Does cask ale have a future?
Great Manchester Beer Debate tackles a thorny subject
The Great Manchester Beer Debate takes place each year on the Saturday afternoon of the festival. There’s no additional charge to attend and get involved, and we hope visitors will take advantage of the opportunity to hear from our experts and contribute to the debate. And to help the conversation, there will even be some free beer.
This year the topic is “The Future of Cask Beer”. Depending on your reading material, the death knell and the revival of cask have been signaled recently – can both be correct? As CAMRA went through the Revitalisation project to the controversial series of votes, some traditionalists claimed it was the end of support for the uniquely British product. Yet as visitors to our festival will note, many brewers are sticking with cask and some who had turned their backs on cask are returning.
We have invited a panel who aren’t afraid to voice their opinions! Sophie Atherton is a well-known freelance beer writer and has the distinction of being Britain’s first female beer sommelier. She authored the Cask Report last year, and provides training, consultancy and PR services to brewers, publicans and the wider beer industry.
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