Irish craft brewers launch quality symbol

The Independent Craft Brewers of Ireland (ICBI) has launched an official symbol to signify independently brewed Irish beer in an effort to prevent larger breweries cashing in on the growth of Irish craft beer.

Ireland’s craft beer market has flourished in recent years with in excess of 80 registered microbreweries now in operation compared to less than 20 just five years ago, according to the ICIB.

Already, it has been predicted that the value of Ireland’s craft beer industry will rise by nearly €20m by the end of 2016, according to a report by the Irish food and drink board, Bord Bia.

Volumes of beer from Irish microbreweries had increased by 415% to 134,000hl between 2011 and 2015, and this was likely to hit 197,000hl by the end of 2016, with around 18% of volume being exported.

Bord Bia’s survey on craft beer and microbreweries in Ireland estimated the turnover of the country’s craft beer market was set to hit €59 million for 2016, up from €40 million in 2015, on the back of the “huge potential” of the sector both domestically and at export.

However with this growth has also come the threat of misrepresentation, with the ICBI’s new symbol intended to differentiate Irish craft beer for the consumer.

“Unfortunately, some other companies are jumping in on this and releasing products into the market which they are misrepresenting as craft beer, and being vague about origin to suggest a provenance of craft beer from an independent Irish brewery”, it said.

“The Independent Irish Craft Beer symbol offers reassurance to consumers that the beer they are buying is what it purports to be – that the brewery the beer came from is independently owned, small scale, a registered microbrewery as recognised by Revenue, and that the brewer has complete ownership of the brand.”

The Independent Irish Craft Beer symbol had been devised and developed by ICBI, however it use will not be confined to its members. Any brewer that fulfils the ICIB’s criteria is welcome to apply to use the symbol to its review panel.

“What this means for the consumer is that they can easily identify a beer which comes from an independent Irish craft brewer and make an informed choice, based on the provenance of the beer”, the ICIB added.

“For the Irish craft brewers, it gives a means by which they can take a stand against the misrepresentation of brands and to identify themselves as what they are – small scale breweries, brewing their own beers in their own microbreweries.