going. The programme also features Mark Hunter, CEO of Molson Coors UK and Ireland (Britain's biggest brewer), Dr Vivienne Nathanson of the British Medical Association, Dr John Holmes of the University of Sheffield, and the BBC's Scotland Correspondent Colin Blane. Producer: Rich Ward.