How do we bring cask ale to the masses? It’s a question that CAMRA has been asking since 1971.

I’ve spent quite a lot of time recently with the dedicated teams of staff, brewers and volunteers running Discovery Bars at festivals around the country. Devised and implemented by Alex Metcalfe at the CAMRA head office, the “live” wing of Learn & Discover offers festival-goers a chance to meet the brewer and – crucially – to taste their beers. Enthusiastic volunteers encourage punters to sniff jars of hops. Comparative tastings take customers not just through the diverse range of beer styles on offer, but also proffer the rare opportunity to taste the same beer served using different dispense methods, so the variations between cask and keg are firmly cemented in the mind.

I think it’s wonderful. I’ve watched avowed pale ale drinkers tentatively sip their first bitter – and love it. I’ve watched seasoned traditionalists hesitantly take up a cup of blue bubblegum sour (and it was very blue) and give it a quizzical eyebrow – and a thumbs up. The Discovery Bar is really challenging people to try something new, which can only be a net gain for UK beer.

But of course, the limitation is that this audience is self-selecting. Beer-loving guests can bring a group of friends along safe in the knowledge that there is plenty available for all comers. But there is still a likelihood, or perhaps even an expectation, that the majority of visitors will have at least a passing interest in beer.

How do we reach those who know nothing about cask ale? It’s a question that has played on my mind frequently in recent years. I love nothing better than spreading the Good Word about cask and converting a newbie. I’ve spent quite a lot of time organising tastings for just that purpose – not just in your regular pub environment, but also at places frequented by folk who do not have the slightest clue that cask ale exists.

I did one such event at the Ludlow Food Festival in 2023, for example. It was – so I’m told – the first time in the festival’s near 30-year history that anyone had hosted a beer tasting there. Imagine all the chefs, producers and food writers that have staged talks and demonstrations over the decades and not one of them has focused on cask ale.

We can get cask ale down the throats of the gastronomically minded relatively easily. We know where to find them. Tell them about the magic and mystique of cask, get them to try it, and many will immediately embark upon a lifelong love affair that mirrors our own. But what of Big Joe Public? Well, I’ve been trying something to get them on board too, but some of you aren’t going to like it…

Have you heard of the Wetherspoons Game? It’s a Facebook group where people use the Wetherspoon app to send drinks and food (mainly drinks) to strangers around the UK. It hit the headlines nearly a year ago when the game went viral, but the media has largely moved on now. But the group still persists. Thrives, in fact. It has 745,000 members. It even has a sponsor now.

Every day, people post a photo of themselves at their chosen table, in their chosen Wetherspoon pub and sometimes random people send them drinks or a bite to eat. Sometimes loads of people do and the game gets closed down by the group moderators or by the pub staff for responsible drinking. It is worth noting that the game is not endorsed by the pub chain. When I saw the reports on the game, I joined the group. I found it absolutely fascinating.

I know a lot of you are not fans of Wetherspoon pubs, and that’s okay. I know that lots of you are big fans, and that’s okay too. I must confess, I was not too enamoured by the reports I read about the treatment of staff during Covid and that put me off visiting for a good while. But I have found myself mellowing, in certain “needs must” situations. I tucked in to a ’Spoons breakfast (no drink) before my second day at the Robin Hood Beer and Cider Festival in Nottingham last week, for example, because the Trent Bridge pub is literally right outside the festival.

In my general Facebook scrolling, a post from the game occasionally pops up. I have a little read of who they are, and I read the comments to see what they’ve been sent. And I’ve been more than a little dismayed at how little cask ale is changing hands. Very few people ask for it, very few people send it.

I’ve got a little bit addicted to sending players a pint of cask now. Not regularly, just here and there. I’ll send a couple of pints to a table I like the look of. I’ve never played the game myself; I’ve only sent drinks.

I have no idea how it is panning out. Maybe they tried it and were intrigued. Maybe they took one look at it and told the staff to take it away. There’s no way for me to know. But I do find the glow of a totally random act of kindness rather compelling. I like to send drinks to players on the younger end of the spectrum because I love the idea that maybe, just maybe, I am responsible for the first step of their cask ale journey. Or perhaps they just wanted shots.