Old Speckled Hen could be next for dual-pour font

Old Speckled Hen could be the next Greene King beer to get the dual-pour font that offers a northern or southern-style pour.

That's according to Greene King brewing company marketing director Fiona Hope, who reported a 10% uplift in Greene King IPA sales at bars stocking the dual font for that brand. Some had seen sales rise as much as 70%.

Meanwhile, the northern-style smooth and creamy pour is proving the most popular — even in the south — said Hope.

The Revolution font for IPA offers drinkers a choice of a smooth and creamy pint popular in the north or a "clean and crisp" beer favoured in southern England.

The aim is to get the font onto 2,000 bars and Hope said around 200 had so far been fitted.

Asked about plans to roll out the font to other Greene King brands, Hope said: "Speckled Hen, maybe, because it's a brand that all sorts of generations of cask beer [fans] enjoy and it's nice in keg and cask and bottle.

"But now it's all about IPA."

Hope said the dual font, which represents a £1m spend, is "encouraging keg drinkers to have a go".

"They see a pint that's not that different from what they are used to, but it's a fresh beer."

She added: "A lot of southerners are not aware of a northern pint but they are being turned on to northern beer. Some pubs will sit there and it's stuck on southern and that's where it stays."