Cask Ale

Opinion for the cask project on beer quality for customers

the cask project – opinion

Cask ale shouldn’t be Russian roulette

By Gary Lloyd, associate features editor at The Morning Advertiser

There’s nothing better than seeing a beer on the bar you really want to try rather than the homogenous offer available at almost all pubs.

Sharp's and Shepherd Neame win beer awards

the cask project

Sharp’s and Shepherd Neame scoop awards

By Gary Lloyd

Cornwall-based Sharp’s Brewery is celebrating after its cask ales were among beers from its portfolio that earned honours at prestigious awards events.

Beer is top choice: rugby fans prefer beer to any other beverage when watching a match (credit: Getty/South_agency)

Beer is the choice of drink for rugby fans

By Gary Lloyd

Research by the organisers of the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) has found 42% of rugby fans choose to drink beer at the pub when watching a match.

Event return: the coronavirus pandemic meant the Great British Beer Festival hasn't been available for two years

GBBF returns to capital

By Nikkie Thatcher

The Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) is set to start in London tomorrow (Tuesday 2 August) after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

CMBC technical specialist John Fogg Q&A session

the cask project

All the technical help you need for cask

By Gary Lloyd

Adding a cask beer offering to your pub can be a great way to introduce a new revenue stream while paying homage to what many describe as the most quintessentially British of products.

Big plans: Robinsons has seen profits climb ahead of its move to amalgamate its head office, brewing and packaging operations

Robinsons turns loss into £4.5m profit

By Gary Lloyd

Stockport-based brewer and pub operator Robinsons Brewery has announced an operating profit of £4.5m after ploughing £3.5m into its managed and tenanted pub estates.

Consumer ideas on how to improve the cask category

the cask project

Could cooling cask create a greater customer base?

By Marc Walker, consumer journalist and cask ale lover

As someone who came of age in the late 1990s, my journey to cask ale drinker might be considered fairly typical; as a student, I simply went for the same drink as my peers: big brand, non-descript lager, entirely unaware that an alternative, boasting...

Pint price: drinkers at more than 700 JD Wetherspoon pubs can buy a pint of Ruddles Best for under £1.50

JDW serving pints for under £1.50

By Nikkie Thatcher

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon is selling pints of beer of £1.49 in a large majority of its pubs across the nation.

Greene King creates new role to champion cask ale

the cask project

Cask has to be perfect to attract younger drinkers

By John Malone, head of brewery customer engagement, Greene King

Brewer and pub operator Greene King has created a new role that is set to champion the most British of drinks – cask ale. Here, head of brewery customer engagement, John Malone, explains what he and the Suffolk-based business is doing to help the cask...

In style: more than a third of Londoners favour a craft beer

Londoners sup 2.5 pints every week

By Gary Lloyd

Londoners drink two and a half pints of beer every week and most enjoy a mainstream brand of beverage, according to research by Bermondsey craft brewer Fourpure.

St Austell Brewery talks about cask quality and give top tips

the cask project

Top cellar tips to ensure quality cask

By Su Stafford, St Austell Brewery trade quality manager

When it comes to cask beer, cellar management is key to achieving top quality and taste. St Austell Brewery’s trade quality manager, Su Stafford, gives her top tips.

Pete Brown on how cask ale can use some hops better than kegged beers

the cask project

Cask is building on craft ideas

By Pete Brown

Too often in this industry, we tend to take an adversarial approach to trends: beer versus wine, lager versus ale, keg versus cask, cask versus craft...

Black Sheep Brewery and Salcombe to release new cask ales

the cask project

New cask ales to hit pubs UK-wide

By Gary Lloyd

Cask fans will be able to enjoy new beers from Black Sheep Brewery and Salcombe Brewery Co next month (July).

It’ll change your life: Maisie Adam joins Black Sheep Brewery’s cask campaign

Black Sheep partners comedy star to fight back on cask

By Gary Lloyd

Masham-based Black Sheep Brewery has launched the latest phase of its Drink Cask Beer campaign with the launch of a ‘mean tweets’ video starring comedian Maisie Adam that addresses haters of the cask category.

Why do we sell cask beer too cheaply?

Let's stop being cheap with cask

By Ed Bedington

Our consistently cheap approach to the sale of cask beer is one of the main reasons we struggle to ignite the category.

