A YORK brewery has apologised for a tweet after an advertising watchdog concluded that it encouraged and condoned drinking beer at breakfast and was 'socially irresponsible.'

The Advertising Standards Authority said Brew York's ad implied that the advertised beer was a palatable option for early morning drinking.

A YORK brewery has apologised for a tweet after an advertising watchdog concluded that it encouraged and condoned drinking beer at breakfast and was 'socially irresponsible.'

The Advertising Standards Authority said Brew York's ad implied that the advertised beer was a palatable option for early morning drinking.

It said the ad must not appear again in such a form and it had told the Walmgate-based craft brewery to ensure its future ads were socially responsible and did not condone or encourage unwise styles of drinking, such as drinking at breakfast. 

"We also told them not to make health claims about alcoholic drinks," it said.

The ASA said it had investigated after a complainant challenged a tweet made by Brew York in April which promoted a beer made in collaboration with another brewery. 

It said: "The ad featured text that stated “[mango emoji] JUICE [mango emoji] The 2nd beer in The Breakfast Club Pack: JUICE 8% Guava, Papaya and Mango Smoothie Sour. For JUICE we’ve collaborated with Scottish Kings of Sours, @vaultcitybrewing, for a tropical fruit smoothie explosion to get those 5-a-day in and start your day off right! [peach emoji][mango emoji][clock emoji]”, accompanied by a shot of a table arrangement with mango, a can of the beer, and smoothie poured from a blender into a Brew York branded glass."

The complainant asked whether the ad made a health claim that was not permitted for alcoholic drinks, and irresponsibly condoned and encouraged unwise styles of drinking or excessive drinking.

The ASA said Brew York Ltd had said the advertised beer’s ‘smoothie sour’ style was common in the craft beer industry and the beer was part of their “Breakfast Club” range that included several others inspired by flavours commonly associated with breakfast. 

"They said that taking flavour inspiration from breakfast items did not go so far as to encourage drinking at breakfast.

"They emphasised that the alarm clock emoji had been included for the sole purpose of foregrounding the breakfast theme and was not intended to signal that the product should be consumed early in the day."

A Brew York spokesperson told The Press that its beer names and designs were known for being 'playful, and our social media tone is light and conversational at Brew York, and the tweet reflected this.'

They said: "While we felt it obvious that we were making tongue-in-cheek references such as ‘one of your five a day’, the complaint highlighted that we need to be more careful with our choice of wording. 

"What’s more, the image used in the tweet referred to the unusually high juice content of this particular beer, and was not intended to in any way encourage or condone drinking at breakfast time. We apologised to the ASA for the choices we made on this occasion.

"We will do our utmost to uphold responsible advertising standards."