Quality Assured Pubs, Serving the Best in Cask Ale

There are fantastic pubs with great cask beers up and down the country and the Head Brewer's Club points you in the direction of some of the very best from Pub Partners, Greene King's tenanted and leased pub division.

They are all individual, all different, but the thing that unites the pubs in my Club are the licensees who all share my interest in, and passion for, real ale and are devoted to serving it in great condition. All the members of the Head Brewer's Club recognise that it can take just one poor pint to put a drinker off cask ale for life, and so are ultra-attentive to standards and treat cask beer with the tender loving care it needs and deserves!

Magic of yeast in the brewing process

The brewing process for fresh real ale finishes not at the brewery, but in the cellar of the pub. The live yeast ferments in the cask, turning the sugars from the malted barley into carbon dioxide (for the tingle on the tongue) and alcohol (for the tingle [or warming of the taste buds] on the senses!).

Cask Ales and the need for control

Cask ale, like all other fresh foods, is susceptible to temperature. It needs to be stored in a spotless cellar at a cool 11 to 13 degrees centigrade for the yeast to do its job properly. It needs to be tapped and vented three days before serving and it needs to be served through lines that are sparkling clean and free from contamination. Those are some of the basic rules pubs follow in order to serve the perfect pint.

HBC pubs and gaining the assurance

All the pubs in my Club have been visited and rigorously assessed by members of Greene King's quality team, who have between them vast experience in quality in the brewery and quality in pubs. These guys, just like the brewers themselves, live and breathe ale quality - I don't think it would be any exaggeration to say they are fanatical!

So, they have gone into the pubs with open minds and critical tongues and have scoured the cellars; checked the stock; inspected the still aging; examined the pipes; swabbed the fittings; and tested their way through numerous samples of ale to find the pubs that really do care about cask.

Welcome to the HBC Pub

As a result of their fastidious assessments, I have every confidence in commending you to the Head Brewer's pubs, encouraging you in the direction of their fresh, cask-conditioned beers. There will be a warm welcome and a great pint served by friendly and knowledgeable bar staff. I invite you to check them out and in the process to be part of the country's cask revival!