It's worth the effort

When it comes to cask beer having a great knowledge of the product you are selling is of the utmost importance. The Publican and Greene King have teamed up to explain why.

There really is no way you can afford to underestimate the importance of cask beer in your pub.

For many brand owners the off-trade has become the place to grow their business. Look at how attractive the home has become to once faithful pub-goers. Sofas are comfier, takeaways are more plentiful, while TVs are bigger, flatter and have more channels than you can shake several large sticks at. And so many lager brands have targeted very attractive promotions at supermarket and off-licence shoppers.

Where does this leave pubs? If you can get chilled lager, spirits and mixers and wine as well as good entertainment at home, what is going to get people out to your pub? Great cask ale is an answer. It is, in marketing parlance, a "unique selling point" for your pub. So you have to make the most of it.

It stands to reason that the more you attract people to your pubs with cask ale, the more wine, lager, soft drinks and food you will sell as well, and the more you will get people playing your AWP machines. The point is you have to get them into your pub in the first place, and then get them to stay there - and great cask beer is a compelling way to do this.

In the second in our series of features uniting Greene King and The Publican's Proud of Pubs campaign in the cause of championing real beer, we examine how great cask beer can really drive your pub business. Cask beer, as you will see, is not an easy sell - you have to work hard at it. But the rewards, if you do make the effort, are well worth it.

The series will culminate in a DVD giveaway to Publican readers in March.

Interested in your profit? Become interested in your product​

Cask beer can be a big driver to any business - it's seen as a unique selling point, a "cross the road factor". Quality cask beer is a measure of your business - as it takes that little bit of extra care and attention this reflects the quality across your whole business. So once you've got the quality right, invest time in getting customers to drink it.

• One of the best ways to encourage new drinkers to try cask beer is through sampling. Ron Blackmore at the Fox, Bury St Edmunds, really believes that sampling can convert drinkers to cask.

"I try and make sure I'm proactive by taking a jug of freshly pulled beer to tables," says Ron. "No-one minds trying beer for nothing, for one small beer sample you can potentially win a beer drinker for life!"

Use your chalkboards to encourage customers to try cask beer. You can focus their attention on your seasonal beers and the quality of cask beer. Ron at the Fox lets his chalkboards do a lot of the work for him.

"Make statements, ask questions. You can capture people's imagination through describing cask beer in a really appealing way," he explains. "I use my chalkboards to encourage customers to try a cask beer which they wouldn't usually. By describing it temptingly it spurs them on to experiment with a drink they wouldn't usually order."

Empower your staff to know the difference between selling and allowing customers to buy. Make sure they can confidently describe the different flavours of the beer and suggest a personal recommendation. We challenge you to ask your staff to describe your cask beers on offer, if they don't give you the answer you'd like to hear as a drinker then teach them! Make sure your brewery supplies you with tasting notes so your staff can learn and talk about your beer.

Hold a real beer evening - try a different seasonal beer and experiment with dispensing from the cask to add a sense of theatre to the evening. Encourage a member of staff to champion it and perhaps at the end of the night hold a "guess the beer" quiz!

Hold a cask beer and food evening - encourage drinkers to see cask beer from a different perspective. There is a real opportunity for licensees who develop the food side of the market. Use your chalkboards to recommend some different cask beer and food matches. Imagine a smooth, rich glass of Old Speckled Hen with speciality sausages and mash dish (pictured)​! Promote a deliciously different dimension to cask beer.

Think about the theatre of cask beer - glassware can really make a difference, but make sure you get it right for your pub. For some customers and pubs branded glassware could make a difference, or goblet style half pint glasses - Greene King "Celebrate real Beer" goblet glasses (main picture)​ adds a real sense of theatre and occasion to a simple pint.

You can order these glasses from MDA on 0870 1451799. You will need a credit card to place an order and you can get 24 glasses for £24.99 (Product code: GK0051)

Remember what cask beer is all about. It's a natural product, made from wholesome ingredients, brewed following traditional recipe. This is one of the unique aspects of cask ale and you need to shout about it so you customers know!

Think about dressing the bar with hops and barley to really highlight the fact cask beer is a natural product - remember to get your staff on board, empower them with knowledge and let them sell it for you!