St Stefanus taps into craft beer revival

Belgian and craft beers are rising in value as specialist brewer St Stefanus announced the release of its six month aged beer in a new, larger format.

Until now the Belgian beer has only been available in 330ml bottles but now is being released for the first time in 750ml format for a, “much more powerful flavour and less oxidation” according to master brewer, Jef Versele.

All of the brewery’s beers are refermented in the bottle and aged for three to six months in the brewer’s cellars before release. As with wines in a larger bottle – especially Champagne – the greater ratio of liquid to either the oxygen trapped inside at bottling and also the yeast makes a significant impact on the taste of the beer.

“The bigger the bottle, the better the quality of the beer,” said Versele.

St Stefanus only launched in the UK six months ago but figures show that the popularity of craft beers is causing it to outperform other sectors within beer and Belgian beer specifically holds a premium in the on- and off-trades.

Lucy Jordan, director of trade marketing at Miller Brands, said: “Craft beers are increasing in popularity; the specialist beer market is in 21.4% value growth, compared to 3.1% for the total market.

“Belgian beers are particularly popular and command a 59% price premium in the on-trade and 52% in the off-trade over the average bottled lager.”