Why don’t people feel like mugs drinking ‘French’ beer from Northampton?

Earlier this week the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) published a report called Beer in the UK which highlights, among other things, that many ‘world lagers’ are actually brewed in Britain. This is old news. Really old news. Everyone who is at all into beer knows this, even though the information is pretty well concealed from drinkers at the point of sale. CAMRA has been campaigning on this issue for decades. The thing that baffles us – we’re feeling freshly baffled by it this morning – is that so few people, even when they do know, seem to care. This would be fine, and would make total sense, if they also did not then still seem to attribute some character of ‘worldness’ to these beers brewed in Manchester, South Wales, Northampton, or wherever. Perhaps it shows that there’s an element of complicity – a collaboration between brewers and drinkers. The latter want to be reminded of being abroad, to do a little roleplay where they’re sort of on holiday in Italy or Spain; and the former…