CMBC launches cask ale/keg adaptation

Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) has announced the launch of a new brewing initiative that will offer a beer flavour and body similar to cask ale, but with a shelf-life of up to 14 days.

The 'Fresh Ale' offer is targeted at publicans struggling to stock a range of cask ales due to low throughput. 

At first, Fresh Ale is brewed using the same method as traditional cask ale. After primary fermentation, the beer then undergoes a controlled second fermentation for conditioning within the brewery. Following this, Fresh Ale is kegged in 30L units to maintain mouthfeel and flavour profile for up to 14 days once broached. 

Beginning this month, CMBC will introduce Fresh Ale versions of Wainwright Gold, Wainwright Amber and Hobgoblin IPA. It will be dispensed through handpumps on the bar, which will be labelled as 'brewery conditioned beer'.

John Clements, vice president of marketing at CMBC, told Pub & Bar that by no means have CMBC "taken their foot off the gas" when it comes to cask ale. 

"Fresh Ale is a critical element of our plan to reinvigorate the on-trade ale category, supplementing, not supplanting, traditional cask ale," he says. "Fresh Ale offers pubs who have stopped selling cask the opportunity to reintroduce a traditional ale offering to drinkers. Our primary aim is to safeguard the future of ale and the pub culture it embodies."

Cask ale hurdles

While cask ale remains a hallmark of British pub culture, with over a third of drinkers believing it’s what makes a pub truly special, the ale category, and cask, faces challenges.

As footfall in the on-trade has fallen, combined with the practical issues posed by cask ale's brief three-day shelf life, CMBC says only 24% of pubs have enough regular throughput to turnover more than one ale on their bar. Over the past four years, more than 7,000 hand pulls have been removed from the on-trade, and since the Covid-19 pandemic almost 6,000 cask outlets have closed altogether. 

The brewer says that initial trials of Fresh Ale in pubs across the UK have demonstrated promising outcomes.

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