Fuller's: Taking Pride In Cask Beers

I sometimes feel that the British brewing industry exists on two separate but occasionally colliding planets. On Planet Global, the giant brewers concentrate on big volume, big profit brands, turning their backs on quality beer and closing breweries as a result. Then there is the smaller Plant Independent, where family and small craft brewers still have a passion for tradition and quality, and dont recognise the view put forward on Planet Global that the cask beer sector is in terminal decline.

This belief was forcibly driven home to me last week when I went to Fullers Brewery in Chiswick, west London. In the same year that Ampersand Breweries announced the closure of its Scottish and Newcastle plants, followed by the news that Boddingtons is to shut in Manchester, I found a commitment to cask beer at Fullers that was inspirational.

The brewery site is expanding. It is based next to the Hogarth roundabout, possibly the busiest round junction in the world. Yet walk a few yards away from the main road and you enter a tranquil area of Georgian houses that leads down to the Thames. The brewery lies between the snarl of the roundabout and the bosky charms of the riverside. Fullers needs more space to brew and store beer. Houses bordering the brewery are being bought while a large petrol station adjacent to brewery and roundabout has been acquired, with diggers already hard at work flattening the site.

The company has grown considerably in recent years. It has never deviated from its cask beer base and has added new brands, including several bottle-fermented ales that have defied the attitude that they are "too difficult" to store and sell.

Fullers commitment to cask has paid a rich dividend. With its dedication to traditional brewing methods and - equally important - a huge investment in ensuring beer is cellared and served properly in pubs, its main brand, London Pride, is the biggest selling premium cask beer in the country. That prized position used to be occupied by Draught Bass. It was the leading brand in the premium cask sector by several miles. But Bass and then Interbrew took their eye off the cask ball, allowing sales of Draught Bass to decline alarmingly, while London Pride now accounts for 160,000 barrels a year.

But Fullers is not resting on its laurels. I was invited to the brewery last week to see how brewers and the marketing department have tackled the problem of a small decrease in sales of its super premium beer, ESB.

This legendary 5.5% ale has three times won Camras Champion Beer of Britain competition and also has other national and international trophies in the cabinet. Curiously, while drinkers are happy to put away several pints of lagers of 5% or more, confront them with ESB and the answer comes back: Its too strong!

Fullers has tackled the problem with great sensitivity. It hasnt panicked and reduced the strength of the beer, which would have removed not only its richness and fullness of palate, but also its reason for existing.

The recipe and strength remain unchanged. The only major difference is that after fermentation the beer matures for 21 days in conditioning tanks on a deep bed of Goldings hops.

The result is a beer in which its famous powerful orange fruitiness is now better balanced by a spicy and peppery hop note. The result is a still magnificent beer but one in which the hop bitterness balances the malt and fruit and no longer gives the impression it is solely about alcoholic strength.

The beer is backed by new pump clips and labels that stress the beers heritage and the awards it has won. The cleverest piece of marketing is a new branded glass that looks like an oversized half-pint container but is actually a full pint. Instead of being confronted by a huge traditional pint pot of dauntingly strong ESB, drinkers are offered a more sensibly sized glass that in reality contains the same amount of liquid.

Sales of ESB are already on the increase, proving that the cask beer sector can be vibrant and successful if brewers have pride in their products.

Anyone listening on Plant Global? Beam me up, Scottie.