Football fans are being encouraged to continue buying British beer as the World Cup tournament progresses into its latest stage.
The Indie Beer campaign has released a tool that helps people find their local breweries and a ‘brewery checker’ that allows you to check whether the beer you’re buying is a genuine ‘Indie Beer’ or actually brewed or owned by a Global beer giant like Budweiser, Heineken, Carlsberg or Molson Coors.
“Britain is one of the world’s greatest brewing nations, with a beer heritage which stretches back hundreds of years and a thriving independent brewing sector today making World-class brews – but for some reason when it comes to supporting the home-nations for football, British beer goes out of the window,” said Neil Walker, Indie Beer campaigner.
Budweiser are the Official beer of the FIFA World Cup 2026, but fans are being encouraged to buy a homegrown pint – whether that’s in England or Scotland who are in the competition, or Wales and Northern Ireland who missed out this year.
He added: “There are superb independent breweries across the the whole of the UK, many of which are making one-off beers specially for the World Cup, so there’s really no reason to support an American lager brand when cheering on England or Scotland over the next few months.
“Just put your postcode into the indie brewery finder to discover breweries near you, or if you’re in the pub use the Brewery Checker to see if the beer you’re buying is the real deal or actually owned by a Global mega-brand.”
The Indie Beer campaign was launched to make it easier for beer drinkers to find out whether the beer they’re drinking is a genuine independent brewery after a string of buyouts made things confusing for consumers.
“This isn’t about shifting people away from lager – there are superb lagers, stouts, and a huge range of other styles being brewed by indie breweries in the UK – this is about supporting the beer being brewed in your country when cheering on our teams this summer,” explained Walker.
The Indie Beer campaign have made two tools available to beer-lovers looking to support local this summer, an ‘Indie Brewery Finder’ where you can add your postcode and find breweries near you, and a ‘Brewery Checker’ where you can add the name of any brewery to see if they’re owned by a global brand or genuinely independent.
