Seven-part documentary series "Keep Cask Alive" launches 19 February alongside UNESCO petition to help protect and champion the UK’s pubs, breweries and farms.
This week the Craft Beer Channel launches a new campaign to get cask ale the protection it deserves from the UK Government – and eventually UNESCO.
In a follow-up to their award-winning 2021 series, Keep Cask Alive, Craft Beer Channel founders Jonny Garrett and Brad Evans have teamed up with lecturers at York University and nine industry sponsors to make a YouTube documentary series championing traditional British brewing and farming. The first episode "Bitter, not boring" which Timothy Taylor's features in, went live here – with more videos going out weekly.
Over seven 30-minute episodes, Keep Cask Alive Two sees the pair visit countless breweries (including Timothy Taylor's), pubs, festivals, factories and farms to tell glorious stories of cask beer’s history and future, while documenting Jonny and Brad’s attempts to help stop its decline. Key to their goal is the recognition of cask ale as Intangible Heritage.
Because cask ale is a production process and serving format, rather than a specific style or product, it is ineligible for Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status. However, in June 2024 the UK government ratified the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which aims to protect traditional craftsmanship, oral traditions, social practices, events, and knowledge. Examples of this recognised in other countries include Belgian beer culture, Arabic coffee, sake production and the French baguette, which show that cask ale’s unique process and wide impact is more than deserving of recognition.
An application to UNESCO must include academic research, industry and government support, and swathes of evidence. The Craft Beer Channel will use the films in the final submission to UNESCO and to encourage the government to back the campaign. To that end they have started a petition on the UK government website, calling for cask to be recognised as intangible heritage at a national level.
Episodes will run every Wednesday until early April, with events in the planning all over the country. It is generously sponsored by CAMRA, Timothy Taylor’s, Five Points Brewery, Kirkstall Brewery, Shepherd Neame, Fuller’s Griffin Brewery, Crisp Malt, Charles Faram & Co and Lallemand UK.
On the video series, Craft Beer Channel cofounder Jonny Garrett says: “The second series of Keep Cask Alive is the most ambitious thing we’ve ever done. It’s been incredible to visit so many parts of the UK, learning the remarkable stories of Britain’s brewing heritage and how some wonderful people are fighting to keep it not just alive but thriving. Despite the dark headlines, from Leeds’ Tetley Building to Brighton’s Amex stadium, cask ale is still vibrant and exciting. We hope our stories can show that.”
On the Intangible Heritage campaign, Garrett adds: “Brad and I believe cask is the lifeblood of British pubs. While there are many reasons for its struggles, it’s clear that support from the top is desperately needed. We hope that recognition of its impact on British culture and the economy will give the industry more tools and justifications to protect our pubs, breweries and farms, and to push back against duty, VAT and business rate rises that are crippling UK hospitality.”
Craft Beer Channel cofounder Brad Evans says: “Cask is such a brilliant and unique thing to the UK, so wouldn’t it be wonderful for it to be the first example of Intangible Heritage to be recognised in the UK? A pint in the pub is a thing that unites us, and brings us together despite our differences.”
You can watch the series two trailer here, and the first episode here. The first series of Keep Cask Alive is available here. Once live, you can sign the government petition here (currently awaiting approval).
For more details or interview requests please email Jonny Garrett on craftbeerboys@gmail.com
