As the industry is currently in the throes of celebrating all that is great about cask ale, Greene King Brewery, the top cask brewer in the UK, is celebrating a year of success since the introduction of the 4.5-gallon cask pin to customers.
In July 2023, Greene King officially released cask pins into the market, launching the smaller vessels with its seasonal cask ales. The Suffolk-based brewer was the first major brewer in the country to launch cask pins with the aim to help licensees minimise wastage, ensure quality and prove that cask could still be viable on the bar by providing a smaller throughput.
This year the brewer has extended the range of beers available in pins to customers, still offering the seasonal Cask Fresh Releases calendar, but also making permanent cask ales available in pins too. Customers can now order Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale in pins, should this fit with the pub’s requirements.
Offering the smaller unit gives operators the ability to manage a lower throughput at quieter times of the week, meaning less waste from unsold beer or the chance of out-of-date beer being sold.
The launch of pins with Greene King’s Fresh Cask Releases calendar last year provided a brilliant opportunity for customers to showcase different styles and flavours of cask ale for guests to explore, without the commitment to the full 72 pints and this has proven a great success for pubs. By adding in Greene King’s permanent range this means that pubs can stock a wider range of well-known ales too, but only putting 4.5-gallons on the bar at a time.
Over the last year the brewer has seen an uplift in quality with Cask Marque scores in stockists of Greene King beers using pins improving +1.2% since the launch into pubs. Greene King has also seen an improvement is cask yield across stockists since the introduction of pins meaning that the smaller vessel is proving successful in not only encouraging people to offer more cask on the bar but also delivering higher profits and ensuring a better quality of cask in pubs.
The introduction of pins has also played a fundamental role in securing Greene King’s #1 cask brewer status in the UK. The brewer continues to advise customers on what is best for their business and firkins are, and will still remain, a keen choice for the brewer when it comes to busier periods and higher demand in pubs.
John Malone, Head of Internal Sales at Greene King said: “We continue to support and innovate in the cask market and the launch of pins has been an important step for us as a brewer, and the industry, to address key challenges that cask can bring as we look at building a positive future for this unique product.
“Cask ale is Greene King’s heritage and the core of a great pub, and we continue to invest in the product because we are determined for it to not only have its space on the bar for many years to come but also to be a product that pubs are proud to serve and celebrate.”
-ENDS-
For further information, please contact hollysmith@greeneking.co.uk.
Notes to editors
Greene King is the country’s leading pub company and brewer with c.2,600 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland.
At Greene King we are passionate about delivering our purpose to ‘pour happiness into lives’. That’s for our customers, our team, our pub partners, our suppliers and the communities in which we live, operate and serve. Founded in 1799 with offices in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk and Burton on Trent in Staffordshire we employ around 39,000 people across the group with four divisions: Greene King pubs, Destination Brands, Partnership and Ventures, and Brewing & Brands.
- Greene King pubs is our mainstream pub brand located where people and communities come together; pubs enjoyed in cities, towns and villages throughout the country with clear ambition to be “The Nation’s Most Loved Pub Brand”.
- Destination Brands is a portfolio of distinct brands which includes Hungry Horse, Chef & Brewer, Farmhouse Inns and Flaming Grill that bring friends and family together, delivering great service, quality and value for money for a range of eating out and drinking occasions.
- Partnerships & Ventures includes Pub Partners, which runs our tenanted and leased pubs business and Hive Franchise pubs, and our Ventures Brands which is made up of Metropolitan Pub Company, Hickory’s, Hotels Group and Crafted Pubs.
- Brewing & Brands covers the brewing sides of the business. Quality ales are brewed at the Westgate brewery in Bury St Edmunds and the Belhaven Brewery in Dunbar. Our industry-leading portfolio includes Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale, Ice Breaker and Belhaven Best and our premium beers, Level Head and Flint Eye, brewed for the modern-day drinker.
For further information, please contact hollysmith@greeneking.co.uk.
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