Hard on the heels of the Camra Good Beer Guide (see last post) comes confirmation from this year's 'state of the industry' Cask Report(www.caskreport.co.uk) that the future of Britain's national tipple is really looking pretty good.
It is further confirmation, if needed, of what we who drink in good pubs such as Brunning & Price houses have know for some years; cask ale, kept well, brings people into the pub. It is the cask drinkers that Rule OK when it comes to pub choice. This, apparently, is now called the 'cask value chain' and is hailed as the saviour for many pubs as 52 a week close across the country. It means that those publicans who care enough to keep that tricky cask beer will also care about other things in their pub - like the quality of the ladies loos for instance!
The report - backed by several industry bodies including SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers - www.siba.co.uk ) was for the third year written by independent beer writer Pete Brown (www.petebrown.blogspot.com) and supported by evidence from industry statistics. So it's not just wishful thinking.
Apparently twice as many women tried cask ale last year (proves the point about the loos maybe), and many more younger people are taking to it. Altogether there were 400,000 new cask drinkers last year and it was distributed in 3,000 new pubs.
The hard bitten cask stalwarts of Harkers will be delighted to know that their pioneering work has not been in vain. At last, they are the trendy leaders of fashion and good taste ('though you might not realise it to look at them). They have certainly worked at this for long enough.
Yes, nationwide, cask ale sales are up a 'staggering' 1% - although up 2.5% in B & P pubs (while lager sales are down 4.5%); OK, still some distance to go, but it's all travelling in the right direction.
When we order that last quickie we can throw our heads back, open our throat, drink deeply and think of England. It's good for economy. Cheers!
