Beer Matters: King of quality

Anyone looking at the industry today may believe this revolution in cask ale is a new phenomenon, but a lot of the passion that leads the charge comes from those who have been in the industry for a while. And there are few as passionate as Chris Holliday.

Cask revolution

Chris has been in or around pubs and bars for all of his working life, and started off as a Ridley's tenant near Chelmsford, Essex, in 1980. Having taken sales from four kils to 20 kils per week, Chris remained at the same pub for 15 years.

"It was a fantastic time," says Chris, who still finds time to visit his old pub. "We still used wooden casks back in the early 80s, and the draymen there were three crew to each dray with a pint and a bacon sandwich at every pub.

"During my time we basically took a pub that was trying to be all things to all people, and turned it into a highly successful cask pub, which was in every edition of the Good Beer Guide."

Chris saw many changes during his time as a licensee but the biggest for him was the conversion of many places to cask ale.

"To begin with, out of 19 pubs in the town, we were the only one to major in cask beer," he explains. "Within five years all but four of the pubs were selling cask. I like to think that I was at the forefront of the cask revolution - and still am one of its biggest missionaries!"

Chris's reasons for focusing on cask ale go beyond a simple business decision; he is a lifelong, passionate ale aficionado.

"I had joined CAMRA in 1975, which opened my eyes - I was truly aware for the first time that my favourite tipple was disappearing from behind bars all across the country," he says. "When I started as a landlord, fizzy, cold, burp-inducing keg ale and lager was taking over the world."

Chris was so successful as a tenant that he was persuaded to join the Ridley's' team, where he worked in the free trade and then tenanted sectors. "Back then it was my job to cover everything from checking the quality of the beer and cleanliness of pubs, through to checking the structural integrity of the building, even to making sure the neighbours weren't encroaching into the pub's land!" he says. "But the beer quality in our pubs and tenant training was my main focus and passion."

Trouble-shooter

This is not too different from the job that Chris now undertakes with Greene King as trade quality manager.

"I can honestly say I love my job - as a cask ale fan, and lover of the English traditional pub, I truly enjoy meeting all sorts of different people who share my passion," says Chris, "and I still love going down into the cellar and rolling up my sleeves."

As well as being a trouble-shooter and quality inspector in the trade, Chris runs cellar management training for licensees and barstaff to teach them the best way to care for cask ale, as well as educating them about kegged products, line cleaning and how to serve the perfect pint.

"I see so many different people coming to the training courses, but even those who think of themselves as experienced cellar men or women always take something away from the course. We like to be hands-on, most people enjoy the practical side in the cellar, stillaging the casks and being reminded of correct procedure."

Chris and his colleagues in the trade quality team split their time between being out in trade and training courses back at Greene King's Bury St Edmunds brewery and other centres throughout the country, where they have trained thousands of licensees and barstaff over the years.

Passion for cask

"Our mission," explains Chris, "is to make sure that beer in pubs is cared for correctly and gives every drinker the best possible pint.

"We want every licensee to be as passionate about maintaining the highest quality pints, as our brewers are about the beer leaving the brewery gates.

"It takes just a small handful of poor licensees, and just a few bad pints to spoil it for the rest of the trade. One bad pint could be the straw that breaks the camel's back - forcing customers to go elsewhere for a drink, or even worse, to be put off cask ale altogether."

He adds: "Taking shortcuts leads to poor quality beer, which in turn put your customers off.

"Whether they come into your pub on a Monday morning at 11am, a Wednesday lunchtime at 2pm or a Saturday night at 10pm, your beer should be the same consistently good quality. It shouldn't be a lottery."