“As a delicious, fresh product with no added gas, it should be in growing, not shrinking demand. It ticks all the boxes for people who care about the environment, ingredients, naturalness and taste. Sales should be rocketing!” stresses report editor Matt Eley.

However, sales have fallen  6.8% in the past year alone, according to the BBPA.

“The Report is aimed at the pub and beer industries, but the findings impact on the wider public. 17 pubs a week are closing, ripping the hearts out of communities – but thriving sales of cask ale can help keep pubs open,” explained report editor Matt Eley.

UK breweries produce more than 10,000 different cask beers a year but according to Eley, two thirds (66%) of 18 to 24 year olds have never tried a single one.

He added: “There’s a job to be done to engage these younger drinkers, as well as older ones, in this fantastic drink – and to reduce the risk to pubs in the process. You can’t buy real ale from a shop. The only places you can get it are pubs and bars. That’s why it’s so important.”

The report lays out that real ale should be served at a cool, not chilled, 11⁰ to 13⁰C. That’s cooler than red wine, but not as cold as lager or keg ales.

But the research showed just over two thirds of pubs (69%) to be selling pints at above 13⁰C in the summer.

“So in the hot weather, when drinkers want to quench their thirst, less than a third of pubs (31%) were helping them to do that,” he added.

The report also discovered that just under two thirds (64%) of cask drinkers would prefer their beer served even colder than the recommended 11%.

Paul Nunny of beer quality scheme Cask Marque explained that this finding is worth exploring, but that the first step is for pubs to get their beer to recommended specification.

“If people could trust every pub serving cask to serve it at 11⁰ to 13⁰C, even on the hottest day of the year, it would revolutionise perceptions. People would get the full refreshment value – and realise that far from being “warm”, real ale is cool – and delicious,” he added.

In the bid to jolt the industry into action, 10,000 extra mystery drinker visits will be added to the 22,000 visits already carried out by Cask Marque assessors each year.  With that, Cask Marque will be challenging any licensee who isn’t controlling the temperature of beer in the glass.

The Cask Report showed that 85% of licensees say stocking cask is extra work, but they take pride in getting it right.

“That passion needs to translate into the positive action – in terms of beer temperature, staff training and customer service,” added Nunny.