CAMRA is urging its members to join in the Cask Ale Week celebrations (22 September – 2 October) by supporting their local pubs and breweries participating in the festivities.
Cask Ale Week is a celebration of Britain’s national drink. It aims to engage and supports breweries, pubcos and pubs to organise events that encourage customers to discover – and fall in love with – real ale.
Pubs and breweries are organising a range of events and activities to celebrate, whether it’s offering a free pint, running a beer festival or featuring live music. Cask ale lovers can search for participating events by visiting https://caskaleweek.co.uk/map/ and via the CaskFinder app.
Users of the CaskFinder app will also be offered exclusive incentives during Cask Ale Week to use the app, visit new pubs and scan new beers.
Nik Antona, CAMRA’s National Chairman said: “The cask ale sector has been hard hit by the pandemic and hasn’t yet recovered. Cask Ale Week is therefore a fantastic opportunity to go out and support Britain’s national drink, which is truly the pinnacle of the brewing art. Cask beer is fresh, artisan, and naturally carbonated – furthermore it is almost exclusively available here in the UK. It is worth protecting, promoting, and preserving for generations to come.”
Paul Nunny, Director of Cask Marque, says: “Cask Ale Week is important for both cask beer and pubs. After all, the last stage of the fermentation process of real ale happens in the pub! We want to celebrate the pub as central to the community. It’s now more important than ever to support hospitality and to encourage human connection. We believe that the pub plays an important role in this, and Cask Ale Week not only introduces new drinkers to the fantastic tradition of cask beer, but encourages them to visit and support local breweries, pubcos and pubs in their locality.
“Last year was our most successful event to date with over 32 million people reached using #CaskAleWeek across multiple social media platforms. More than 150 different breweries and pub groups got involved, either running activities, promotions or sharing information on their social media.
“We look forward to bringing an even more successful Cask Ale Week to customers in 2022, reaching more drinkers and spreading the word about fresh cask beer.”
Cask Ale Week 2022 festivities kick off with a seminar entitled ‘The Future of Cask’, at the refurbished Brewers’ Hall in London on 22 September.
It’s not too late for licensees and breweries to plan something to promote real ale during Cask Beer Week 2022; please contact Cask Marque if you would like to get involved.
To find out more, please visit https://caskaleweek.co.uk/
Ends
Just some of the activities and events happening during Cask Ale Week 2022:
Brewery events
Hogs Back Brewery (Tongham, Surrey) are holding their Hop Harvest Festival on the 24th September, where drinkers can enjoy a full Hogs Back bar, street food and a line-up of live music. This is followed by their Hop Harvest TEA Party on the 25th September, where families are welcomed to join in the festivities.
Beer Festivals
Shropshire Oktoberfest (Shrewsbury, Shropshire) runs in the Quarry Park from 30 September – 1 October with a line-up of 150 real ales, ciders, gins, wine, cocktails and so much more served alongside amazing live music, tasty street food, an epic silent disco, comedy club, and exhibitors. More information here.
Tours
Leeds Heritage Beer Tour (Leeds) will run between 24 September – 1 October. This three-hour Leeds Heritage Beer Tour visits five venues with links to the history of beer in the city. Learn about the story of Tetley’s Brewery and the history of the famous Whitelock’s Ale House.
Promotions
Free limited edition Cask Ale Week 2022 t-shirts will be given out to drinkers who log visits to 12 new pubs in the CaskFinder app.
Ale Trails
A special Cask Ale Week will be available in the CaskFinder app from Wadworth Brewery.
With plenty more events and promotions to be added!
Cask Ale Week
Cask Ale Week was created to act as an umbrella promotion for pubs to encourage footfall into pubs using cask ale as the central theme. Pubs can create their own events or link into their current activity for the week. These events are then included on the Cask Ale Week website and promoted on social media and the CaskFinder App used 60,000 times a month to find Cask Marque pubs.
The event was created by Cask Marque with the support of Cask Matters, a group of brewers and retailers interested in the longer-term success of cask ale.
CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, is a not-for-profit consumer group with over 160,000 members that has been operating since 1971. Our vision is to have quality real ale and thriving pubs in every community.
Press release from CAMRA.
For further information, pleae contact the CAMRA Press Office via press@camra.org.uk or 01727 337863.