PretendPint

Which beers sold as foreign are brewed in Britain, and what to buy instead

Work in progress. We are still reading cans and settling where listings disagree. Seen a beer whose small print contradicts its label? Tell us.

What we cannot yet settle

25 of the 145 beers on this site have an open question against them. This page is the queue, kept in public so that the gaps are visible rather than papered over. It is not indexed by search engines.

Each of these is waiting on one specific thing, named in the row. Most of them need the small print on a current pack.

What each verification level means, and what we accept as evidence, is set out in how we check a beer. Most of the unverified rows below are supermarket own-label lagers, where no producer is published anywhere we can reach.

No source we trust 16

Widely sold, but no primary or trade-press source names the producer. Mostly supermarket own-label lagers. A photograph of the base of a can would settle almost all of them.

Beer Sold asBrewed for the UK inUKLast checked
Affligem Blond BelgiumImportedNot established2026-09-05
Bavaria Premium GermanyNot established5.0%2026-09-05
Birra Mapelli Italia Premium Lager ItalyNot establishedNot established2026-09-05
Birra Messina Cristalli di Sale ItalyNot establishedNot established2026-09-05
Brahma BrazilNot establishedNot established2026-09-06
Efes Pilsener TurkeyNot establishedNot established2026-09-06
Grande SpainNot establishedNot established2026-09-05
Grimbergen Blonde BelgiumImportedNot established2026-09-05
Lech Premium PolandNot establishedNot established2026-09-06
Lowenbrau Original GermanyNot establishedNot established2026-09-06
Michelob Ultra United StatesNot established3.5%2026-09-06
Miller Genuine Draft United StatesNot established4.5%2026-09-06
Perlenbacher Pilsner Lager GermanyNot established4.5%2026-09-05
Rheinbacher Pilsner GermanyNot establishedNot established2026-09-05
Rossini Gran Riserva Birra ItalyNot establishedNot established2026-09-05
San Marcos SpainNot establishedNot established2026-09-05

Two research passes disagreed 9

Where the sources contradict each other, the page shows both sides and says the matter is open. These are the ones worth a careful look, because a single fetched primary source would resolve them.

Amstel

Open the page: two current listings give the 12 x 300ml bottle different strengths. Asda's listing title reads 'Amstel Bavarian Style Lager Beer 4.1% ABV Bottle 12x300ml'; Ocado's product page for the same pack prints 3.4 in its strength field, read the same day. Either the bottle has followed the cans down to 3.4% and Asda's title is stale, or the two retailers hold different stock. The bottle's strength is not recorded until a pack is read.

Asahi Super Dry

Open the page: two research passes disagreed. Both bottles and cans on Tesco carry Birra Peroni, Rome small print at 5.0%. The 2024 Griffin Brewery consolidation covered Meantime and Dark Star only; no source found for Asahi Super Dry moving to Chiswick. Side B not supported.

Cruzcampo Sevilla

Open the page: two research passes disagreed. cruzcampo.es blocked all three fetch attempts (403), so neither side's figure could be checked against the brewer's site. The Spanish variant closest in name to UK Cruzcampo Sevilla (4.4%) is Cruzcampo Pilsen, but its ABV is not established until a primary source is fetched. Secondary sites (Birrapedia) were not used as deciding evidence. SETTLED 2026-09-05: cruzcampo.es was reached and gives Cruzcampo Pilsen at 4,8%, which is the figure now stored.

Estrella Damm

Open the page: Damm's own corporate release says Estrella Damm has been brewed at its Bedford brewery since spring 2024, but every retail pack read since, at Ocado and now at Morrisons (10 x 330ml cans, 4 x 330ml and 12 x 330ml bottles), prints 'Brewed by: C.C. Damm S.L., Barcelona' with Damm 1876 in London as importer. The supermarket packs are therefore recorded as imported from Spain; the Bedford brewing may be draught or a format not yet read, so no UK site is recorded and the question stays open. Re-read 2026-09-06: the Morrisons 10 x 330ml and 12 x 330ml packs still print 'Brewed by: C.C. Damm S.L., Rosselló 515, 08025 Barcelona, Spain' with Damm 1876 Ltd, London, as importer, and the 4 x 440ml can at Morrisons and Asda shows no producer block at all. No pack names Bedford, so the row stays as imported and the disagreement stays open.

Estrella Galicia Especial

Open the page: two research passes disagreed. Side A is right about the UK product (4.7%, both can and bottle, brewed in A Coruna and imported); side B's 5.5% is the Spanish home-market strength of Estrella Galicia Especial, not the UK strength. Both formats are the same 4.7% so no format split. A 330ml bottle listing was not found on Tesco; the 660ml bottle was used instead.

Foster's

Open the page: two research passes disagreed. Supermarket cans are now 3.4%; side B's 4.0% is a historic figure. Cut confirmed by Morning Advertiser (announced November 2025, effective February 2026).

Guinness Draught

Open the page: two research passes disagreed. GB retailer cans are 4.1% (Tesco 8x440ml title and spec, Sainsbury's 4x440ml). One older Tesco 4x440ml listing (255238599) still shows 4.2%, which matches the Irish-market strength and is treated as stale or Irish stock. Store 4.1 for GB with 4.2 as origin ABV; both brewed at St James's Gate, Dublin.

Leffe Blonde

Open the page: Brauwelt (1 December 2023) reported that 'as of this year, all Leffe sold in the UK comes from the group's Samlesbury brewery', without saying which formats. Every retail bottle listing read in 2026 (Tesco 4 x 330ml and 12 x 330ml, Ocado 4 x 330ml, Asda 4 x 330ml and 750ml) prints 'Brewed by: InBev Belgium, Bd Industriel 21, B-1070 Brussels', and the Asda 750ml listing prints Country of Origin Belgium, so the bottles are recorded as imported from Belgium. The Morrisons 500ml listing shows only AB InBev UK Limited's London address and no country. No can listing could be read, so the can, and any draught, may be the Samlesbury product; supply for those formats is not established. SETTLED 2026-09-06: the can was found. Asda's 440ml can is marked country of origin United Kingdom and 'Brewed for Br. Abbaye de Leffe, Dinant. AB InBev UK Limited', while every bottle listing still prints InBev Belgium, Brussels. The trade report was right about the cans and wrong to say all of it: UK Leffe is split by format, cans brewed in Britain and bottles imported from Belgium.

Mahou Cinco Estrellas

Open the page: two Morrisons can listings disagree. The 4 x 440ml can is marked country of origin Spain, 'Brewed by Mahou S.A., Madrid, and canned by AB InBev UK Limited', while the 10 x 440ml fridge pack is marked country of origin United Kingdom, 'Brewed by AB InBev UK Limited'. SETTLED 2026-09-06: both listings were re-read the same day and both stand. They describe two different packs, not one pack described two ways: the 4 x 440ml can is brewed in Madrid and canned in Britain, the 10 x 440ml can is brewed in Britain by AB InBev UK, and the 4 x 330ml and 12 x 330ml bottles are brewed and bottled in Madrid. The supply is split by pack, and every retail format has been read.

Read one of these cans?A photo of the small print closes a question. [email protected]