Cask ale is the saviour of pubs, according to new report

Sales of cask ale have stepped up in the past year to outperform the rest of the beer market and rescue the British pub, according to a major new report.

The second "Intelligent Choice" report, launched last night, shows that while the overall volume of beer sold has declined eight per cent over the last year, cask ale volumes only dipped 1.3 per cent. This is a major improvement on the year before, when cask ale's decline was consistent with that of the overall beer market at five per cent.

The Intelligent Choice was written by beer writer and marketing consultant Pete Brown and is the result of unprecedented collaboration across the beer industry.

Research contained in the report suggests that pubs serving well-kept cask ale have seen year-on-year trading growth of 14 per cent, compared to a fall of 2.5 per cent for similar pubs without cask ale. "This is solid proof that where cask is sold and kept well, it's profitable for a pub, and that's got to be good news in this current trading climate," said Brown.

There is potential for further growth in cask ale, according to The Intelligent Choice. Sixty-five per cent of UK drinkers have never tried it but among those who sample it, 40 per cent are persuaded to broaden their repertoire to include cask ale.

Brown lays the blame for recent years' declines in cask ale sales squarely at the gates of the big four multi-national brewers - the lack of investment in cask ale by Coors, InBev, Scottish & Newcastle and Carlsberg. Brands they are responsible for declined 7.7 per cent in the last year. Strip out their performance, and the size of the UK's cask ale market increased by 1.8 per cent in the last year.

Data for The Intelligent Choice was gathered from Nielsen, CGA Strategy, Mintel and TGI. The Campaign for real Ale, the Cask Marque Trust, Independent Family Brewers of Britain, the Society of Independent Brewers and major regional brewers all contributed.