Total volume for the category dropped to 979,000 hectolitres over the 12 months to August 2026, down 19.7% year-on-year and 10.4% versus two years ago, according to the latest NIQ on-trade OPM data.
Join our new WhatsApp channel: The Morning Round-Up
Get the biggest pub trade stories straight to your phone. Listen to our one-minute daily news briefing and receive breaking news, exclusives and sector updates throughout the day. Remember to turn notifications on in the top right corner! Join the channel here.
That compares with a 3.9% year-on-year decline and 1.7% fall two years ago for total draught beer.
However value sales have proved somewhat more resilient, with cask worth £805m, down 7.4% year-on-year and 3.1% against two years ago, helped by strong price growth.
Meanwhile, cask prices have continued to rise even as volumes decline.
Higher value
Price per litre reached £8.22 during the period, up 15.2% year-on-year and 8.2% in 2024, outperforming total draught beer price growth, according to NIQ.
However, the MA’s Beer Report 2026 found the average pint of cask in the on-trade stood at £4.91, with Timothy Taylor’s Landlord the highest-priced of the brands surveyed at £5.42, followed by London Pride at £5.22 and Tribute at £5.07.
Distribution also remains a key issue for the category, with cask available in 24k outlets, down 8.2% year-on-year and 5.1% compared with 2024.
Although pubs continuing to offer cask have seen more value from the category, with RoS increasing 0.8% in 2025 and 2.1% two years ago.
The figures further showed larger cask brands were generally proving more resilient than the category as a whole.
Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and Fuller’s London Pride, for example, have largely maintained volumes through improved distribution and strong outlet productivity.
Distribution declines
By contrast, Doom Bar and Greene King Abbot Ale have continued to experience significant volume and distribution declines.
This come as the category continues to focus on attracting a new generation of drinkers after years of decline.
Voices from across the sector recently told The Morning Advertiser (The MA) Gen Z and younger millennials, broadly those aged 18 to 35, were increasingly choosing cask at the bar, with established brands among the fastest-growing in the category.
Cask was also found to perform particularly strongly in food-led pubs, they added, where it accounted for 12.5% of beer spending, compared with 7.4% of draught beer sales by value across the market.
Education was also identified as key to bringing younger consumers into the category, with operators highlighting a lack of awareness around what cask is and how it differs from other beer styles as current barriers.
