Two years on, how has think-tank Why Handpull? helped the sector, asks Adrian Tierney-Jones
The sight of a brace of hand-pumps at the bar is one of the great iconic images of the British pub. This vision should also be seen as a guarantee of well-kept cask beer - cool, flavoursome and refreshing. But this has not always been the case. We all have horror stories of hand-pulled beer served at tepid-tea temperature, or as lifeless as the Dead Sea.
For those new to, or suspicious of, cask beer, this is usually enough to deter them for life - something that doesn't help brewers in their attempts to reach drinkers who would enjoy it in splendid condition.
The magnificent seven
The problem of quality was one of the main motivations behind the founding of Why Handpull? back in 2006, when a collection of regional brewers collaborated in an informal think-tank with the aim of boosting cask-beer sales.
The participants, seven of the UK's largest regional brewers, consisted of Adnams, Caledonian, Charles Wells (now Wells & Young's), Everards, Fuller's, Greene King and Wolverhampton & Dudley (now Marston's). Fuller's Beer Company managing director John Roberts was one of the group's prime movers, and several years down the line is quietly confident that Why Handpull? is making progress.
"Its rationale was that the majority of cask-beer brewers weren't represented by a body," he says. "The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) represented the consumer's point of view and tended to champion smaller as well as bigger brewers; the Society of Independent Brewers (Siba), of which we are members, also represented smaller independents and has a bespoke agenda to discuss issues for the smaller ones, but most producers weren't represented as a united voice. After all, we put in the majority of investment and sold the most cask beer, so we felt it appropriate to get together."
Caledonian managing director Stephen Crawley adds: "Essentially we wanted to be seen as impartial, collate the disparate views of cask-beer stakeholders and get the message across from an industry perspective. Look how well the Scotch Whisky Association promotes whisky, a hand-crafted British product."
Talking with Roberts and Crawley, the destructive power of the varying quality of cask beer emerges as a consistent theme, something that Camra research and information manager Iain Loe readily acknowledges: "Poor quality is a perennial problem for real ale.
A badly kept or served pint does nothing to promote its sales - a bad pint could put someone off drinking real ale for life.
"Cask Marque has helped enormously in improving the quality of real ale served in pubs, but there's still a lot of work to do. One key issue identified by Why Handpull? is that a pub sometimes tries to serve too many real ales, with the inevitable result that they are kept on for too long and well past their best by the time the cask is emptied."
This issue of quality versus quantity is something Roberts sees as being at the heart of the work of Why Handpull? This focus has enabled the group to come up with a guide to the number of hand-pumps to suggest different messages to the consumer. This ranges from a sole hand-pump conveying a token gesture and a possible variation in quality, all the way to five or more, which means that the pub caters to a niche market, but must have good sales volume, otherwise quality will suffer.
"Over the years we've talked about getting the range right in pubs," says Roberts. "It is not a good idea to see 20 beers in a pub with no trade.
"We help licensees to get the right number of beers for the right pub - make sure you stock trusted brands, but include local heroes. You tend to migrate to the brands people like - get them first as demand will be high - but by all means get the local beers.
"We also advise the trade and pubcos and have done a lot of work on quality control, line cleaning and glassware. We need to stamp out bad habits, such as pubs serving Pedigree in a Guinness glass. Consumers now expect a good pint of beer in a proper glass."
Still committed to quality
Roberts is keen to stress that Why Handpull? remains an informal organisation. The seven original breweries behind the idea are still committed to delivering what they started and try to meet three or four times year.
"We all have our day jobs," says Roberts. "We don't really have the time to meet on a regular basis and attend conferences. That isn't our primary objective; we are not a lobbying body. If there is an issue we want to put some clout behind, we will go to the right body for it.
"We tend to pick on things that are important to the health of cask beer. This is not an exclusive club, so if you have a point to make you can come along and talk - the likes of Shepherd Neame and Thwaites have participated, and Cask Marque's Paul Nunny is a regular."
Adnams managing director Andy Wood echoes this claim: "We will remain an informal think-tank that comes together to discuss initiatives and ideas about moving the category forward.
"Last year's publication of The Intelligent Choice saw contributions from Why Handpull? and from other industry bodies. It was noteworthy that it sees all the bodies starting to work together, rather than pulling in all sorts of different directions.
"This suggests that Why Handpull? is helping to raise the sense of optimism surrounding cask beer at the moment."
"Why Handpull? stands for the knowledge gap left by the major brewers abdicating from cask beer," says Crawley. "I believe cask beer is a crucial part of British society; we have Cognac and Champagne from France, malt whisky from Scotland and sake from Japan - so why not cask beer from Britain?"
Roberts is also optimistic: "Cask beer is having a positive turnaround and it's in pretty good shape. More discerning drinkers want beer with a bit of flavour - and cask beer is fresh, natural and available solely in the on-trade.
"When we first met, our big concern was the sheer inconsistency of the product in the pub: quite often it felt as if buying an ale was a bit of a lottery, and if it was dreadful how could the drinker get his or her money back?
"We have moved on significantly since then - the local brands are good and the better ones are surviving. We have achieved a lot as an industry - and I hope Why Handpull? has helped."