Small brewers relief is getting £10 million a year bigger in the UK. Chancellor John Healey used his first Budget on Oct. 28 to expand Small Producer Relief on alcohol duty for around 2,000 small British brewers and cider makers, according to GOV.UK and The Morning Advertiser.
Reference Log
“For those who feel like celebrating tax cuts for our high streets, I’m providing a £10m alcohol duty relief for around 2,000 small British brewers and British cider makers,” Healey said.
How the small brewers relief changes
| Item | What the Budget says |
|---|---|
| Who qualifies | Producers making under 4,500 hl of pure alcohol a year, on products under 8.5% ABV |
| Under 3.5% ABV | A more generous taper on the discount |
| 3.5% to 8.4% ABV | Marginal discount rises by RPI plus 10% |
| All duty rates | Uprated by RPI (4.55%) |
| Beer 3.5% to 8.5% | Duty goes to £23.61 per litre of alcohol |
| Start date | 1 February 2027 |
Source: GOV.UK, Alcohol Duty uprating and Small Producer Relief changes.
So small brewers relief gets bigger: small producers get a bigger discount, while everyone’s headline duty rate still goes up with inflation. Small Producer Relief itself started on 1 August 2023.
Guest beers in tied pubs
The government also says it intends to legislate for a guest beer provision in the Pubs Code for England and Wales, covering tied tenants of pubs under the Code. The Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA) welcomed both moves. It says independent brewers are locked out of about 62% of local pubs, and that 80% of drinkers want local beer.
Not everyone cheered. The Wine and Spirit Trade Association’s Miles Beale was critical, and the British Beer and Pub Association’s Emma McClarkin had asked for a duty freeze.
Why small brewers relief matters for cask
The relief lands in a rough year for cask beer. NIQ figures reported by The Beer Post show cask volume down 19.7% to 979,000 hectolitres in the 12 months to August 2026, and sold in about 24,000 outlets, down 8.2%. Sharp’s in Cornwall is closing in December, and Carlsberg Britvic has proposed closing Marston’s Brewery in summer 2027.
Lower-alcohol beer gets the biggest boost here. For the American side of that trend, see our Washington breweries report. Our verdict on the small brewers relief: £10 million won’t fill every pint, but it’s more than a rounding error, Earthlings.
Transmission complete.
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