OWC Online grocer Ocado has reported that non-alcoholic Guinness 0.0 is selling better than its alcohol equivalent for the first time. Guinness sells almost £50 million worth of its superb 0.0 beer in shops and online supermarkets each year, according to researcher NIQ, around a fifth of its total off-sales market. 0.0 is now the nation's best selling alcohol free beer. Their traditional 4.2% ABV stout tops the market in the pub trade and accounts for one in nine of all pints sold. The brand is very much in the news at the moment with a new Netflix series - 'House of Guinness' recently launched. The organisers of the horse racing event, the Cheltenham Festival are feeling the pinch as a result of dwindling attendance figures and have announced that a pint of Guinness at next years festival will be reduced from £7.80 to £7.50 in an attempt to help cash strapped punters.
OWC A growing range of research suggests that animals may be hard wired to enjoy alcohol, and that ethanol is part of the daily diet of many creatures/animals. A report in Science Advances highlights research in West and East Africa, that chimpanzees may daily consume, in the form of over ripe fruit the same amount of alcohol as a person drinking two and a half drinks. Ethanol is widespread within tropical fruit. Earlier this year, Anna C Bowland of the University of Exeter and colleagues in the US published a paper titled, the Evolutionary Ecology of Ethanol. Listing a range of fauna including butterflies, bats and dwarf hamsters that seem to enjoy alcohol, the authors say evidence is growing that ethanol is naturally present in most sugary foods.
OWC With Cask Ale week just ending there is no doubt that Cask ale is one of the fundamental elements of an English pub: even those that stopped selling it after Covid-19 have largely kept their handpumps, albeit sitting forlornly unused. Cask has made dramatic comebacks before, most notably in the 1970s thanks to Camra. Perhaps its new generation of drinkers can bring cask ale rushing back once more, in all its gloriousness.
OWC Two major studies suggest that drinking any amount of alcohol increases the risk of dementia. The first involving data from nearly 560.000 people found that heavy drinkers - who said they consumed 40 or more drinks a week, had a 41% higher risk of developing dementia compared to lighter drinkers, who said that they drank fewer than seven alcohol based drinks a week. The second survey predicted alcohol intake and disorders for 2.4 million people, based on their genetic markers, found that those with a higher propensity to drink, had a higher risk of dementia at all levels. The studies which involved Yale, Oxford and Cambridge universities were published in BMJ Evidence- Based Medicine. Dr Anya Topiwala from Oxford university stated ' Our findings challenge the belief that low levels of alcohol are beneficial for brain health. Even light or moderate drinking may increase the risk of dementia, indicating that reducing alcohol consumption could play a significant role in prevention.'
OWC America's finest bourbons took centre stage at the 2025 Beverage Testing Insitute awards, with one standing out, scoring a remarkable 96 points, earning a platinum medal. Evan Williams 12-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 50.5% ABV, 750 ml, produced at the Heaven Hill distillery in Bardstown, from a standard mash bill of 78% corn, 12% malted barley and 10% rye. It was a Japan-exclusive bottling for many years, but this age-stated bourbon is now more widely available in the US. Also scoring gold medals with a score of 93% were - Overbrook Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Elijah Craig Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, and Heaven Hill 'Grain To Glass' Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
OWC Singer, Robbie Williams has invested in an alcohol- free beer brand. Heaps Normal, said to be Australia's leading alcohol - free beer label. Robbie has joined Heaps Normal as its 'creative collaborator.' He has been teetotal for more than 20 years and said that ' Teaming up with Heaps Normal is personal for me, I saw what they were doing, creatively and culturally, when I was down in Australia, and really wanted to get involved. I love the ethos of Heaps Normal brand, and I'm excited for what we're going to achieve together around the world'. Heaps Normal has global expansion plans and their beers are now stocked in over 170 pubs and retailers in the UK.
OWC According to industry reports, English Sparkling Wine has grown by 30 per cent since 2020, and producers are now exporting to over 30 countries worldwide. Chapel Down is the largest producer, managing around 1,000 vineyard acres overall, approximately 10 per cent of the UK’s total. Following closely behind is Nyetimber. The company has grown out of the 40 hectare Nyetimber Estate in West Sussex, which can be traced back in history to the Domesday Book in 1086. They were recently awarded top prize for Champion Sparkling Wine at the International Wine Challenge 2025. Awarded to their Blanc de Blancs 2016 Magnum - The first non Champagne to win this award. Cherie Spriggs, their Head Winemaker also won Sparkling Winemaker of the year for the second time. Congratulations to Cherie and her team.
OWC Staying in Sussex, the Rathfinny Wine Estate, also a sparkling wine producer has, part of a trial, deployed birds of prey to protect its vines from seagulls and crows at the same time helping to reduce its carbon footprint. They have enlisted the help of cross-bred Peregrine Falcons, a Harris hawk, a Merlin and a Chilean blue Eagle. Sarah Driver, the estate’s co-founder and co-owner, said ' the trial would save more than 180 miles of plastic netting that would normally cover the vines, which needs replacing every three to five years.' Each bird has been chosen for a specific role in protecting the vineyard. A study published in the Conservation Biology journal in 2012 found that introducing falcons could yield a significant reduction in grape loss. The tactics have previously been used reportedly to great effect in California but it is believed they have never been used in Britain.
OWC Camra, which is dedicated to the promotion of cask ale, a nonprofit organisation which has 145,000 members has called off Britain's biggest beer event : The Great British Beer Festival, next year due to financial woes. The festival has been running since 1977 and will be cancelled along with a counterpart festival held in winter, according to the organisation’s chair, Ash Corbett-Collins. The festival is a key moment in the beer and brewing industry’s calendar, allowing tens of thousands of beer fans to sample about 900 brews, as well as hosting the Champion Beer of Britain awards. The festival is thought to have been called off only four times in nearly 50 years, two of which were in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 1984 event was cancelled due to a fire and the 2024 version was called off after Camra’s chosen venue, Olympia in London, was unavailable.
OWC Megan Markle's new wine, the latest vintage, a 2024 rosé. sells at $30 a bottle with a minimum of three bottles per order and $20 for shipping, meaning customers spending a minimum of $110. Unlike the 2023 vintage it has not sold out within a short period of going on the market.
