One Million ‘Try Before You Buy’ Free Tasters For Cask Ale Week

Britain’s Pubs offer mass sampling to promote the Nation’s drink

Britain’s pubs will be offering one million free ‘Try Before You Buy’ tasters of beer during Cask Ale Week, in September this year

The unprecedented mass sampling campaign will see 10,000 pubs offer at least 100 freshly poured shots of cask ale each throughout Cask Ale Week, which runs from 18-28 September. The aim is to tempt Brits back into the habit of visiting their local, as well as to support sales of cask beer, Britain’s signature beer style.

Samples will be offered in every style of cask ale, from light and hoppy pale ales via amber best bitters, to dark, smooth stouts. including low alcohol options. Customers at participating pubs can pick their style, enjoy a free taster, and hopefully go on to order a pint or two.  

Fergus Fitzgerald, head brewer at Suffolk brewer Adnams, says: “Free tasters will hopefully encourage many drinkers to enjoy a pint of cask ale during Cask Ale Week, and make it one of their regular drinks.  If more people chose cask ale on just one more of their visits to the pub, it would make a big difference to the future prospects for our national drink – and to pubs, which are the only place to sell it.

“Ironically, cask beer seems to be more appreciated globally than it is in Britain. Incoming tourists put a visit to a traditional pub to enjoy a pint of foaming cask ale close to the top of their ‘must do’ list.  Equally, many of the world’s top craft beer brewers cite British cask ale as their biggest influence.

”However, local pubs really need local customers in order to thrive. Cask Ale Week is an opportunity for drinkers to find the style they most enjoy, and show their support for British pubs and British beer.”

Many pubs will also be offering taster flights of beer during Cask Ale Week, giving customers the opportunity to try a combination of cask styles, usually three one-thirds of a pint of different ales.

Cask Ale facts

• Cask ale is enjoyed by all ages and genders, with a 50%+ increase in the numbers of 18-24-year-old beer drinkers ordering cask over the past year.  

• Cask ales come in a range of strengths, with many at lower ABVs than other beers on the bar, supporting moderate drinking  

• Despite the urban myth, cask ale should never be served warm, but cool from the pub cellar, at between 11°- 13°C. 

• Cask ale enthusiasts have launched a petition calling on the government to recognise the cask ale as having Intangible Cultural Heritage, overseen by UNESCO. The petition runs until October 1 and can be signed at  https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/716686       

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Further information:

Ros Shiel: ros@shielporter.com / 07841 694137

John Porter: john@shielporter.com / 07734 054389

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