Wetherspoon's goes big on ale

by Tony Halsteadand The PMA Team JD Wetherspoon is to double the length of its annual beer festival to a fortnight.

The festival, which starts on 4 October, will offer a number beers especially brewed for the event.

JDW hosts will have a choice of 50 different cask ales to offer customers.

"The October festival will be the biggest yet and the first one to be staged over a two-week period," said marketing manager for real ale Gavin Burger.

"The beers on offer will come from all corners of the UK, from large brewers down to smaller micros," he added.

Wetherspoon said all pub managers will be able to choose from the full range of 50 beers ­ although some smaller pubs or those with lower-than-average cask ale sales may only stock between 20 or 30 different ones over the period.

In a further attempt to drive home the cask-ale message, tasting notes will be available for customers in every outlet.

"Real ale is more popular than ever and the beer festival will be a great showcase for this wonderful drink," Burger said.

JD Wetherspoon wants to grow its cask-ale sales in the same way that spirit volumes have grown across the estate as more focus has been given to the category.

Referring to the company's review of cask-ale sales, man-aging director John Hutson said: "Cask ale was one of the foundations of the company, but is an area where we could do better.

"It's a fantastic product and there is an opportunity to go back and re-invent ourselves," he said.