WHERE HAVE ALL THE 5'S GONE?

Not long ago, a "Premium Lager"  was at least 5% ABV, sometimes more. Now, as the Corporate beancounters in the Mega Brewing Corporations try to squeeze more & more profit out of their feifs, this is no longer the case. 

I was suprised to find out that Stella Artois or "Wifebeater" as it has been called is now down to 4.6%. What is now called 1664 Biere - they seem to have dropped the Kronenbourg - is likewise diminished. Even my old fave, Grolsch, is now cut to 4% 

Also, more & more Lagers are brewed in the UK under license

From Google AI:-

Actually, the vast majority of popular "continental" lagers sold in the UK are not brewed in their countries of origin. Instead, roughly 85% to 90% of these foreign-branded mainstream lagers are brewed right here in the UK under license by major multinational conglomerates to cut transport costs and avoid high import duties.

Bastards!

There are some notable exceptions though:-

Conversely, true imports that are still brewed abroad and shipped into the UK include select batches of Pilsner Urquell, Budweiser Budvar, and bottled variants of Estrella Dam

I started putting together a spreadsheet of this, (yes, I know), then had the bright idea of gettig AI to do it for me. What took me an hour, took AI 5 seconds....

AI:-

Name	Original ABV	Current ABV	Brewery Location (UK)	Ownership
Carling	4.00%	3.40%	Burton-upon-Trent, England	Molson Coors Beverage Company
Madri Excepcional	4.60%	4.60%	Burton-upon-Trent, England	Molson Coors Beverage Company
Foster's	4.00%	3.40%	Manchester, England	Heineken UK
Sol	4.20%	3.40%	Tadcaster, England	Heineken UK
Birra Moretti	4.60%	4.60%	Manchester & Tadcaster, England	Heineken UK
Stella Artois	5.20%	4.60%	Samlesbury & Magor, UK	Anheuser-Busch InBev
Carlsberg Pilsner	3.80%	3.40%	Northampton, England	Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company
Grolsch Premium Pilsner	5.00%	3.40%	Burton-upon-Trent, England	Asahi UK
Tennent's Lager	4.00%	4.00%	Glasgow, Scotland	C&C Group

My effort:- 

(red means good, or brewed @ original site)

Mine is much better, of course.

The decline of the Premium Lager
nom	OG	now	sometimes	owner on can	actual owner	brewed
Efes	5	5		Anadolu Efes	24% Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV.	Sunrise Beverages in UK
Budweiser Budvar	5	5		Budweiser Budvar	state owned	České Budějovice (Budweis) Czech Republic
Peroni Nastro Azzurro	5.1	5			Asahi Breweries	Mostly Italy
Pilsner Urquell	4.4	4.4		Pilsner Urquell	Asahi Breweries	Plzeň (Pilsen), Czech Republic
Grolsch	5	4		Grolsch	Asahi Breweries	Enschede, the Netherlands
San Miguel	5.4	5		San Miguel	Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV.	ABInbev Samlesbury and Magor
Stella Artois	5.2	4.6	4.8	interbrew International B.V.	Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV.	ABInbev Samlesbury and Magor
Budweiser yank	5	4.5	4.8	interbrew International B.V.	Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV.	ABInbev Samlesbury and Magor
Corona Extra	5	4.5		interbrew International B.V.	Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV.	ABInbev Samlesbury and Magor
Beck's	4.8	4	4.5	interbrew International B.V.	Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV.	ABInbev Samlesbury and Magor
Desperados	5.9	5.9		Heineken	Heineken	manchester
Heineken OG	5	5		Heineken	Heineken	manchester
Birra Moretti	5	4.6		Birra Moretti	Heineken	manchester
Birra Moretti sal di mare	4.8	4.8		Birra Moretti	Heineken	manchester
Cruzcampo	4.4	4.4		Cruzcampo	Heineken	manchester
Amstel	4.1	3.4		Amstel	Heineken	manchester
Foster's	3.7	3.4		Foster's	Heineken	manchester
Mahou	5.1	4.8		Mahou	Mahou san miguel	heinekin Mcr
Kronenbourg/1664 Bière	5.5	4.6	5	was Heinekin til 01.06.26	CarlsbergMarstonsBritvicC	Carlsberg Northampton
Carlsberg	3.8	3.4			CarlsbergMarstonsBritvicC	Carlsberg Northampton
Estrella Damm	4.6	4.6		S.A. Damm	S.A. Damm Barca	bedford
Madri Excepcional	4.6	4.6		Madri Excepcional	molson coors	Burton-upon-Trent
Coors Light	4.2	3.4	4	Coors Light	molson coors	Burton-upon-Trent
Cobra					molson coors	Burton-upon-Trent