Kokova Magazine

It's uniquely British, it's fresh and it's bursting with flavour.

It's produced with natural ingredients, has over 1,000 different 'flavour compounds' - and it’s what puts the British pub in a league of its own.

So it is hardly surprising that pubs, breweries, foodies and drinkers are keen to celebrate cask ale in a week designated specially for the purpose.

Cask Ale Week runs from Friday 28th September to Sunday 7th October 20102 and incorporates free pint offers, beer festivals, tutored ale tastings, exclusive brewery tours, beer with food matching sessions, special menus designed around ale and a variety of promotions.

It is being launched on Wednesday 26th September with Master Classes in Cask Ale Tasting run by renowned Beer Academy Sommeliers who will be inspiring their audiences with excellent ales, scholarly insight and massive enthusiasm.

The sessions are aimed as much at cask ale lovers as at real novices.

Participants will learn how to use the 5 flavour receptors on the tongue and some of the 350 aroma receptors in the nose to appreciate the complexity of cask conditioned ale - and how to identify the wide variety of tastes in different beers.

People will be able to sip and savour samples of cask ale, while learning all sorts of interesting things about our national drink. Anyone who appreciates good food and wine should also be interested in cask- conditioned ale and thoroughly enjoy these insights into it.

If anyone thinks that this is just a method of converting people away from other drinks to cask ale, it unashamedly is! Cask ale is a long drink, relatively low in alcohol, bursting with flavour, and when served in good condition, it's the best drink in the world. It is unique to this country and a big part of what keeps British pubs - and indeed British breweries - alive.

So if Cask Ale Week helps us to create new fans, then we'll be doing a service to the economy as well as spreading a little enjoyment around the nation!

Paul Nunny, Cask Marque - the beer quality organisation

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Also, anyone downloading the CaskFinder app on their smartphone can join in the "World's Biggest Ale Trail" and have a chance of winning a special T shirt after visiting just 12 of the 8,000 Cask Marque accredited pubs in the country!