Cask Marque launched Cask Ale Week 2022 with a seminar on the future of cask beer, featuring leading industry speakers. The Future of Cask seminar took place on the 22nd September 2022 at the Brewers’ Hall in London.
Presentations were made by leading figures in the beer industry, including Chairman of JD Wetherspoons, Tim Martin, alongside Tim Dewey, Chief Executive of Timothy Taylor’s Brewery, Katie Wiles, Senior Communications Manager at CAMRA and Pete Brown, the British Guild of Beer Writers’ Beer Writer of the Year.
Pete Brown reported on the cask ale market, presenting new research on the market post-pandemic, covering both consumer behaviour and trade findings. Pete reported that the number of people who claim to drink cask beer continues to rise, with 21% of all drinkers claiming to have enjoyed cask ale in the last three months in 2022 (compared with 18% in 2015 and 20% in 2017).
He also reported the below positive headlines for cask ale:
- 5.4 million cask drinkers out of home
- 44% of cask drinkers say that cask ale is a “sign of a good pub”
- 33% of cask drinkers say that cask ale is “what makes pubs special”
The seminar went on to focus on how to make cask ale increasingly appealing to drinkers, attracting younger and new consumers to cask beer through education, marketing and presentation. It marked the launch of Cask Marque’s Cask Ale Week 2022, which runs until the 2nd October 2022 and encourages drinkers to discover cask ale.
Pete Brown says: “There’s a lot of fondness for cask ale among both drinkers and publicans that doesn’t necessarily get reflected in hard sales figures. Cask has its issues, but the lessons for resolving those issues are very clear whenever you look at where cask is thriving.”
Paul Nunny, Director of Cask Marque, says: “We’re delighted to launch Cask Ale Week 2022 with the news that more drinkers are trying cask ale. While the industry continues to face a number of challenges this year, we hope that consumers are encouraged to enjoy our nation’s great tradition of cask ale.
There’s no better time to discover cask ale than during Cask Ale Week, and we already have over 100 events and promotions nationwide listed on our website to ensure that every drinker can get involved with this fantastic campaign and support their local bars, pubs and breweries while raising a glass to cask.”
Cask Ale Week runs from the 22 September – 2 October 2022 with a programme of exciting events and promotions across the UK. Across 11 days, the campaign will celebrate Britain’s national drink: cask beer.
Drinkers can get involved with Cask Ale Week by visiting the website, where all events and promotions are listed.