We’re excited to share our latest feature which is the monthly beer newsletter from our Beer Connoisseur – Luke Slater! Don’t worry you’ll still see the whisky newsletter as well at the start of every month. We’ll be keeping the two newsletters separate for the time being though. Make sure you sign up to receive notifications when the latest newsletter is live, you won’t want to miss it!
Business News about Beer
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) have recently announced that the Great British Beer Festival 2025 will be taking place in Birmingham at the NEC. The festival will be held from Tuesday 5th August until Saturday 9th August. The latest sponsors that will be participating in the festival are: Brains Brewery, Oakham Ales and Batemans Brewery. There still are hundreds more to sign up.
Craft beer brewery Brewdog, have disposed gallons of its flagship beer Punk IPA away due to contamination issues at their Aberdeenshire site. It’s been clarified that the beer had huge quality control issues and customers stated that the beer had a sour taste.
Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) have recently announced that Bank’s Brewery in Wolverhampton is set to close in 2025. CMBC, stated that due to a decrease in their cask ale portfolio this has been the reason behind the decision for the closure.
SIBA, The Society of Independent Brewers Association has launched a new campaign called The Indie Beer Campaign. The idea of this new project is to help consumers across the UK to seek Independent Breweries and Beers. The helm of this campaign is that a new app will be available to use which members of the public will be able to see if the brewer is independently owned.
Beer Releases
A new limited beer has been released by Adnams Southwold. Double Ghost IPA 5.2% ABV which aligns itself with Ghost Ship 4.5% ABV and the alcohol free Ghost Ship 0.5% ABV. The name of the beer is taken from stories where ships have been wrecked due to the storms which occur in the area around the sandbanks of Southwold’s Sole Bay. Double ghost will firstly be launched in bottles priced at £16.99 for 8. Then it will be available to purchase in cask form, however the brewery has stressed once its gone, its gone!
Brewdog have released a wide range of new beers in the run up to Christmas. The demand of last year for Brewdog’s mixed advent calendar has been featured as a must buy once again, costing £55.00 which features 24 iconic Brewdog beers along with a branded glass.
Greene King have announced they are releasing a range of spooky beers in time for Halloween, this also includes a special release new cask ale in collaboration with Nethergate Brewery. Blood Hound 4.4% ABV is a chocolate blood-orange stout and is designed to get you into the spooky spirit.
Buxton Brewery have released a refreshing hoppy beer called Fresh Hop IPA 4.2% ABV. This herby and grassy textured beer is designed to give you that feeling of standing in a hop field and being greeted by the sensational aromas of hops being harvested. Being fairly priced at £3.50 this is certainly a beer to trial and delve yourself into those wondrous hoppy flavours.
Born and Bred beer from the former Allsopps Brewery located in Burton Upon Trent has announced Double Diamond is making a comeback. Now, relocated in the capital London the historical well known brewery has turned the clocks back and revived the 3.8% Pale Ale. Is this the new session beer to keep a close eye on? How much has changed? Many questions are to be answered in the coming months.
Upcoming Beer Festivals
Friday, 1 November
- Egham United Services Club Ale & Cider Festival, Surrey
- Le Gothique Halloween Beer Festival
- Redhill Beer Festival (CAMRA)
- The Hope Beer Festival, Carshalton, Surrey
- Halesworth Winter Beer Festival, Suffolk
- Alton Autumn Beer Festival, Hampshire
- St Alphege Beer Festival, Solihull, West Midlands
- Woolston Beer Festival (CAMRA)
Saturday, 2 November
- Egham United Services Club Ale & Cider Festival, Surrey
- Le Gothique Halloween Beer Festival
- Redhill Beer Festival (CAMRA)
- Halesworth Winter Beer Festival, Suffolk
- Alton Autumn Beer Festival, Hampshire
- St Alphege Beer Festival, Solihull, West Midlands
- Woolston Beer Festival (CAMRA)
- Denmead Beer Festival, Hampshire
- Oktoberfest Portsmouth
Sunday, 3 November
- Egham United Services Club Ale & Cider Festival, Surrey
- Halesworth Winter Beer Festival, Suffolk
Wednesday, 6 November
- Darlington Snooker Club Beer Festival
Thursday, 7 November
- Darlington Snooker Club Beer Festival
Friday, 8 November
- Darlington Snooker Club Beer Festival
- Beccles Beer Festival, Suffolk
- Alloa Real Ale and Cider Festival (CAMRA)
Saturday, 9 November
- Darlington Snooker Club Beer Festival
- Beccles Beer Festival, Suffolk
- Alloa Real Ale and Cider Festival (CAMRA)
- Craft At The Plaza, Northwich, Cheshire
Sunday, 10 November
- Darlington Snooker Club Beer Festival
- Beccles Beer Festival, Suffolk
Thursday, 14 November
- Bristol Beer Festival (CAMRA)
Friday, 15 November
- Bristol Beer Festival (CAMRA)
Saturday, 16 November
- Bristol Beer Festival (CAMRA)
Sunday, 17 November
- Bristol Beer Festival (CAMRA)
Tuesday, 3 December
- Pig’s Ear Beer & Cider Festival, London (CAMRA)
Wednesday, 4 December
- Pig’s Ear Beer & Cider Festival, London (CAMRA)
Thursday, 5 December
- Pig’s Ear Beer & Cider Festival, London (CAMRA)
Friday, 6 December
- Pig’s Ear Beer & Cider Festival, London (CAMRA)
Saturday, 7 December
- Pig’s Ear Beer & Cider Festival, London (CAMRA)
Wednesday, 12 February 2025
- Great British Beer Festival Winter, Rotherham, South Yorks
Thursday, 13 February 2025
- Great British Beer Festival Winter, Rotherham, South Yorks
Friday, 14 February 2025
- Great British Beer Festival Winter, Rotherham, South Yorks
Saturday, 15 February 2025
- Great British Beer Festival Winter, Rotherham, South Yorks
Thursday, 5 June 2025
- Twyford Beer Festival, Berkshire
Friday, 6 June 2025
- Twyford Beer Festival, Berkshire
Saturday, 7 June 2025
- Twyford Beer Festival, Berkshire
Tuesday, 5 August 2025
- Great British Beer Festival (CAMRA)
Wednesday, 6 August 2025
- Great British Beer Festival (CAMRA)
Thursday, 7 August 2025
- Great British Beer Festival (CAMRA)
Friday, 8 August 2025
- Great British Beer Festival (CAMRA)
Saturday, 9 August 2025
- Great British Beer Festival (CAMRA)
Background – Here at The Cask Connoisseur, even though we’re not subscribed to every potential newsletter or source of information, we receive around four hundred emails over the course of a month with various promotions, new release information, brewery newsletters,updates etc. Add on social media posts and that amounts to somewhere well over 1000 pieces of information being reviewed per month. The aim of this monthly round up is to provide a summary of the most interesting bits along with upcoming events that can be gleaned from them. The downside to a monthly review is a lot of “special offers” will have come and gone.
