Cask Ale Week 2025, which will take place all across the UK from 18 September to 28 September, will champion cask beer – a product that is only available at UK pubs on a regular basis.
Tamworth Tap operator George Greenaway has stated his Staffordshire site will host a mini beer festival featuring Cornish ales to start the proceedings on Thursday 18 September and there will be live music on Friday 19 September from The Thunderboiz to officially launch the week.
Beers will include Tamworth Whopper IPA 6.5% ABV, Bathams best bitter 4.3% ABV and Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby 6% ABV and up to 30 new and rare beers from Cornwall and rest of the UK.
Greenaway told The Morning Advertiser: “We will be have two points of serving, which will be the main bar and a garden bar.
Future is bright
“We always get representation of styles and strengths. Favourites, rare, one-offs and collabs while The Thunderboiz will be playing covers of ’60s, ’70s and ’80s in their own style.”
On the subject of the importance of Cask Ale Week, he said: “It highlights the availability of good cask ale and showcases to drinkers that wouldn’t usually order it.
“[Cask ale] is why people visit the Tamworth Tap from all over the UK. We continue to champion cask and celebrate its uniqueness. We have campaigned at all levels for brewery industry support as we believe cask showcases the very best of the UK pub industry. The future is bright for cask at the Tap.”
If you want to use Cask Ale Week to your advantage, Suffolk brewer Adnams has some advice and gave his take on cask beer.
Free tasters
Head brewer Fergus Fitzgerald said: “Free tasters will hopefully encourage many drinkers to enjoy a pint of cask ale during Cask Ale Week and make it one of their regular drinks.
“If more people chose cask ale on just one more of their visits to the pub, it would make a big difference to the future prospects for our national drink – and to pubs, which are the only place to sell it.
“Ironically, cask beer seems to be more appreciated globally than it is in Britain. Incoming tourists put a visit to a traditional pub to enjoy a pint of foaming cask ale close to the top of their ‘must do’ list. Equally, many of the world’s top craft beer brewers cite British cask ale as their biggest influence.
”However, local pubs really need local customers in order to thrive. Cask Ale Week is an opportunity for drinkers to find the style they most enjoy, and show their support for British pubs and British beer.”
- Is your pub celebrating Cask Ale Week? If it is, send the details such as your pub name, address, what you are doing, why cask ale is important and tell us what you think the future of cask ale is to gary.lloyd@wrbm.com for potential inclusion in The Cask Project’s Cask Ale Week stories.
