Nice statement from the Ironbridge Brewery on their blog :
"In response to today's budget I've decided that I'll take the hit and I WILL NOT INCREASE the wholesale price of our beer. That means that the price of our beer in pubs should not go up.
We - the brewers - pay the duty on beer. We make a declaration each month of how much alcohol we've shipped and we send a cheque off to HMRC to cover the duty. We pay this duty regardless of how much per barrel we've been paid by pubs and indeed regardless of whether or not we have actually been paid for the beer. The increase in the duty rate announced in today's budget means that I have to pay extra duty to this totally cr@p government but I will not be increasing the wholesale price of our beer. I will not be passing any increase on to pubs and as a result they should not have to pass any increase on to the consumer. The price of a pint of our beer should not be affected by duty increases announced in today's budget.
Our pub culture is being seriously undermined by central government and by big pub companies but I'm determined to do my little bit to fight back. We'll forego our luxury holiday in Much Wenlock this year and the luxury yacht will have to wait yet another year or two. The price of a pint of our beer will not be increased by today's budget!
Don't buy beer from strangers!"
Will more small breweries follow suit?