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28-09-2010, 19:51
Visit the Tandleman's Beer Blog site (http://tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/nagging-worry.html)


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PWOsh5tJhjM/TKImaiNQ0kI/AAAAAAAACkI/4O0qhntPj4Y/s320/handpumps.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PWOsh5tJhjM/TKImaiNQ0kI/AAAAAAAACkI/4O0qhntPj4Y/s1600/handpumps.jpg) Since the publication of the Cask Report yesterday, there has been a flurry of comment on blogs including this one. My perception is that the overall feeling among commentators is one of cautious optimism, which is I reckon, the overall tone of the report itself. In blogging comment the report has had largely favourable and positive reaction, though some have been keen to push their own interests in bottled and(quality) keg beer, which is not covered by the report at all. (That's what they are complaining about.) The ever practical Cookie did though knock wind out of sails, by pointing out the inconvenient truth, that no matter how well it is doing, at 15% of the on trade, cask pong is still running far behind lout.

The analysis in the Cask Report itself is pretty compelling stuff though, suggesting that good though things are, we are in for better times still, with a shift towards younger and smarter people drinking the real stuff, while (presumably) the less enlightened head for Tesco and Sainsbury for their slabs of yellow fizz. Less reassuring, nay worrying, is the section on "Barriers to Cask Beer Growth" which makes dismal reading really, as does the trend analysis, with 38% of so called cask beer drinkers confessing to "hardly ever drinking it." Not exactly reassuring or a cause for optimism. A red light blinks in the mind too, as we consider the warnings about quality which is still a major trade issue. Nonetheless there is overall a pretty encouraging tale to tell, with more pubs selling it, more younger people and more women drinking it, CAMRA membership booming, real ale becoming a "must have" and increasing sales figures.

The Cask Report is good news, but there remains a worry that any cask beer boom will be followed by a cask beer bust, as quality, already a problem in many places, lags behind expectations and creates a destructive perception of the product. It's what has happened before. It mustn't be allowed to happen again.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8629758183547510158-6550627371804750230?l=tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.c om


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