News, nuggets and longreads 2 May 2026: Strongroom

Every Saturday we round up the best writing about beer from the past week. This time, we’ve got pink drinks, Gen Z and Burton unions. We tend not to lead with product launch news here but this one feeds into a couple of pieces linked below and comes with some interesting stats. The story, via Jessica Mason at The Drinks Business, is that Carlsberg Britvic has launched 1664 Rosé, a pink-tinted beer “with a hint of berry”: Speaking to db, Carlsberg Britvic premium beer marketing controller Rebecca Allen revealed that the 4.5% ABV beer is strategic in answering the trends of the moment and admitted that “the timing reflects a broader shift in drinking culture, where boundaries between categories are increasingly blurred and consumers are more open to hybrid, lifestyle led propositions”… Citing CGA data from the past year, Allen pointed out that “consumer interest in fruit beer continues to rise: 36% of GB consumers find fruit beer appealing or very appealing” and also noted that “volume…