Cask Theory - Beer Nerd

14/02/2026

Five years, £148 million in losses, and a masterclass in why you should never confuse good marketing with good investment terms.

The punk rebellion was just really expensive theatre. Full breakdown below

https://open.substack.com/pub/casktheory/p/brewdog-for-sale-how-200000-punks

06/02/2026

How a 1923 Temperance Law Killed Belfast’s Beer Scene (And Why Lidl Had to Cosplay as a Pub)

Lidl just spent six years and £410,000 pretending to open a pub in Dundonald. They’re not opening a pub. Nobody thinks they’re opening a pub. They just want to sell Pinot Grigio next to the frozen pizza..

Lidl just spent six years and £410,000 pretending to open a pub in Dundonald.

30/01/2026

Belfast’s city centre is compact.. you can walk from one end to the other in fifteen minutes if you know where you’re going. The problem isn’t finding a pub. The problem is finding the right sequence of pubs that flows in a sensible direction without doubling back on yourself. We’ve done the legwork so you don’t have to. Four routes through BT1 and BT2, each one flowing logically from south to north or east to west. Every pint priced up. Every route tested. No zig-zagging. From the Penny Pincher at £31.25 total to the High Roller at £41.10, pick your budget, follow the route, and try not to get lost

Picture the scene: you're outside CastleCourt in the rain, phone in hand, trying to remember which direction the Cathedral Quarter is. Your mate's already two pubs ahead. You've walked a mile and seen nothing but roadworks. The session is slipping away from you. This is preventable. Belfast's city c...

30/01/2026

Next time you’re in a Belfast pub, look at the taps. That lineup isn’t about taste.. it’s about debt. Northern Ireland’s licensing system, frozen since 1923, requires £100,000 just to get permission to serve alcohol. Most businesses don’t have that kind of money. The multinationals do. Here’s how a Temperance law designed to reduce drinking accidentally created a century-old monopoly that handed the keys to global brewers.

Next time you're in a Belfast pub, look at the taps. That lineup isn't about taste.. it's about debt. Northern Ireland's licensing system, frozen since 1923, requires £100,000 just to get permission to serve alcohol. Most businesses don't have that kind of money. The multinationals do. Here's how a...

30/01/2026

Same city. Same beer. Wildly different prices. We track the cost of Guinness pints across Belfast..from the £4.39 Wetherspoons bargain to the £7.80 hotel premium..to find out where your money actually goes. Discover the hidden economics of the beer market, how the unique ‘Surrender Principle’ blocks competition, and why your local independent pub is the one getting squeezed the hardest.

Same city. Same beer. Wildly different prices. We track the cost of Guinness pints across Belfast..from the £4.39 Wetherspoons bargain to the £7.80 hotel premium..to find out where your money actually goes. Discover the hidden economics of the beer market, how the unique 'Surrender Principle' bloc...

30/01/2026

Everyone in Belfast has a Guinness opinion. Your da has a pub he swears by. Your mate won’t shut up about the place that “does it right.” But here’s the uncomfortable question: why does the £7.80 hotel pint sometimes taste worse than the £4.39 Wetherspoons one? Diageo will tell you every pint is identical. Your tastebuds disagree. We break down the science of the bad pint, the “line beer” effect, and why the busiest bars often serve the best stout.. plus what to actually do when someone hands you a dud.

Everyone in Belfast has a Guinness opinion. Your da has a pub he swears by. Your mate won't shut up about the place that "does it right." But here's the uncomfortable question: why does the £7.80 hotel pint sometimes taste worse than the £4.39 Wetherspoons one? Diageo will tell you every pint is i...

30/01/2026

The UK brewing industry has discovered a magic number. Foster’s, John Smith’s, Carlsberg, Coors Light, Sol, Grolsch, Greene King IPA, and now Molson Coors’ new Caffrey’s Black Stout have all reformulated to exactly 3.4% ABV. They’ll tell you it’s about your health and ‘balanced lifestyles.’ We’ll show you it’s about the duty threshold at 3.5% that saves them 11p per pint. John Smith’s pocketed £14.5 million while raising keg prices.

The UK brewing industry has discovered a magic number. Foster's, John Smith's, Carlsberg, Coors Light, Sol, Grolsch, Greene King IPA, and now Molson Coors' new Caffrey's Black Stout have all reformulated to exactly 3.4% ABV. They'll tell you it's about your health and 'balanced lifestyles.' We'll sh...