Beer Fest Sell-out Hails A Revival Of Cask Beer

More than 66,000 people attended CAMRA's Great British Beer Festival in London between 1 and 5 August - close to 20,000 up on last year's record attendance. The success of the festival prompted suggestions from independent brewers that real ale is about to undergo a revival after years of decline at the hands of global brewers and their heavily advertised lager brands.

Simon Theakston of family-owned Theakstons of Masham, North Yorkshire (right), best known for its Old Peculier strong ale, said: "I am confident we will see a resurgence in cask ale sales. My own prediction is that in England we will see a resurgence of interest in people coming to pubs because they like the idea of fresh food and fresh-tasting beer."

He was reacting to predictions from marketing analysts A C Nielsen that any cask beer revival will be scuppered by next year's introduction of a smoking ban in pubs in England and Wales, following on from a similar ban in Scotland in March this year. But others feel the smoking ban will attract many people who currently avoid pubs and who will start to visit them on a regular basis.

Simon Theakston and his brothers bought the business back from Scottish & Nedwcastle in 2003 and since then have seen a considerable growth in sales. At the same time, regional brewers in many parts of the country have also seen a welcome return to growth. Timothy Taylor in Keighley, West Yorkshire, has almost doubled its production in a decade and has invested close to 10 million in expanding its site. Adnams in Southwold, Suffolk, has also sunk several millions in a new brewhouse and warehouse to keep pace with demand. Thwaites of Blackburn, a giant regional in North-west England, has also seen growth of its cask beers, Lancaster Bomber in particular, which is promoted by England cricket star Andrew Flintoff.

At the same time, more than 100 new micro-breweries have come on stream, adding to drinkers' choice. The introduction of Progressive Beer Duty by the government, which enables brewers who produce fewer than 30,000 barrels a year to pay lower rates of tax, has stimulated this sector of the industry.

The Champion Beer of Britain awards, announced at the start of the annual beer festival, has also encouraged greater recognition of cask beer. Harviestoun's Bitter & Twisted, which won the overall championship in 2003, saw sales jump by more than 40 per cent. Crouch Vale brewery in Essex has won the championship twice in successive years - 2004 and 2005 - with Brewers Gold and has also seen sales soar.

Olly Graham, general manager of Crouch Vale, said: "This country is drinking the best beer it has ever had and the reason for that is small brewers who are getting better and better. Quality will almost always eventually sell." In an attempt to win new drinkers to cask beer, the Leicester-based brewery Everards has launched a Cyclops scheme that, with posters and beer mats, attempts to explain the aromas and flavours of the style in simple layperson's language. The sweetness and bitterness of individual beers are indicated by the number of sugar lump and hop symbol each one is given. A substantial number of other regional brewers have now adopted the scheme, which has also been supported by CAMRA.

One bar to greater appreciation of cask beer lies in the shape of the country's giant pub companies or pubcos, such as Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns, who tend to take most of their supplies from national brewers. The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) has launched a Direct Delivery Scheme, which allows tenants and managers of pubs to order direct from SIBA members, who will deliver to the pubs rather than to pubco depots hundreds of miles away. The scheme has already won 1,200 new accounts.

Now CAMRA is calling for a "guest beer" policy for all tenants and managers of pub companies, who would have the right to buy in cask beers of their choice free from head office diktat.

As Keith Bott, chairman of SIBA, says, "When people have the opportunity to drink our beers, they sell extremely well."