As a recent report revealed that sales of cask beer are down year-on-year, I spent an afternoon in York where it appeared to be as popular as ever, not least at the city's annual beer festival....
The spectacular and magnificent bulk of York Minster has been a constant presence in the city for hundreds of years, keeping a watch over its citizens and the many thousands of visitors that are drawn to the city every year. In its time so many of the significant events in the history of this country have come and gone; the War of the Roses, the English Civil War, the Great Fire of London, the Industrial Revolution, the first and second world wars. Guy Fawkes, who plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament, was born in the city. There is so much history here, from the Romans who first established the settlement here as Eboracum in AD71, to the Vikings, to the Normans, to the railways, to the chocolate barons of Rowntree and Terrys that seemingly every turn of a corner in its ancient streets reveals another reminder of days gone by.
With all that history everywhere, a visit to York is a good way to restore some balance and get some perspective and equilibrium on things. Earlier in the week, a report in the Morning Advertiser, the long-standing publication for the pub trade, had revealed a decline in sales of cask beer. Sales by volume dropped by 19.7% from the previous year, although sales by value were more resilient with a decline of 7.4%. That said, the price of cask beer had increased over the year so that the average cost of a pint in a pub across the country was £4.91. Of the top brands included in the survey the most expensive beer was Taylors Landlord - embarrassingly, a Yorkshire beer - at £5.42 a pint, followed by two Southern beers, Fullers London Pride (£5.22) and St Austell Tribute (£5.07). Another issue for cask beer has been a decline of around 8% in the number of outlets where it is on sale. So overall, on the face of it, not a good picture.
But as ever, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. And the above numbers do not tell the full picture. Gen Z and younger millennials (those aged 18 -35), are increasingly choosing cask at the bar. And food pubs are also selling more cask than the average across the market. It is easy to read too much into all this as a lot of focus in these reports is on the big brands, so I decided to come out and see how things were on the ground in York.
I was looking forward to a nice chilled journey over. The train from Halifax was leaving just before 12, so should be quiet I thought, middle of the day. Oh no, I thought as it pulled in to the station. Only two carriages, never a good sign. And it wasn't! It was packed with families and groups on their way back from Blackpool, all with large suitcases and frames to match. And there was a group of bantering lads on their way to Leeds seemingly determined to arrive there half-cut. One of them though was kind enough to give up his table seat for me when we arrived at Bradford, and when the train arrived in Leeds, most of the carriage alighted. I was looking forward to a more relaxed final half hour before we arrived in York, but again my hopes were to be dashed. We were joined by a well-scrubbed middle-aged couple, with Tenerife tans and lunch from Pret, her with an elbows out style of eating her wrap which almost impeded my attempts to eat my Greggs Corned Beef Bake which I'd picked up in Halifax. So I was very glad to arrive in York and leave the train behind!
I made my way over to York Tap to plan out the day. Not that I really needed to, as I knew exactly what I was going to do. But there is an unwritten law that any visit to York must include at least one visit to the Tap. I walked in from the platform through the outside area. It was just after 1, and most of the tables were covered in empty glasses, some stuffed with crunched-up crisp packets. I ordered a pint of El Dorado, from Sheffield's Triple Point brewery, a 3.8% session single-hopped IPA focussing on this New World hop. It made for a pleasant start to the day's proceedings (Rating: 6.5/10).
I finished my pint and headed off towards the city's beer festival, which like the last time I had been to it two years ago was at St Lawrence's Parish Church, now hosting it for the fourth consecutive year. The church is situated just outside the city walls beyond Walmgate and close to two of the city's Good Beer Guide regulars, the Rook & Gaskill and the Waggon & Horses, which today was a rainy walk of around 20 minutes from the station.
I duly arrived at St Lawrence's and got scanned in. Wristband attached, glass and programme secured, I wandered into the church itself where the festival was taking place. It is an impressive space, the second largest religious building in York where the pews had been removed, and gantries set up with barrels on two sides of the church, divided by keg lines in front of the chancel. There were over 200 beers and ciders from across the country available over the time of the festival, which included a number of UK and European keg beers. I studied the programme for a wee while, but unsure of where everything was, I rocked up in front of the S's rather than the A's. Spotting an old favourite, Small Man's Wetsuit from Sureshot, I bought a half to start things off, although I really only wanted to try new or rarely seen beers. It was fine though, as ever (7/10).
