They are: Adnams, Caledonian, Charles Wells, Everards, Fullers, Greene King and Wolverhampton & Dudley.

Other brewers and interested groups will be encouraged to contribute to initiatives and a twice-yearly report.

Key objectives for Why Handpull? are to help licensees decide how many ales they should be selling, and over time “premiumise” ale in order to reduce the gap between ale and lager on-trade prices.

One initial but controversial proposal is to rename real ale as handpulled beer – a name that it’s suggested means more to the general drinker than the often confusing terms ale or cask.

Research already carried out by Why Handpull demonstrates that by converting the nation’s 1.5 million light “handpull” drinkers to slightly more regular handpull drinkers, £700 million of extra sales could be generated.

The group’s credo is “to serve the hundreds of thousands of beer drinking consumers who believe handpulled beer is best – and to give these drinkers every reason to choose handpulled beer. And at the same time, we want landlords and pub owners to make a good return from selling handpulled beer.”

Alistair Darby, managing director of WDB Brands, said: “Hundreds of thousands of people are passionate about classic British handpulled beers. It is up to us to look after them and to show a new generation of drinkers that there is something unique about enjoying a handpulled pint at your local pub.”

John Roberts, managing director of Fullers Beer and Brands, added: “Great handpulled beer is quite simply one of the best drinks you can have. We want to share the vast diversity of handpulled beers with drinkers and ensure that every pint is sold in great condition to them.”

Keith Bott, chairman of the small brewers organisation Siba, welcomed the new think tank and said he accepted that pubs must be realistic about how many handpulls they offer. But he added that for real improvement in cask quality, dispense equipment issues and over-lengthy supply chains must also be addressed.

Written by: Andrew Pring
Taken from www.themorningadvertiser.co.uk