National Cask Ale Week, Saturday 1st - Sunday 9th October 2011
- 'World's Biggest Ale Trail' launched by Cask Marque to celebrate the Week
- 52% of drinkers across Britain have tried real ale, compared to 35% in 2008
- New Cask Report shows real ale drinkers visit pubs twice as regularly as non-real ale drinkers
- Cask Marque and CAMRA highlight award winning pubs for real ale virgins
National Cask Ale Week, starting tomorrow, is raising a pint to celebrate new research which shows more than half (52%) of all adult alcohol drinkers have now tried cask ale, also known as real ale, with 10% having drunk it for the first time in the last 12 months. This is an impressive increase since 2008 when research showed just over a third (35%) had tried 'Britain's National Drink'.
Concerned that approximately only 1 in 3 alcohol drinkers had tried cask ale in 2008, the real ale breweries and pub industry grouped together to launch a national week of action - National Cask Ale Week - in 2009 to raise the awareness of real ale and encourage more pubs to serve it and pub-goers to try it.
This year's campaign is spearheaded by the beer quality accreditation body Cask Marque and the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) with a number of pubs, pub companies and breweries also supporting the Week. The theme for this year's week of action is 'Try Before You Buy', with all Cask Marque's 7,500 accredited licensees having been sent promotional material to advertise the initiative.
Cask Report
In the same week National Cask Ale Week kicks off, new research from the Cask Report* is declaring that real ale drinkers are one of the biggest supporters of the pub industry, with findings showing that Britain's 7.8 million real ale drinkers are more than twice as likely as other drinkers to visit the pub once a week or more.
Mike Benner, CAMRA Chief Executive, said:
'Real ale drinkers are shown by these findings to be one of the biggest supporters of their local licensee, and this support is vital at a time when pubs continue to be blighted by increased costs and a decline in trade.
'It's exciting that so many consumers across Britain have seen how real ale is a fresh and natural product, with seemingly infinite variety, and have given it a try for the first time over the last couple of years. National Cask Ale Week this year is all about getting people down their pub during the first week of October to try a real ale from one of their local brewers, or from further afield, and this will only help invigorate the local licensed trade in the long term, as our research has shown.'
World's Biggest Ale Trail!
To coincide with the week of festivities, Cask Marque are to set to launch the 'World's Biggest Ale Trail' to enable real ale drinkers to embark on the ultimate beer odyssey! With the aid of Cask Marque's 'Cask Finder' mobile app, and using QR codes placed on Cask Marque certificates in 7,500 accredited pubs, consumers will be able to log pub visits and piece together their ultimate Ale Trail!
Paul Nunny, Cask Marque Director, said:
'While it would take some time to visit all of our accredited pubs, we hope consumers have fun with this new initiative and carry on their ale trails around Britain after National Cask Ale Week is over. After all, there are so many fantastic community pubs across the country, and we hope this Trail incentivises people to look them up, and in turn support outstanding pub licensees.'
Finding the perfect pint during National Cask Ale Week at a CAMRA award winner
As well as hunting down the 7,500 Cask Marque accredited pubs across Britain, CAMRA is promoting its local and regional pubs of the year as ideal places to toast the celebrations of the Week with a pint of real ale.
Judged on beer quality as part of the main criteria, local winners of CAMRA Pub of the Year 2011 competitions can be viewed in full by visiting www.camra.org.uk/localpoty2011.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
*For more information please visit www.caskreport.co.uk
For more information on National Cask Ale Week, please visit www.caskaleweek.co.uk
As part of its support for the week, CAMRA's 200+ branches across the country will be supplying their local pubs with free marketing material and promotional information to raise the profile of real ale to new drinkers.
Cask Marque (www.cask-marque.co.uk) accreditation is awarded to licensees that pass twice yearly inspections on the quality of their beer by a team of 45 qualified brewers. Currently 7500+ licensees hold the award and 20,000 visits are undertaken each year on quality checks.
All Cask Marque licensees have been sent a Cask Ale Week kit and will be offering 'Try Before You Buy' to encourage first time drinkers.
World's Biggest Ale Trail operates though the Caskfinder App which can be downloaded free from either the iphone Appstore or Android Market.
For further information:
CAMRA Press Office, 01727 798443
Paul Nunny, Cask Marque Director, 07768 614065 or paul@nunny.fsbusiness.co.uk
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