UK: Ale sales get new wine-like tasting scheme

Taking lessons from the UK wine industry, CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, and 14 real ale breweries will launch August 01 a new initiative called ‘Cyclops’ at the Great British Beer Festival. ‘Cyclops’ aims to demystify real ale after research showed that 1 in 3 people would try more real ale if its characteristics were made easier to understand in pubs, media released August 01.

Declining beer sales in the UK have brought beer consumers and brewers together to revitalise the market for real ale, Britain’s national pub drink. Following the success of the wine industry (see Notes for Editors) to make wine more accessible to all consumers through simple tasting notes Cyclops will use common language to explain what different real ales should look, smell and taste like. Sweetness and bitterness are the two dominant taste qualities of real ale and Cyclops using a scale of 1 to 5 for each enables drinkers to work out how sweet and bitter they like their beers.

The new scheme was the brainchild of David Bremner, Head of Marketing at Everards Brewery in Leicester. Everards pilot scheme aimed to promote its beers to new consumers who may have never tried real ale before or who had only tried a few pints in the past. By using attractive imagery and simplified language, real ales are described on promotional material such as beer mats, posters, tasting cards and pump-clip crowners to inform consumers of what they are buying. This information will also be placed on the back on beer handpulls to keep pub staff informed of what the real ale is like.

Tony Jerome, CAMRA’s Senior Marketing Manager said, “Real ale is an incredibly complex drink with an enormous range of styles and tastes. Cyclops will demystify real ale so drinkers will know what a beer will look, smell and taste like before they part with their cash at the bar.”

Jerome continued, “A great deal of skill and care goes into the brewing of real ale and there are many thousands of dedicated connisseurs and enthusiasts which has led to a whole new and fascinating language behind beer tasting. Research shows, however, that drinkers who are less familiar with real ale want to know in easy to understand terms what the beer tastes like. I am convinced that Cyclops will revitalise the real ale market by enticing younger drinkers, both male and female to try our national drink. They will quickly learn to appreciate its complex flavours and we are confident that they will soon become enthusiasts.”

The new scheme is called ‘Cyclops’ due to the one eye, nose and mouth imagery used on the promotional material. 14 real ale breweries, from across Britain, have already signed up to the campaign and will be using it on their beers in pubs.

The 14 breweries are: Everards (Leicestershire), Wolverhampton & Dudley Brands (National), Woodforde’s (Norfolk), Camerons (County Durham), Hook Norton (Oxfordshire), Fuller’s (London), Refresh UK (Oxfordshire), Robinson’s (Cheshire), Hall & Woodhouse (Dorset), Elgoods (Cambridgeshire), Wadworth (Wiltshire), Titanic (Stoke on Trent), Charles Wells (Bedfordshire), Caledonian (Edinburgh)

Market research results:

32% of all adults polled agreed that a universal real ale scheme, similar to the wine industry, that simplifies real ale, would encourage them to try more real ale;

35% of female regular pub goers also agreed with this statement;

55% of those that said they drink real ale ‘often’ said they would try more real ale if a scheme was introduced;

43% of those that said they drink real ale ‘sometimes’ said they would try more real ale if a scheme was introduced;

40% aged 18-24 years old said they would give real ale a try if a scheme was introduced.

Tony Jerome continued, “There are approximately 2,500 real ales on today’s market and it is impossible for everybody to know what each beer looks, smells and tastes like. The market research shows some very interesting figures to prove that a universal scheme, supported by the real ale industry, that demystifies real ale, will encourage more consumers to give it a try. With so much choice and many different beer styles available a scheme like this is needed to help people find out what real ales suit their taste buds. Consumers will be able to create their very own real ale profile by finding out what beer styles, colours, smells and tastes they prefer and know how bitter and sweet they like their beers. Once someone has found out their profile they can try other beers that they may have not heard of in other pubs that match their criteria.”

Tony Jerome concluded, “We are calling on every real ale brewer in the land to join the scheme. Real ale sales have been in decline in recent years but there has been a huge increase in the number of breweries with an extra 60 starting up in the last 12 months alone. With thousands of real ales for people to try, there is something out there for everyone. It is a matter of giving the new consumer the information to make real ale easy to understand, help them find which beers they prefer and with more real ale breweries signing up to Cyclops I believe we have the solution to increase real ales appeal to younger markets.”

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