Carling proves to be licensees choice
Given a completely free choice licensees would stock Carling as their number one beer brand.
Coors flagship lager came out on top in a Box Marketing survey of 500 licensees commissioned by The Publican to see which brands licensees most want to stock.
And it was the big boys that led the way with Carling beating Foster's and Guinness into second and third place respectively. Stella and John Smith's completed the top five.
In terms of cask products London Pride was the highest in 11th place with Greene King IPA in at 13.
However not all licensees would opt for the major brands.
Anita Adams, licensee of the Golden Slipper in York, said: "To me real beer is from a cask. I am torn between Black Sheep Ale which is straight from the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, and Bombardier - British through and through with a strong, proper name."
Hayley Comradi, licensee at The Riverside Inn, Bradford-Upon-Avon, said: "We don't stock Foster's or Stella, and my first choice would have to be Butcombe, because it's a local company and we've been with them for a while now."
Huw Davies at The Sherston Inn, Wells, Somerset, has started stocking Peroni a brand came in at number 10 on the list.
He said: "It sells well to a certain market but my personal favourite is Guinness, which is handy because we shift a lot of that."
And Rick Robinson from The Willoughby Arms, Kingston would opt for local brew Twickenham Naked Ladies.
"It comes from local micro-brewery Twickenham Fine Ales, something that I care about and support and they've never given me a bad beer," he said.
The table was compiled by licensees listing their top three beers with number one scoring three points, second choice two and third choice one.
For full details of the survey click on the link on the right.
The Top 10
1. Carling
2. Foster's
3. Guinness
4. Stella
5. John Smith's
6. Tennents
7. Carlsberg
8. Kronenbourg
9. Beck's Vier
10. Peroni
