The demise of cask ale is exaggerated

The demise of cask ale is exaggerated

The beer writer Jeff Alworth has written a post on what he sees as the demise of cask beer.

https://www.beervanablog.com/beervana/2024/6/10/what-if-camra-had-valued-quality-over-romance

I can’t say I agree with much of it. I don’t like cask breathers. I’d rather pubs kept their cask beer offering down to what they can sell in a few days, although I appreciate that in PubCos different terms and conditions may apply.

Alworth pours the enormous condescension of posterity all over early CAMRA activists and as a member since 1975 I find that lacks context of which Alworth is probably not aware.

In the late 1970s I lived and taught in Birmingham. The beer scene certainly had plenty of cask beer (often on electric pump) and it was very largely M&B Brew 11. It was a sweet low strength vaguely malty beer. Even in the era of old style keg when pretty much any cask was better, it was disgusting. I recall one free house that sold a range of cask, the Duck on the Hagley Rd.

I’ve been in Birmingham many times since, occasionally for demonstrations, mostly for work. There are excellent views from the employment tribunal court atop a tower block near New St station.

I was there again in early June for a national union conference at the ICC (central Bham) and obviously in the evening I tried the beer. The Thornbridge galaxy/simcoe pale at Bundobust (cask) was tasty at 4% and I also tried a Bundobust DDH IPA on keg (I am not a CAMRA fundamentalist). The Jaipur (cask) at  the Colmore was of course on top form and I also tried a Thornbridge West Coast IPA on keg.

Sunday evening I tried the Wetherspoons on Broad St. A 440ml can of the local Indian brewery Mango pale (5.5%) was good as was the Oakham Citra on cask. Later I had pints of a Black Hole IPA (Burton on Trent) and Silhill (Aston) West Coast IPA both on cask and both in good form.

You may be able to spot a trend here. Compared with 45 years (and even 10 years) ago the beer scene in central Birmingham is vastly improved and cask, served well and local and regionally brewed seems to be doing decently