A cross-industry campaign to literally refresh the image of cask ale launches in selected pubs this week.

Drink Cask Fresh seeks to make real ale more relevant and attractive to younger drinkers by positioning it as the freshest drink on the bar.

Younger drinkers, who are currently less likely to drink cask, claim freshness is important when choosing what to drink. But they’re less likely to associate freshness with cask than with almost any other drink. In fact, well-kept cask ale is only on the bar for a maximum of four days.

Campaign kits developed by agency Ape Creative include bright wraps for hand pumps (pictured), branded glassware and bar runners, and beer mats with different messages about cask ale that link to www.drinkcaskfresh.co.uk. Here, drinkers can learn more about how cask ale is not only the freshest beer on the bar, but also has a variety of flavours, is skilfully brewed and kept and has strong sustainability stories.

Writer and consultant Pete Brown, who took over the coordination of the campaign from co-founder Katie Wiles last month, said: “For years, all the research on cask ale shows that few people totally reject it – they just don’t have a reason to choose it more often than they currently do when there are so many choices at the bar.

“We know what discerning young drinkers want when they go to the pub. This pilot study will show that when we make cask more visible and relevant to younger drinkers, they’ll start drinking more of it.”

SIBA head of communications Neil Walker and co-founder of the Drink Cask Fresh campaign said: “Well-kept, fresh cask beer really is a world-class drink and yet many younger people have never tried it.

“This campaign is about raising the visibility of cask, empowering pubs and bars to champion it, and ultimately getting more people to not only try it for the first time, but realise just how delicious it is. Cask beer is delivered fresh, often from a local independent brewery, and is only on sale for a limited period of time – so Drink Cask Fresh today.”

The pilot campaign runs for 10 weeks until 8 May, with the intention of winning more backing from the beer and pub industry for a national roll-out later in the year.