With Cask Ale Week currently in full flow, running until Sunday September 29th Campaign for Real Ale has had volunteers up and down the country organising events to celebrate the nation’s favourite drink, from meet the brewer events to educational presentations for the public. CAMRA is urging is members and the public to make the most of this weekend, visit a pub and buy a beer!
Throughout the week (19-29 September), pubs and breweries are hosting events, promotions and festivals to encourage the public to sample traditional real ale, spearheaded by Cask Marque.
CAMRA is throwing its full support for the campaign, with local branches undertaking events such as:
- Stockport Beer Week will see a range of events and experiences take place across the city, from Meet the Brewers events and educational presentations to pub cellar visits and an ale trail with prizes from Robinsons brewery. Comedian James Dowdeswell, who previously published his book The Pub Manifesto with CAMRA Books, will be kicking the event off with a stand-up gig.
- The inaugural Wigan Beer Week, celebrating ‘everything beer, everything Wigan’. Beer is celebrated with a series of beer festivals, tap takeovers, brewery open days and meet the brewer events. More unusual events taking place in the week include ‘Beer Yoga’, a Beer and Pie Festival, and the ‘Tipsy 10k’ – a 10k run/jog/walk calling for a drink at no fewer than 8 pubs en-route.
- The Ipswich & East Suffolk CAMRA Ale Trail (12 September – 6 October) – participants can pick up an Ale Trail passport to stamp, and visit up to 32 local public houses plus Hopsters off-licence (or the Ipswich beer festival) to help promote drinking and socialising in some great venues, in and around three prominent local towns – Ipswich, Stowmarket and Woodbridge.
CAMRA National Chairman Nik Antona said: “Cask Marque’s Cask Ale Week is one of the biggest promotions of cask ale in the beer aficionado’s calendar, and we always look forward to taking part.
“It is fantastic to see the hard work and creativity that our branches put in to arranging dedicated Cask Ale Week events. A lot of work is put into events like Stockport Beer Week by our hardworking volunteers, and it is exciting to see the end result raising the profile of real ale. Hopefully lots of people this year get involved and discover a new favourite tipple at some of the CAMRA events across the country!”
Frances Brace, who helps organise Cask Ale Week, reiterated the gratitude to CAMRA branches and individuals who have been active in putting together many exciting activities.
She said: “Huge thanks to all those who have been in touch with breweries and pubs, creating some wonderful events for families and friends to enjoy. There’s some really imaginative stuff going on – from beer yoga to brewery open days, collaborative brews, and beer-themed pub quizzes.
“If all 190,000 members of CAMRA take a friend for a beer during the Week and buy just one pint for them both, that’s already over £1m into the real ale sector. The economic benefits go all the way through the supply chain, from barley growing, malting and brewing, right through to pubs. Every pint of cask ale bought helps keep precious pubs open and at the heart of communities – and support from CAMRA members during Cask Ale Week is a fantastically constructive contribution to this worthwhile goal.”
To learn more about Cask Ale Week, you can visit https://caskaleweek.co.uk
