The Cask Report 2018-19

[oldboots]

Most of us are cask or even cask only drinkers so here's this year's report

https://cask-marque.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cask-Report-2018-19.pdf

[Gann]

Interesting read and a lot of sensible comment within it, and some clear warning signs for me...

"Cask Marque monitoring during July 2018 showed that almost 7 in 10 pints of cask were served warmer than the recommended temperature of 11-13°C."
I think we have all been there recently !

"the downside is that if cask does not start to recruit new drinkers soon it will be heading to the grave along with its predominant fan base."
Totally agree but best of luck with that !. The double whammo is the large drop in youth drinking driven by this social media generation that don't want to appear pissed on Instagram, and those that are graduating to drinking beer are drinking Craft Keg..

Sadly I think all of us on here qualify as the "predominant fan base" predicted to die out, but at least fortunately for me I have no modern Keg hangup and will be doing the Tottenham Tap rooms of Beavertown, Pressure Drop and Brewheadz next month, so hopefully that may mean I live longer...

[RealAleRobUK]

I have to confess I didn't read the full report.

I think to a certain extent you can't force people to drink cask ale. If they don't like it, or don't want to try it, you might be able to turn a few round with better promotion or advertising but if nobody is drinking it, people will stop buying it and it will die out. Yes it would be a shame, but basic supply and demand. Then no doubt in another 10 or 20 years after someone will "re-invent" cask ales and they will become popular again. In the same way that some styles of beer disappear and then come back again. We may just have to accept that.

The report also mentions new breweries but still no increase in cask. A lot of breweries don't do cask ale, as the profit margins are lower. If the new breweries that are springing up take that approach then there is not going to be an increase in production and consumption relative to the number of breweries in existence.

Personally I love cask ale and it is my go-to beer. If I am looking at visiting new pubs I tend to filter by those that serve real ale. I may be missing out on a few places that do decent craft stuff, but it weeds out all those grim pubs that are somehow still in business serving only John Smiths Smooth, Fosters and Guinness.

I'm not afraid to try the craft stuff, but with cask you know you can go into a pub, it won't be a ridiculous strength and it won't break the bank. With craft the strengths and prices can vary significantly. Cask offers stability in that respect.

Perhaps what also does not help the image of cask is that many people perhaps see it in two places - food pubs (which tend to be Greene King or Marstons) or in Wetherspoons (where they see a 'certain type' of customer drinking it). Wetherspoons do some great real ales at great prices but the chain does have a certain image. If someone's first impression of cask is a lukewarm pint of Greene King IPA it's not going to create a favourable memory of cask ales in general.

[Brainypool]

As a new generation drinker i'm pleased to report the group I drink with is now resolutely cask only:) but the trends noted about young drinkers are largely correct. my local is an excellent real ale pub but it's still very much 'cask for the adults, Estrella/Coors for the kids'. slightly more positive signs at universities and cities although I suspect craft is growing far more quickly. the trend is creeping away from quantity towards quality - the cask/craft/cider festival at my university (Lancaster) had an attendance in the 1000s this year so the market for the 'good stuff' is there.

[Mobyduck]

Sadly I think all of us on here qualify as the "predominant fan base" predicted to die out, but at least fortunately for me I have no modern Keg , so hopefully that may mean I live longer...
Ditto

[Aqualung]

"Cask Marque monitoring during July 2018 showed that almost 7 in 10 pints of cask were served warmer than the recommended temperature of 11-13°C."


Warm or worse in my experience of the heat wave. In a few Spoons it was just rank rather than warm. I wonder how any beer festivals got on.

[london calling]

The problems with cask is warm beer and beer on sale for too long.I can see a steady decline now that keg has sorted out its problems of being too cold and fizzy.If it was the same price as cask then cask would be doomed.I still drink 75/25 cask to keg but this long summer in London showed up the temperature problems with cask.Contrary to Aqualung I find Wetherspoons beers are always cool enough.

[Aqualung]

Contrary to Aqualung I find Wetherspoons beers are always cool enough.

You misread what I said there. I had some rank pints (on sale too long) in JDWs during the heat. The worst example of warm beer was a GBG (still) listed Derby micropub. If the cellar immediately beneath the bar was cooled then it wasn't working. One beer was warm and rank and the other was warm.

[oldboots]

...in London ...


I think we can see the problem here.


BTW Sam Smiths OBB is usually served at about 9C and it's usually vinegar.

[sheffield hatter]

Sam Smiths OBB is usually served at about 9C and it's usually vinegar.

In my experience it's too cold, as you say, but I've never had an OBB that was actually off. Uninspired, yes. Tired, occasionally. Brilliant, not really.

[rpadam]

In my experience it's too cold, as you say, but I've never had an OBB that was actually off. Uninspired, yes. Tired, occasionally. Brilliant, not really.
That aligns with my experience too.

[NickDavies]

The problems with cask is warm beer and beer on sale for too long.

Indeed. The end of lunchtime drinking (outside the JDW bubble) hasn't helped. I've just about given up drinking cask in some pubs round here before early evening because the chances are it will have been sitting in the pipes for 18 hours. The lengthy and energetic pumping of mainly bubbles and air required to get something like a full pint is a giveway. And what you get will taste like it's been sitting in a slop bucket since last night.

[london calling]

I was in Small Beer in Crouch End recently and one of the beers had a strange taste but was drinkable.The guy behind the bar told me that the four cask beers ,two had been on for 2 days,the Burning sky beer had been on 5 days and the strange tasting beer from Track was on its 6th day but he was taking it off that night. Its lack of beer knowledge that will kill cask.

[NickDavies]

It's lack of beer knowledge that will kill cask.

