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I was in Stockholm last weekend. I had a chance to visit a few bars around the city. There was cask beer, but not very much of it. Mostly, the draught beer is keg. Even if there was a big market for British cask beer out there, it wouldn't be particularly practical to send cask beer long distances where the journey might take over a week and where temperature control isn't particularly good. On top of that, getting empties back would be problematic.


There is quite a bit of beer imported into the UK. I think this is OK, and I'm responsible to some extent as I like to try different beers from time-to-time. Distributing new styles and ideas makes the beer world more vibrant. Personally, I'd like to see the foreign stuff made by more UK breweries, as it seems daft to transport large amounts of beer around the world. However, it does happen, and as a UK beer producer, if beer is imported into the UK I'd like a slice of that global beer market. I don't think that's unreasonable.


To be able to export beer it is almost essential to be able to put it into keg. When doing so it is also important to develop keg products through local domestic markets. How else can solid and dependable quality be tested and assured?


The above is a key reason for majoring in keg at Hardknott OnTrack. We have one cask line, and most of our customers don't really care so long as the beer is good.


But is does get a little irritating when a few people, you know the type, have to make a big deal out of it. Hardknott is moving forward without the constraints of preconceived ideas about cask beer. I think this is very important for any progressive craft brewery.




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