The four-day National Winter Ale Festival, which kicks off in Manchester from Wednesday 23rd January, has teamed up with Punch Taverns to offer visitors a free half pint at participating pubs when they pick up a voting form.
As one of the main festival sponsors, Punch is supporting this year’s Consumer’s Choice Award, where visitors can vote for the best beer, cider and perry at the festival. Voting forms will be handed out on arrival at the festival, where visitors will find a voucher at the bottom of the form.
The voucher will entitle festival-goers a free half pint when they purchase a half pint at any of the five participating Punch pubs across Manchester and the surrounding areas up until Sunday 10th February.
Punch have provided participating pubs with a POS kit, including posters to display outside the pub, so customers can easily recognise where their vouchers can be redeemed.
“We’re keen to support CAMRA with the 2013 festival as we recognise the importance of cask ale in our pubs. Cask is a genuine unique selling point for pubs over drinking at home – it is something that can’t be replicated outside the pub environment,” said Stephen Martin, Drinks Category Manager at Punch Taverns.
“We are leading the way with cask ales, with one in three of our cask ale pubs accredited with Cask Marque. We also have 850 pubs that are active members of our rotational cask ale programme, Finest Cask, and encourage our licensees to offer a selection of cask ale and rotate where possible. Last year, over 500 pubs held their own beer festival, which is a phenomenal amount, and illustrates not only the popularity of cask, but the importance it has on pub businesses.
“Whilst cask’s share in the beer market is growing and gaining popularity amongst consumers, there are many who haven’t tried it and by offering a promotional voucher such as this, it is a great way for customers to try something different to what was enjoyed at the festival in one of our great pubs in the area.
“One of the participating pubs, the iconic Briton’s Protection on Great Bridgewater Street, for example, is famed for offering an authentic pub environment with an ‘olde worlde’ feel. It has four casks on offer at any one time, including a guest ale that rotates, and this contributes to the pub’s unique selling point of British heritage, charm and character.
“We have chosen these pubs as they all uphold a good reputation for their cask selection and we hope that visitors enjoy having a drink on us!” Stephen added.
Participating pubs include: Britons Protection 50 Great Bridgewater Street, Manchester; Rising Sun 22 Queen Street, Manchester; Famous Crown 770 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester; Old Boathouse Higher Green Lane, Astley, Tyldesley, Manchester; Star Inn 2 Howard Street, Glossop.
The National Winter Ale Festival runs from 23rd until 26th January at the Sheridan Suite, Manchester. Please visit www.nwaf.org.uk for more information.