Craft Beer on the rise in France. A matter of class?
France is of course known as a wine producing and wine drinking country. It’s a reasonable bet that at many official and Establishment focused dining events in Britain it will be French wine not British beer that accompanies the food.
This should at one level be unremarkable, but it is also a matter of class. France does have a brewing and beer drinking tradition, just one that the British bourgeoisie prefers to ignore.
However The Times (1st April) reports that the number of breweries in France has risen from 500 in 2013 to 2500 in 2022. Sales of beer in supermarkets stand at 27% compared to 28.9% for wine.
The wine producing region of Bordeaux is reducing production with the French Government paying a subsidy 30 million Euros to pull up 10,000 hectares of wine.
The Times has a certain obsession with reports that the French are abandoning traditional patterns of eating and drinking and has recently noted changes in baguette compensation and a growth in burger sales.
Somewhere behind all this are social class considerations. After all before certain events caused a delay King Charles was planning to visit a favourite Bordeaux organic vineyard. The same King Charles has written the introduction to the current, 50th edition, of the Campaign For Real Ale’s Good Beer Guide.
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