RedWillow Brewery has unveiled a new series of modern, cask-only pale ales that are designed to be the most competitively priced beer in the brewery’s range.
Nonetheless, which have launched to coincide with CAMRA’s Cask Ale Week starting on September, have been produced to give licensees a beer “that’s affordable to pour and accessible to as many people as possible”.
RedWillow is releasing their Nonetheless series one beer at a time, once a month, with each beer sharing the same base recipe.
The range is built on the characterful maltiness of Maris Otter, with a rotating single hop or hop pairing on top. Each release will celebrate the best of British and European hops, many of which aren’t commonly used in modern craft beer. .
The series opens with a 3.8% Challenger Pale, brewed with Maris Otter & Challenger hops. A modern take on a British classic, it delivers soft orange marmalade, gentle hedgerow fruit and subtle spice over a smooth malt base, finishing clean, balanced and effortlessly drinkable. This will be followed by their Ernest Pale and First Gold Pale later in the year.
The look of the range, the brewery said, takes its cue from the past. The team found an old pump clip from a long-closed Macclesfield brewery, Stancliffe Brothers, and used its dense, text-heavy style as the starting point for the new artwork.
The new branding has been brought to life by RedWillow’s original designer, Jon Pink, who recently worked on the redesign of their popular bitter Feckless, which is bottled and sold through the Co-op. The result is a deliberately old-school clip that nods to the pump clips of decades past rather than the minimal, illustration-led look of most modern beers.
Having run their own pubs in Macclesfield and Buxton for over a decade, the RedWillow team know first-hand how important value is at the bar, and Nonetheless has been priced with that firmly in mind.
Toby McKenzie, head brewer and Co-Founder of RedWillow Brewery, says, “We love the pub! Is there ever a better one-word text from a mate than ‘Pub?’
“As a brewery, we want pubs to stay open, and that means giving licensees a beer that’s affordable to pour and accessible to as many people as possible.
“A few pints at the local shouldn’t feel out of reach for people. If Nonetheless helps keep even a few more people walking through the pub door, that’s exactly what it’s there to do.”