At pub near me which ought to know better, it's got a microbrewery out the back, the girl serving had an awful stuggle producing a pint of Purity Mad Goose. "It should be fine, fresh in this morning"

Sob.

[london calling]

At pub near me which ought to know better, it's got a microbrewery out the back, the girl serving had an awful stuggle producing a pint of Purity Mad Goose. "It should be fine, fresh in this morning"

Sob.

Bright beer? Rather than secondary fermented cask beer.

[Aqualung]

Bright beer? Rather than secondary fermented cask beer.

I was told by the bloke behind the bar in a Whitby pub that Marston's Wainwright is exactly that. The brewery has become something of a joke in my book.

[NickDavies]

Bright beer? Rather than secondary fermented cask beer.

Not when the eventual drink produced is cloudy with a strong yeasty flavour.

[london calling]

Not when the eventual drink produced is cloudy with a strong yeasty flavour.

Isnt cask beer meant to look cloudy?

[Quinno]

In my experience it's too cold, as you say, but I've never had an OBB that was actually off. Uninspired, yes. Tired, occasionally. Brilliant, not really.

I've had a couple in London. Cold and vinegar - quite the combo!

[Tris39]

I've had a couple in London. Cold and vinegar - quite the combo!

Yup. Three Goats Heads in Oxford - a fairly sour pint of OBB and typically too cold. Bit rundown also.

[london calling]

Beer too warm? Doombar are selling Dombar extra chilled.It comes from the same cask as the warm stuff but I presume they will fit another handpump. They are trying it out in a few pubs first.
Also Cloudwater have decided to start re -selling cask beer but will only sell it to pubs who they think will handle it correctly.Great brewery but mega expensive for keg.

[Bucking Fastard]

Also Cloudwater have decided to start re -selling cask beer but will only sell it to pubs who they think will handle it correctly.Great brewery but mega expensive for keg.

That's interesting as I seem to remember Cloudwater were very vocal when abandoning cask,mainly due to poor economics IIRC.Glad that they have returned to the fold,it would be good to find out where they deem the cellar skills sufficiently high to be trusted with their casks.

[RealAleRobUK]

That's interesting as I seem to remember Cloudwater were very vocal when abandoning cask,mainly due to poor economics IIRC.Glad that they have returned to the fold,it would be good to find out where they deem the cellar skills sufficiently high to be trusted with their casks.

Excellent news, and confirmed on their blog here:

https://cloudwaterbrew.co/blog/2018/9/30/aw18-part-2-cask-is-back

Could this be related to the earlier news that the Head Brewer (and Co-Founder) has left Cloudwater for pastures new?

The Cloudwater tap room has recently relocated and has extended opening hours compared to before. So I would say even if they don't trust many pubs with their cask beer there would certainly be an outlet for it at their tap room, whereas previously their restricted opening times may have rendered this unviable.

[Wittenden]

Excellent news, and confirmed on their blog here:

https://cloudwaterbrew.co/blog/2018/9/30/aw18-part-2-cask-is-back

Could this be related to the earlier news that the Head Brewer (and Co-Founder) has left Cloudwater for pastures new?

The Cloudwater tap room has recently relocated and has extended opening hours compared to before. So I would say even if they don't trust many pubs with their cask beer there would certainly be an outlet for it at their tap room, whereas previously their restricted opening times may have rendered this unviable.

Sounds good, though I've never even seen any of their beers.

[RealAleRobUK]

Sounds good, though I've never even seen any of their beers.

I have seen it in a handful of bars around Manchester, and cans available in bottle shops and the like. But I would not say it is widespread really.

Craft keg is often dispensed from a line of rather anonymous taps on the back wall of a bar, with a chalk board to guide you. Perhaps the presence of cask (in the right places) will make them more noticeable as the hand pulls are normally right in front of you on top of the bar with a massive pump clip attached.

[Wittenden]

I have seen it in a handful of bars around Manchester, and cans available in bottle shops and the like. But I would not say it is widespread really.

Craft keg is often dispensed from a line of rather anonymous taps on the back wall of a bar, with a chalk board to guide you. Perhaps the presence of cask (in the right places) will make them more noticeable as the hand pulls are normally right in front of you on top of the bar with a massive pump clip attached.

Probably hasn't reached Kent, and I don't go into keg haunts (usually).

[Tris39]

Beer too warm? Doombar are selling Dombar extra chilled.It comes from the same cask as the warm stuff but I presume they will fit another handpump. They are trying it out in a few pubs first.
Also Cloudwater have decided to start re -selling cask beer but will only sell it to pubs who they think will handle it correctly.Great brewery but mega expensive for keg.

Chilled Doom Bar? Out of the frying pan, into the fire (or perhaps fridge).

[NickDavies]

Chilled Doom Bar? Out of the frying pan, into the fire (or perhaps fridge).

Could be OK. It might take the (lack of) taste away

[london calling]

London is flooded with Cloudwater beers .I think everything they brew is more or less pre-sold to regular buyers of their beer.The prices are eye watering rather than cloudwatering

[RealAleRobUK]

London is flooded with Cloudwater beers .I think everything they brew is more or less pre-sold to regular buyers of their beer.The prices are eye watering rather than cloudwatering

They definitely have some presence in London, and they were planning on opening a Tap Room there (which may be open by now, don't know).

[london calling]

They definitely have some presence in London, and they were planning on opening a Tap Room there (which may be open by now, don't know).
No don't think its open yet but they will be selling cask which is good.

[Aqualung]

London is flooded with Cloudwater beers .I think everything they brew is more or less pre-sold to regular buyers of their beer.The prices are eye watering rather than cloudwatering

I'm glad to say it's completely passed me by!