People are often keen to write the obituary of cask beer. But would they be so quick to dismiss it if they saw some of the licensees and managers out there that do such a fantastic job selling it?
These are people who have a passion and belief in the product as well as great skill in selling it. In the latest stage of our Proud of pubs campaign, each month The Publican will profile one of these 'cask ale champions' to see what others can learn from them.
When SA Brain decided to revamp its old brewery tap, the Albert in Cardiff, regulars might have had cause to be concerned. It re-emerged with a change of name, to the Yard, and a thoroughly modern design. In The Publican's second tribute to Cask Ale Champions, Adam Withrington reveals how it became the first pub ever to be included in the Good Beer Guide in its first year of business, and how trade is continuing to grow.
When SA Brain decided to move its brewery to new premises in 1999 the old site was renovated. Most of the old brewery quarter was rebuilt into a clutch of bars and restaurants, and this included the Albert. The pub was considered the cornerstone of the Brains estate, with cask ale at its very heart.
When the revamped venue opened for business in October 2003 as the Yard, it had been given a thoroughly modern redesign - all stainless steel and nifty brickwork befitting its town-centre status. Did this sound the death knell for yet another cask institution?
Not a bit of it. Not only did the Yard stay true to its cask ale heritage but Brains improved it. It made a ground-breaking entrance in the Good Beer Guide, demonstrated its commitment to cask and has produced some real innovation in cask ale retailing.
Retail director of Brains Philip Lay (PL) and the venue's manager Nick Newman (NN) describe why the Yard is a true cask ale champion.
- What were you aiming to do with the venue when you decided to redesign it?
PL: We were trying to create a modern bar in the middle of the city centre that wasn't driven by discounting and all the things that now go with the city-centre circuit. We wanted it to represent the things we believe in at Brains, which are quality and customer service. We also wanted to make it clear that we weren't throwing away our roots and heritage. They are very important to us - we are a brewer and very proud of it. We wanted that message to come through in the Yard.
How was cask ale to fit into a modern, city-centre venue?
PL: One of the most significant questions was: in a modern, city- centre bar, how can we proudly shout about ale? Ale is what Brains is about. If you look on all the Yard's bars it's very hard to notice any brands other than Brains ales. All the other brands are there but they are nicely and discreetly badged on copper fonts - there is no livery there. So we have given the Brains ales pride of place.
Did you need to do something different?
PL: The crucial thing for me was the point of delivery. Everyone pours a pint of lager above the bar but hides the pint of ale away underneath the bar. Where's the pride in that? So the challenge was to create a new font. Now when we are pouring a pint, we're pouring it in front of the customer and we have specially created handpulls which we are very proud of.
NN: This is true. When things occasionally go wrong with any of our beers and I call up cellar services they love coming to the pub because of the specialist kit - they are hugely proud of it.
How does this new font work?
PL: Normally you have a beer engine that is all in line vertically. I wanted to put the point of dispense higher up - which in a normal scenario would have meant pulling the pint almost in front of the customer's face, which isn't comfortable. And the engine would have had to have been placed on the bar top. So we decided to split it and have two features drilled through the bar - one for point of pull, the other for point of dispense - which also gave it a sense of permanence. It indicated to customers that design and cask itself were right at the heart of this pub.
Could this be rolled out to all cask ale venues?
PL: I think you have to be careful with cask ale - there is a balance of messages you have to achieve. You have to be careful not to think: "Wow, I've got a great new solution" and, bang, roll that out everywhere. That's the sort of behaviour you had for years from the big lager brand owners. I think with cask ale you have to employ a range of things that are appropriate for the customer you are trying to attract. In some cases this works really well. In city- centre environments you want this kind of innovation because it's a way of signalling the change in modernising the product for the target market. But we haven't gone so far as to alienate the traditional real ale drinker.
How successful has the business been?
PL: It had immediate success and has grown every year since - really good sustained growth.
NN: We are getting a lot of repeat custom, I am seeing familiar faces who are now using it as a place to go for lunch when they go on shopping expeditions. We've seen a big uplift in cask ale sales since we opened. We sell the Bitter from 18-gallon casks and the SA and the Dark in the nine-gallon casks. We can certainly count on one of each being sold in a day.
PL: It would be very easy on rugby matchdays to say that it's not worth selling cask because it's too much bother. You have to do a lot of planning and advance ordering. But we want to do it and Nick and the team make sure they are ready for it.
NN: On the day of the Grand Slam decider against Ireland in March this year we got through eight to 10 18s of bitter and six to eight nines of bitter as well. Plus we got through six to eight 18s of the Dark and three to four nines.
Are newer, younger customers attracted by the cask ales?
NN: So many customers are coming in here and are picking up on the fact SA Brain is a local, independent brewer producing a contemporary bar and pushing its own brands. And as a result we have seen a younger market getting interested in the beers and talking about them in the way people did in rugby clubs years ago.
PL: People know we have the Carlings and the Stellas but they will be reassured that we are serious about our ale. This has been backed up by showing we are not afraid to serve it in front of customers. It gives younger customers confidence that we are serious.
Why has the Yard had such success with cask ale?
PL: Because of the quality of the product across the board. The recognition we've had from our original Albert drinkers has been fantastic. That's so important - we could have alienated our original drinkers but we haven't done that. We have ticked the boxes for the traditionalist as well as making cask ale more accessible for the modern consumer.