News Release

Fullers launches new seasonal cask ale

Fuller's has released a brand new cask ale, Bengal Lancer. The 5% ABV traditional India Pale Ale will be available exclusively in Fuller's pubs throughout February, extending to selected free trade customers as a seasonal beer during March.

The beer gets its name from the 19th century cavalry regiment that served on on the North West Frontier, and is inspired by the distinctive flavours that would have been experienced by the India Pale Ale drinkers of the time. It is described as having an assertive bitterness and distinctive hoppiness.

Fuller's head brewer, John Keeling, said: "Our seasonal ales programme is an opportunity for the brewing team at Fuller's to give our customers a taste of something a little different. In crafting this beer, we were inspired by the flavours that brewers working 200 years ago would have tasted in their India Pale Ales and have tried to use ingredients as close to the varieties of the time as we could source."

Brakspear widens beer list for tenants

Brakspear has extended the list of cask ales available to its tenants from the current offer of four permanent ales to 14.

Ales on the new list include some of the best-sellers from the Marston's portfolio. Brakspear Bitter remains a 'must stock', but tenants can now add to their cask range from names such as Marston's Pedigree and Jennings Sneck Lifter, as well as local favourites Old Hooky and Hobgoblin.

Commercial director Tom Davies said, "Cask ale is one of the big success stories of the pub trade and we’re doing all we can to help our tenants profit from the growth in this sector. The expanded beer list will enable more Brakspear tenants to offer their customers an interesting range of cask beers, which is a proven way of keeping pubs busy despite the recession and driving not just sales of beer, but of other drinks and food."

Tasting notes for all the beers and the calendar of seasonal ales are listed on Brakspear's new website,

Largest ever seasonal ale range for Greene King

Greene King has unveiled its largest ever range of seasonal ales for the year ahead. It will be offering up 14 beers, which will be available at different times throughout the year to sit alongside its permanent range of 10 cask ales.

As well as a monthly seasonal ale, there will also be a quarterly head brewer's choice. The first of these is Flanker's Tackle, to coincide with the Six Nations rugby tournament.

Head brewer John Bexon said: "Flanker’s Tackle is a fantastic ale to begin the year with. It is golden in colour and uses four different varieties of hops to achieve a wonderful depth of flavour and fruity aroma. At 4.3% it's a deliciously quaffable cask beer."

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