Lager saga: Carling beer 'weaker than advertised'

The alcohol content of Carling is weaker than advertised, a court heard at a tax tribunal earlier this year.

While advertised at 4% alcohol by volume (ABV) it has emerged that it has been brewed at 3.7% since 2012 according to US owners Molson Coors.

The firm have said during a hearing brought forward by HMRC that the ABV was reduced by 0.3% to cut down on tax on Carling products.

Documents from the tribunal see HMRC allege Carling had underpaid tax by more than £50m between 1 September 2012 and 31 January 2015.

HMRC claimed the owners should have paid the tax on the 4% ABV that was advertised on the bottles and cans.

Philip Rutherford, vice president of tax for Molson Coors Europe, argued when giving evidence at the tribunal that Carling should pay tax on "the actual ABV of the beer" rather than the one stated on the label.

The firm succesfully counter-argued that the true strength of the lager means they were right to pay less tax.

According to EU alcohol labeling law, products are allowed to have a ABV tolerance of +0.5% or -0.5%

Carling released a statement which said: "As a major brand, the trust of our consumers is paramount. We abide by all legal requirements in the brewing and labelling of Carling,"

"The natural process of brewing means all batches of Carling vary fractionally in alcohol content - the variation range for Carling is less than a quarter of 1% (0.23%),"