Cask ales ‘to return to growth in 2010’

In a report which may seem counter-intuitive to some of you, market researchers Nielsen have stated that cask beers continue to outperform the market and should return to ‘real’ growth in 2010 or 2011.
The report concluded that cask beer sales were down 3.3% last year, compared to overall beer sales declining by 9.5%. Cask now accounts for 13.5% of all draught beer sales, and over a third of all draught ale sales. It is interesting to note that 2 in 5 of all pubs in the UK now stock cask beer.
What are the reasons behind these trends? Well, the report puts it down to an increasing appetite for cask beers and guest ale schemes making cask beers more available. Not rocket science then. It is interesting to note that no mention is made of the quality, variety and choice of cask beers being brewed up and down the country!