Earlier this week, the family-run business announced a 5% lift in turnover for its financial year ended 31 December 2025, driven in part by demand for its darker beer brands, including Theakston XB.
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Bradbury said the renewed popularity of stout post-Covid had encouraged more people to try darker beers, with many then moving on to darker cask ales.
“Guinness brought many more consumers into dark beer after Covid and it’s then an easy transition from stout into darker ales,” he told The MA.
“That said, we have seen consistent year on year growth in Theakston Old Peculier every year since Covid, even before the stout boom.”
He added the shift reflected wider changes in consumer tastes, with drinkers moving away from paler, heavily hopped beers in favour of other styles, notably those with “heritage and provenance”.
Reassurance of quality
“Pre-Covid too many pubs seemed to be selling paler beers only, now there is a much better balance in ranges”, Bradbury continued.
“Drinkers are not looking for brand extensions.
“There is still space for a bit of fun around the edges in collaborations and seasonal beers, as long as they don’t dilute focus on your core range.”
As the price of a pint continues to rise, the manging director added consumers were increasingly seeking “reassurance of quality”.
This extended not just to how cask is cared for, but how it is dispensed, he explained, with consistency in serve critical to success.
“We believe the use of the sparkler to pour cask is a common factor amongst better performing brands,” Bradbury said.
“You wouldn’t drink Guinness without a head so why expect people to drink a flat pint of cask.”
Regional resilience
Confidence among licensees has also improved when it comes to cask, he said, supported by training and operational support, helping to address earlier concerns around waste and consistency.
Bradbury further highlighted regional resilience within the category, particularly in the North and Midlands, as well as in community pubs and destination venues that focus on quality.
Beyond on-trade performance, the brewery boss stressed perceptions of cask decline were not reflected in Theakston’s experience or that of other smaller brewers.
“Market stats would paint a very negative picture. That’s not our experience at all”, he said.
“Traditional market data captures the performance of larger brewers, but it is brands from these brewers that are showing decline as they place more focus on other drinks categories.
“Brewers like ourselves, who are much more focused on the specific health of the cask ale category, are performing much better.”
