That’s the opinion of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) head of comms Neil Walker who spoke about cask beer on a recent episode of the Lock-In Podcast with hosts Ed Bedington and Nikkie Thatcher from The Morning Advertiser and Frisco Pubs managing director Heath Ball.
Despite sales for cask having been in a long-term decline, Walker said the sector is “a bit of a mixed bag” of late because the data from insights expert only takes into account the biggest cask beer brands while independent brewers are seeing double-digit growth.
Walker stated: “Cask is having a bit of a resurgence and growing in popularity, and breweries that perhaps didn’t do cask before have started to give it a go, which is really good to see.
Best way to represent that beer
“For example, Titanic Brewery sells its Plum Porter all over the country as does Fynes Ales with its Yarl. These are really popular beers and are pretty big independent breweries but even these don’t count towards those [insights experts’] figures. We’ve also got a really long tail, so there’s loads of really small breweries that only serve within a 40-mile radius to their breweries that are doing well.
“Breweries that are doing cask and doing it well are looking back at those traditional styles and so are some of the craft breweries – there’s Cloudwater and Deya are good examples who are doing cask but when they do so, they’re not just putting one of their 7% ABV New England IPAs into cask. They’re actually thinking about it and considering the format.
“They’re putting best bitters into cask. They’re putting some of their lower ABV pale ales into cask because they can see that’s the best way to represent that beer. It shows a bit of maturity in the market as well. It’s not about one format being better than the other. We’re not saying cask is the be all and end all because there’s some great beers in keg as well so it’s about what’s best for the beer. Those breweries are choosing really well what they put into cask and we’re getting some really interesting stuff out there now.”
Really tough
Walker added the route to market is difficult for smaller breweries and while there is a demand from customers to the on-trade for more options but, largely, pubs are closed off to independent breweries.
He cited statistics that show most breweries are unable to sell to most pubs in their area with the figures being about 60% to 70% that can’t sell to their locals.
“It’s really tough,” Walker added. “We need to open it up. And the Government have said they’re looking into access to market for small breweries and trying to make it a more level playing field so small breweries can compete against those global big boys but more needs to be done. We still haven’t seen the outcome of that consultation yet.”
- To listen to the rest of what Walker said and to hear opinion from others in the industry including the Wenlock Arms’ Samson Arnett-Roughley; Alice and Christian Ogley of Blind Jacks in Knaresborough; George Greenaway from the Tamworth Tap in Tamworth; Robinsons’ Jon Kendall and Craft Locals’ Mitch Adams, click here or download the Lock-In Podcast from your usual online music provider.
