Brits show lack of cask ale knowledge

Cask Ale Week is underway but research by Greene King shows that Brits are surprisingly ignorant about the country's national brew.

A survey of 1,000 people by research company TNS commissioned by the Suffolk brewer shows more than 50 per cent of people don't know that barley is one of cask beer's main ingredients, although three-quarters do know that it contains hops.

Meanwhile, only half of those polled realised cask was a pub-only product and 10 per cent though it was a type of lager.

Greene King head brewer John Bexon said: "Most Brits know that wine is made from grapes, yet there's a surprising lack of knowledge about our own national drink.

"It's true that you don't need to know anything about ingredients and brewing processes to appreciate the taste and flavour of a great pint and for a lot of cask beer drinkers it may not matter that it is a fresh, natural product.

He added: "National Cask Ale Week provides the perfect opportunity to educate a new generation about real ale and - most importantly when local social institutions are under threat - to encourage them to get off their sofas and go to the pub."

The research also reveals that youngsters know the least about the country's national drink.

Almost 10 per cent of 18-24 year-olds believe milk and chocolate are among the main ingredients of cask beer.

And regionally Londoners know the least about cask beer: 20 per cent think it's a type of lager and seven per cent think it's a canned or bottled beer.

Six per cent believe that salt is one of its main ingredients and 12 per cent believe that corn or maize is.

Yorkshire folk are the most knowledgeable about cask ale with almost 60 per cent aware that it is available only in pubs and 40 per cent knowing that it is fresh and natural.

For more information about Cask Ale Week visit www.caskaleweek.co.uk​