Looking at the plight of the cask ale category at the launch of the SIBA Independent Beer Report 2026 last week, which took place at Sambrooks Brewery, south-west London, author Caroline Nodder revealed statistics to demonstrate the downfall.
On stating there had been a greater look at cask in the SIBA Independent Beer Report 2026, she said: “People’s current perception of cask [does not paint] a pretty picture.
“Only 11% of cask beer drinkers drink [cask] more than once a week. Only 27% of beer drinkers ever drink cask – and that’s down from 35% in our previous report. And only 11% of 18 to 24-year-old beer drinkers drink cask, which is down from 25% so that’s really negative.”
Women drinking cask falls
Nodder added the caveat that the sample survey came from YouGov so “it does to a certain extent depend on who is actually answering the questions”.
“Those trends are not good for cask,” she continued. “36% of male drinkers drink cask and that compares to only 13% of women and that’s a fall of 6 percentage points (pps) among men and 9pps among women year-on-year.
“On the more positive side, we asked a question about what would tempt beer drinkers to try cask and 41% said if pubs offered a free sample, they would try cask. If it was made locally – and this is very positive for SIBA member breweries – 31%, so almost a third, said they’d be much more likely to try it.
East Midlands drinks most cask
“Some 28% don’t know enough about it so that’s a communication challenge for the industry.”
Within the report, further analysis showed, geographically, the biggest drinkers of cask ale are in the east Midlands at 40% and the lowest number of cask drinkers are in Northern Ireland (14%) and Wales (21%).
Cask drinking had seen an upwards spike of 10% among the youngest age group in last year’s survey but this has not been sustained year-on-year despite 18 to 24-year-olds generally drinking more alcohol in 2026 – they are evidently just not choosing cask ale.
