Cask ale is intrinsically British — a product that’s unique to the British Isles. If we don’t protect it, there is a risk that it will continue to decline and eventually die out — and where will that leave the great British pub? It has been said that a pub without cask is just a bar, and by supporting the campaign to list real ale as a cultural heritage icon, I believe it will not only protect cask ales’ status, by delivering the recognition it deserves, it will also support the traditional, British pub.
Sales of cask beer have ebbed and flowed over many years, but in the last decade the decline has been significant. British Beer & Pub Association figures report that cask beer accounted for just 4.3% of overall beer sales in 2021, down from 8.3% in 2015. The pandemic didn’t help, because it caused many pubs to turn their backs on it, due to its short shelf life and because they could replace it with flavoursome beer in kegs that lasted for longer.
The reality for cask is that it has become a specialist product, sold by enthusiastic and committed brewers and pubs that are able and willing to specialise in it, companies like Everards, Robinsons and my own, Lincoln Green. And I’m delighted to say that within these brewers’ estates, cask is most definitely alive and well and is successfully working, in terms of delivering footfall and sales.
The reason behind this success is passion — a love of cask ale.
We know that where pubs have a vested interest in cask, those that ensure it’s kept in the best possible condition and is served by enthusiastic and passionate individuals, consumers will seek it out and will buy it.
Earlier this year, I was in Liverpool and took the opportunity to visit a pub called The Monro — Si King, he of Hairy Bikers’ fame, once said that if he could marry a pub, it would be The Monro. The site had been a restaurant that had lost its way, and when it was taken over by the current owners, they started redeveloping the site, uncovering interesting architectural features, which they’ve chosen to leave on display: this includes having bits of ceiling hanging down and areas looking like a building site. The result is that it’s incredibly cool, and is absolutely packed.
When I visited, there were 10 cask ales on the bar, all in great condition, with lots of people enjoying a phenomenal pint in an eclectic space. The Monro has found its niche — it’s the sort of place that you’ll discover if you’re cool enough — and cask is a fundamental part of that.
Also, I was the oldest person in there. A sweeping generalisation that drives me to distraction is that cask ale doesn’t appeal to young people or women. This is untrue and is not reflected in our pubs’ customers or beer sales. Walk into a Lincoln Green pub and you’ll see women and young people enjoying cask, because it’s served in great condition by people who are enthusiastic and passionate about it.
Responsible for cask’s decline in popularity, I believe, are the big, mainstream brewers and pub companies which have moved towards having just one, sad and lonely handpull on the bar. That’s where the fall in volume has come from.
Just one handpull, is not enough to excite the cask drinking audience, who are looking for a good range, choice and great condition. One handpull also suggests that the pub doesn’t have the throughput or skill necessary to deliver a great pint.
Yet, ask the average person on the street what a pub means to them, and they’ll describe things like ‘a log fire, beer garden and hand pulls on the bar’ — the defining essence of a British pub. Whereas a bar is about lager fonts and an amazing range of spirits and wine — but no cask ale.
In today’s trading climate, we all have to focus harder than ever before on giving people a reason to visit; some form of themed event, such as a beer festival with 10-20 beer styles on offer. You could say that this is a bit old hat and not terribly clever, so we like to take it to the next level and really create interest.
During the Great British Beer Festival, for instance, we looked at the competition’s categories and chose beers that had been awarded gold. We put those on the bar and asked customers to vote for the beer they thought should have been Champion Beer of Britain. So, instead of having 10-20 beers in a beer festival, where you risk wastage, we created something far more compelling, with people excited to get involved.
We also do something called Macro versus Micro, where we put five macro brewers’ beers on the bar, for example, Greene King IPA, Doom Bar and Marston’s Pedigree, alongside five independent brewers’ brews. We don’t use the pump clips, just random numbers to identify the beer, and we give the ABVs. Then, we invite people to buy a pint, blind taste it, and to try to identify the macros from the micros. Technically, of course, the beers from the macro brewers are very good, but the question is, how well do they stand up against an independently brewed beer?
At our pub, the Robin Hood and Little John in Nottingham, we invited 10 members of the local CAMRA branch to do the blind tasting and to score each beer. We also asked customers to vote for their favourite, using a green counter, like customers do in the big supermarkets to vote for the charity they want to receive that month’s donation. We award our winner based upon the CAMRA vote, the number of counters the beer receives and, thirdly, a metric of sale — which beer sells out first. It’s a great talking point, and very good for social media content too.
We also celebrate the patron saints’ days. On St George’s Day we have English ale, but why stick to just St George’s Day when St David’s Day is a great excuse to create a Welsh playlist, do some classically Welsh dishes, paired with Welsh beer — and all of a sudden, you have a simple event interesting enough to get people in.
Of course, none of this works without an enthusiastic and passionate team who are genuinely interested in beer, and who can talk to customers about their favourite brewer, happily dispensing fascinating facts that show a deep understanding of a product they love.
Consumers want that interesting conversation at the bar with someone who is knowledgeable and passionate. For example, when pouring a pint of Timothy Taylor’s, our bar team might mention it’s brewed in Keighley and one of the flavour profiles is Seville oranges. These are the kind of gems that make customers want to return — and no one has ever had these kinds of conversations about a pint of Carling!
With cask, there is usually a story behind it. And it’s not hard to get your team interested with a visit to local brewers and by helping them to learn more about the product — and become involved in the campaign to get real ale UNESCO cultural heritage status.
Pubs have a unique story to tell and cask is part of that narrative. It’s something to be celebrated, enjoyed and protected. What’s more, as cask is only served in the great British pub, success in this campaign will protect pubs too — so let’s all raise a pint of delicious, fresh real ale and drink to that.
