The brewer grew its total volume sold by 20% in 2018 to more than 26% in 2019, which – calculated against its production expansion over the previous 12 months – equated to a rise in excess of double the amount of cask sold year on year. This is growth of 325,000 pints.
Five Points managing director Ed Mason said: “There is still a massive market for cask beer in the UK and people really respond to seeing a newer brewery such as Five Points producing cask beers well.
“Cask beer is not an occasional limited-edition experiment. We are completely committed to cask beer as a core part of our range.
“People like the fact we merge the best of traditional with the best of new, and focus on producing balanced, drinkable beers.”
Commitment to cask
In 2018, Five Points declared its commitment to cask ale brewing. In spring 2019, the brewery released its first core range of cask-only beer – Five Points Best – which is a classic best bitter hopped with British Fuggles hops.
Since the launch, the beer has sold more than 100,000 pints, growing to over 3% of Five Points’ total beer sales in its eight months on sale.
The brewer is also establishing a free cask training scheme for its customers in 2020 that aims to better support publicans serving cask ale. As an incentive, attendees will be offered a 50% discount on a Five Points cask after completion of the training session.
Five Points head brewer Greg Hobbs said: “In market where novelty and special releases can tend to dominate, it is refreshing to see the classic cask beer styles that showcase good ingredients, balance and drinkability and still resonate with the modern beer drinker.”
On contrast, the 2019 edition of the Cask Report said as of July 2019, cask sales in the UK were down by 4.8% overall with the only month to see growth in the category being July 2019 – the first month of growth for 17 months.