Vocation Brewery on cask ale and category future

the cask project

Vocation ramps up cask range post-pandemic

By Gary Lloyd

Vocation Brewery sales director John Hadingham answers a few questions about the Hebden Bridge-based beer producer, the business’s cask ale range and offers advice for pub licensees.

Why selling cask gives a pub an advantage

the cask project

Making cask ale more commercially viable

By Anthony Hughes, director of Lincoln Green Brewing Company

We’ve seen the statistics and know from our own experiences; cask is in decline.

Theakston and Robinsons launch beers for Queen's Platinum Jubilee

the cask project

Theakston, Robinsons and Joseph Holt launch Jubilee beers

By Gary Lloyd

North Yorkshire brewery T&R Theakston, Stockport-based Robinsons Brewery, Manchester brewer and operator Joseph Holt and Hook Norton Brewery of Oxfordshire are celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with the launch of new beers.

Double joy: Salcombe has been recognised in both European and SIBA competitions

Salcombe Brewery celebrates two gold beer wins

By Gary Lloyd

Devon-based brewer Salcombe Brewery Co has scooped a gold medal at the 2022 European Beer Challenge for its Pilsner beer following hot on the heels of a gold for Belgica, its small batch Belgian Pale Ale, at the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) Awards.

Quality is key for cask beer

Are you getting it right on cask?

By Ed Bedington

Are you selling your cask beer within the three day window? That’s the question we’re asking as part of The Cask Project.

Female drinkers' choices could lead to more cask ale sales

the cask project

Female drinkers could be key in cask take-up

By Gary Lloyd

Licensee Ady Smith operates Greene King pub the Dove Street Inn, in Ipswich, with partner Karen. Here he explains how they took on the site and how cask can break ground with younger people.

How can cask beer retain its relevance?

The cask project

How can cask beer retain its relevance?

By Nikkie Thatcher

A number of beer experts discussed how cask can remain relevant The Morning Advertiser’s MA Leaders Club in Manchester earlier this week (Tuesday 10 May).

Dr Steve Housden talks about cask beer in quality and how to improve it

the cask project

Is it time to reform the tradition of cask beer?

By Dr Steve Housden, beer expert

I write as a lover of cask-conditioned ale and a veteran of some 40-odd years of brewing it, caring for it in pub cellars and, of course, drinking it.

Frisco boss Cuthbertson on cask ale

the cask project

We need to stop the ‘Real Ale Assassins’

By James Cuthbertson, director Frisco Group and ex-MD of Dark Star Brewing

Let’s be honest, as an industry, when it comes to cask beer, we need to do much better.

Improve your offer: if you a new pub operator who wants to add cask ale to your range, we can help

The Cask report

Call for new cask ale operators

By Ed Bedington

With cask beer being a unique product for UK pub operators, it’s important to ensure pubs are maximising the opportunity and getting it right and The Morning Advertiser (MA) is now seeking new operators to the trade to help them lay solid foundations...

Important part of a ‘proper’ pub: the appreciation of cask ale remains

The cask project

Licensees must realise the trouble cask is in

By Pete Brown

It’s 15 years now since I wrote the first edition of the Cask Report – an initiative organised by cask brewers and industry bodies to reinvigorate attitudes around cask ale. Now, The Cask Project is a new initiative with the same goals.

Falling numbers: CGA statistical analysis shows where cask ale is failing

The Cask Project

The decline of cask ale in numbers

By Gary Lloyd

The short shelf life of cask beer is a major factor in why the category has suffered a continued decline throughout recent years, according to statistics from data insights expert CGA.

Cleaning up: volunteers helping to clean beaches in the south-west of England can claim a free pint of beer

Free pint on offer for beach cleaners

By Gary Lloyd

Sharp’s Brewery and Stonegate Group are offering members of the public a free pint to encourage more people to join beach clean ups across the south-west of England.

Information provided: the SIBA Craft Beer Report 2022 is being launched today (Thursday 17 March) at BeerX UK 2022 in Liverpool

Cask sales ‘under serious threat’

By Nikkie Thatcher

Traditional cask beer is “under serious threat” due to consumer drinking habits changing to ordering online and drinking more at home, according to a new report.

Spotlight

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