Our latest article comes from our Beer Connoisseur, Luke Walster, who explored the top five reasons on why young drinkers enjoy cask beer.
With all the research in hand, we’re thrilled to reveal why cask ale is trending now.
Reason 1 – The style of Cask Beer
Interestingly, youngsters are being drawn to cask beer that appear golden. One of the factors behind this, is that when you take a golden beer it’s almost the appearance is identical to a lager.
This main factor is a prime example on why your drinkers enjoy cask beer.
Also, another point to make is that cask beer is less carbonated, this avoids your body feeling too gassy. This allows the drinker to savor the cask beer, rather than gulping it down, which isn’t the best way to enjoy alcohol.
Reason 2 – The flavour of cask beer
Leading on from style, flavour is Luke’s next reason on why young drinkers are turning towards cask beer. Just like your normal lager e.g. Carling, this type of beverage has a sweet malty texture, this is why your young drinkers are drinking cask beer.
Barley malt, the base ingredient of beer, is enjoyed by people of all ages. The malt characteristic determines the flavour along with other key ingredients such as hops.
Fruit is one of the biggest flavours in cask beer and the palate of an 18 year old has to establish the understanding of flavour. An adult palate evolves rapidly, and when we look at sampling cask beer they’re going to enjoy those sweet, fruity flavours.
Reason 3 – Collaborations
The craft ale market has developed successfully over the past couple of years and continues to grow strongly. Intriguingly, young beer drinkers tend to enjoy a craft brew every now and again.
Craft breweries tend to focus on hoppy beers that may have explicit characteristics, e.g. sour beers, infused ales and many others.
But, the third reason isn’t just because of the craft ale market! Over the past 5 years, collaborations have taken a gigantic lead when we look at the brewing industry. It seems many craft ale breweries are joining forces with small independent cask breweries to create a wide range of collab ales.
Now, cask beer is catching on with younger drinkers, as they are drawn to the idea of beer brewed by craft breweries.
A good example of a brewery who are fond for doing collaborations is Thornbridge Brewery, located in Bakewell.
Reason 4 – Price
Historically cask beer has always been affordable when purchasing a pint. The average price of a cask beer outside London is around £3.50, whereas lager is around £4.20.
Cask ale pricing hasn’t changed much over the years because the time required for the beer to condition in the cellar makes it a time-consuming process for any pub.
As well as this step, landlords/landladies have to fully achieve quality care and attention when it comes to serving cask beer. Keeping the lines clean is the big factor to take into consideration here, but also making sure the cask beer has passed the initial quality control checks within the cellar.
So why does price affect what the youngsters are drinking? Well, the answer is easy. It’s cheap!
Cask ale is so affordable, for £20.00 you could enjoy five pints of real ale in a local boozer, which is what drinkers would call a perfect session.
Reason 5 – ABV (Alcohol By Volume)
The final reason why young drinkers are enjoying cask beer more is the ABV. ABV refers to the gravity of any alcoholic/low alcoholic beverage. The higher the ABV the more alcohol is present. The lower the ABV, the less alcohol it contains.
The understanding is that many 18-25 year olds are enjoying cask beer at a sessionable strength. Session beers are generally anywhere from 3.2% ABV all the way up to 4% ABV.
Now, this normally means that you can enjoy two or three pints, (each person is different) of a session beer and not feel any effect, compared to a strong lager at 4.8% for an example.
Also, enjoying a beer at such a low ABV means you can savor every sip and that’s one thing we love doing at The Cask Connoisseur, you’re not just drinking this beer for the sake of it. You’re nursing the craftsmanship, effort and spirit that has gone into brewing it.
Round-Up
Our Beer Connoisseur is thrilled to reveal the top five reasons younger drinkers are enjoying cask beer. This we hope will deliver you as an 18 year old a guide on why cask beer is the alternative option if you’re wondering what drink you should opt for.
Please, feel free to reach out to us here at The Cask Connoisseur on any beer related questions you may have and our Beer Connoisseur, Luke will answer them for you.
Here’s to Cask Beer
Cheers