I found the A's, and ordered my real first beer of interest. This was a half of Nations Bitter, a 3.8% clean-tasting session bitter from All Nations Brewery. The operation is based at the back of the All Nations pub in Madeley, Shropshire, which was one of the four remaining traditional brewpubs in the country when CAMRA was founded in the 1970s. It was most enjoyable (7.5/10), and made me want to make a long overdue return to this historic pub. I had managed to find a little perch at the end of the bar next to a pillar which was quite handy as I was planning to have a few beers in this area. I drew a blank with a pint of Westy from London brewers Bianca Road, whose beers I'd never had before, but was told that the beer had been rejected on quality grounds. The same should have happened to the next beer I sampled, Bengal Tiger from Berkshire-based brewers, Bond. This was a 4.3% English-style IPA hopped with Goldings; it was not an enjoyable beer to drink, bitter but with an unpleasant flavour (4/10).
I moved on and sampled a few from the F's and G's. There were a few beers on from Froth Blowers, who are based in Erdington, Birmingham, and not having come across them before, I decided to try one. I went for a pint of Gollop with Zest, a triple-hopped 4.5% pale ale which had a zesty hit of hops at the end and was most enjoyable (Rating:7/10). Next up, I went for a half of Terminus, a strong fruity, hoppy pale ale with an ABV of 5.5%, which was another very enjoyable beer (7.5/10). The beer is brewed by George Samuel who are based in the former works canteen of the Shildon Wagon Works in County Durham. And finally in this area, I had a pint of SIP from the highly-rated Gan Yam brewery, who are based in Kendal. This was a 4.3% modern amber beer with a crisp, refreshing malty base and a dry, piney finish from the hops, which was just about the best cask beer I tried here (8/10).
The church was filling up nicely as the afternoon wore on. A mix of folks of all ages, most no doubt after work. There was a great atmosphere, with studious couples scouring the programme to decide what beer to go for and young lads just here to, well, get smashed. I fancied a couple of beers off the kegs, and I asked for a third of the 5% Gazpacho from Hell brewed by Hackney Church in London. This was a Gose with tomatoes, red peppers, cucumber, black peppercorn, and Cannibal Corpse blood hot sauce. Not on yet, probably not a bad thing! What about a third of the English Trappist Ale from Tynt Meadow, brewed by the monks at the only Trappist brewery in the country near Coalville in Leicestershire. Again not on! So I settled for a third of the 6.9% Goatfire from the Holy Goat brewery in Dundee, which was a Belgian-style beer with local strawberries, Morello cherries, and almonds which made for a refreshing interlude.
I did want to try one more beer here, which was the one that had been selected as the festival beer. This was from the local Trig Brewery whose beers reflect a love of the great outdoors, trig being shorthand for triangulation point which have been erected by the Ordnance Survey at the top of prominent hills and mountains. The festival beer was called 100th Meridian which is at the centre of the USA and also Trig's 100th brew. The beer, which was crystal clear and delicious, took the best of West Coast IPAs and NEIPAs to produce a subtle and delicious balance of bitterness and fruity hop flavours. It were reight nice but rather strong with an ABV of 5.8% (7.5/10).
And after that, I left the festival, which I had thoroughly enjoyed as had many others. I had one more place to call on my way back to the station though. I crossed over the busy road to Walmgate from where I walked along the city walls for the first time in years. At one point the walls disappeared so I returned to street level and walked along past a stretch of the River Foss whose surface was akin to a green soup. The walls resumed, with some good views emerging over the city, including the Minster (opening image), and soon I arrived at Goodramgate, where I returned to street level.
Close to the walls is the Golden Slipper, a pub I had never been to before. It was busy, a bit touristy, and whilst it dates back to the 16th century the ambience was rather lacking I felt, although to be fair we were now firmly in the Friday teatime period which makes it hard to assess objectively, It looks nice, the staff were friendly, and my half of White Rat was decent (6.5/10), but I left thinking there are many better pubs in York.
From there it was back to the station, this time with no stop at York Tap. I'd had a great day in York and there were plenty of people drinking cask at both the festival and the two pubs I went to. And to finish this blog I am looking forward this week to the return of the Halifax & Calderdale Beer Festival which is being held at a new venue, the Arden Road Social Club which is a short walk from the town centre between September 24th and 26th. Going by my few hours at York Beer Festival, there are still plenty of people who enjoy drinking cask beer and long may it continue....
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