San Miguel ABV

[trickywoo]

Does anyone else find the 5% claim on San Miguel bottles you buy from supermarkets in the UK hard to believe?

I have a fairly good seat of the pants feel for booze and it feels 4% or less to me. On a consistent basis too. I don't have the same feelings about Staropramen, Kronenbourg, Becks, Stella etc.

[21TonyK]

San Miguel is my regular, never even looked at the ABV. Anyway, if it says 5% its 5%. It's a highly regulated legal requirement and not something they can or would "fiddle", it's not as if its your local hippy craft brewery knocking out a few barrels.

[Turn7]

Big fan of very cold San Mig in this heat!

Plus, if it was less, they wouldnt have to pay as much tax on it, so would sell more....

[JKRolling]

21TonyK said:

San Miguel is my regular, never even looked at the ABV. Anyway, if it says 5% its 5%. It's a highly regulated legal requirement and not something they can or would "fiddle", it's not as if its your local hippy craft brewery knocking out a few barrels.

Whilst what you say is absolutely correct Tony, unfortunately, it’s not always the case.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/...

[untakenname]

I've noticed lots of beers have now changed their rating, 3.6% instead of 4% and 4.5% instead of 5%.
I assume it's due to the mislabeling in the link above rather than the recipe changing.

[untakenname]

I've noticed lots of beers have now changed their rating, 3.6% instead of 4% and 4.5% instead of 5%.
I assume it's due to the mislabeling in the link above rather than the recipe changing.

[21TonyK]

JKRolling said:

Whilst what you say is absolutely correct Tony, unfortunately, it’s not always the case.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/...

Wow, didn't realise the could get away with +/-.5% on beers and lagers.

Anyway... too hot to care

And 1% on wine... now thats more serious!

[Cotty]

Carling still says 4% on its cans. Im not really bothered by the strength as I don't drink it to get stfaced. They used to do a 2% called C2 and I would happily drink that.

[eskidavies]

I love San Miguel always try and finds bar with it on tap ,my local Beefeater does a cracking pint ,quite regular there for lunch on a Saturday 4 or 5 pints ,and my local Petrol station has the pint bottles to carry on the task at home

[Barry Bastardo]

San Miguel for the UK market is also brewed in Northampton therefore it's a completely different product to the one that is sold in Spain / Europe.

[Evanivitch]

JKRolling said:

Whilst what you say is absolutely correct Tony, unfortunately, it’s not always the case.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/...

Ah the wonders of tolerances.

My take on it, is that Carling brew at a tolerance of 3.7% -0.0%/+0.5%. That could be wrong.

At the end of the day it's still a biological process so it's going to be quite variable.

[Condi]

Barry bdo said:

San Miguel for the UK market is also brewed in Northampton therefore it's a completely different product to the one that is sold in Spain / Europe.

Much like the Fosters beer that hardly anyone in Australia has heard of because its brewed in Manchester.

[Fastchas]

Stella is 4.8%, didn't it used to be 5.2%?
Heineken with the red star on the can seems a strong one at 5%. Def gets me into trouble the next day...

[Cotty]

Fastchas said:

Stella is 4.8%, didn't it used to be 5.2%?
Heineken with the red star on the can seems a strong one at 5%. Def gets me into trouble the next day...

The Wiki says it was originally between 4.8 and 5.2% ABV, but since 2008, a 4% ABV version has also been sold in Britain, but look like it was changed back to 4.8% in 2012
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Artois

Edited by Cotty on Monday 29th July 16:31

[p4cks]

The cans/bottles aren't anywhere near as strong as the San Miguel at a pub local to me. I have no idea how it happens but you can have a few pints in their and be absolutely aholed and then by comparison have a similar volume in cans/bottles and be nowhere close.

[Evanivitch]

Condi said:

Much like the Fosters beer that hardly anyone in Australia has heard of because its brewed in Manchester.

That's not quite true. They all know Fosters, but as the parent of VB and Carlton. Seen the logo all over the country.

[Jag_NE]

Barry bdo said:

San Miguel for the UK market is also brewed in Northampton therefore it's a completely different product to the one that is sold in Spain / Europe.

Because something is made elsewhere it doesn’t make it a completely different product. There may be some differences but being frank, all of the aforementioned beers are bog standard cooking lagers that sell largely on branding as opposed to any unique characteristics of the product.

[markcoznottz]

p4cks said:

The cans/bottles aren't anywhere near as strong as the San Miguel at a pub local to me. I have no idea how it happens but you can have a few pints in their and be absolutely aholed and then by comparison have a similar volume in cans/bottles and be nowhere close.

That has to be down to the improved mouthfeel or increased carbonation in a pint helping you drink more or deliver the alcohol to your body quicker. I agree with you though cans hardly touch me, even poured into a glass. Bottles might as well be water. I think if you check the abv it's usually very similar between shop bought and pub. It has to be the carbonation. There is a way round it, put a widget in the can, fosters did it years ago, and I don't think any lager has since. It was like night and day difference to a normal can.

[Barry Bastardo]

Jag_NE said:

Barry bdo said:

San Miguel for the UK market is also brewed in Northampton therefore it's a completely different product to the one that is sold in Spain / Europe.

Because something is made elsewhere it doesn’t make it a completely different product. There may be some differences but being frank, all of the aforementioned beers are bog standard cooking lagers that sell largely on branding as opposed to any unique characteristics of the product.

It can be the case that different locations can make identical products however in this specific example the water and hops within the vicinity of each brewery are so different that the only similarity in the product is the name. Even if the water and hops were imported directly from Spain there would likely be a variation in product however the cost would prohibit this.

The reason for mentioning the original point is that consumers with an educated palate can often notice a difference in taste for beers that are brewed in multiple locations such as San Miguel (i.e. if the OP's associated taste was from trying pints in Spain then this could potentially explain them noticing a difference in the UK as it's not an imported product). Additionally, a significant number of well known beers have either discretely changed brewing location, reduced ABV or the recipe has been changed as these decisions are taken to reduce the costs given the performance of this sector over the decades so it's a not a surprise when a minority of consumers notice a difference in taste.

[dudleybloke]

Caffreys used to be a lot stronger and nicer.