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Pubs can swap beer for cider on World Cider Day and win £1k

26 May 2023 By db staff writer

Hawkes, London’s first urban cidery, is offering a £1,000 ‘bounty for beer’ to one bold pub willing to switch out all beers on tap for draught cider this World Cider Day (Saturday 3 June).

Elliot Allison, general manager of Hawkes, said: “While it’s great to have such a vast choice of beers on offer – from stouts and porters, to sours and IPAs – it’s always disappointing to see just one or at most, two taps of cider on the bar. A standard pub will generally offer a token apple and – if we’re lucky – a berry cider, and they will almost always be from a mainstream producer. When I’m out at the pub with my beer drinker friends, they can always count on the opportunity to drink a different style of beer with every pint, whereas the cider drinker, will have to stretch two variants of cider across the night, before switching to a beer that wouldn’t have been their first choice.”

Allison explained: “To rectify this lack of cider representation and to celebrate the brilliant and creative ciders that are available today, Hawkes is offering one daring pub £1,000 worth of cider as a reward for switching out all of its draught beer for cider this World Cider Day.”

He reassured: “There’s no need to worry, cider and the summer go hand in hand, and you never know, you may make a lot of new cider-drinking friends excited to see a more varied range of apply goodness on draught that will return in the future. If you’re not sure what a barful of ciders should look like, the perfect lineup should be just as assorted as the range of beer varieties that we’ve seen expand as a result of the thriving craft beer movement.”

Allison pointed out that “a hero, session apple cider should always have a place at the bar” and described how “draught apple represents 57.4% of the on-trade volume split in 2022, and premium apple ciders are topping mainstream.”

He insisted: “It’s vital, therefore, to have a trade-up, premium apple on draught and, if possible, a top-of-the-range crafted apple cider for consumers looking for an enhanced drinking experience. While draught fruit cider doesn’t hold as much market share, it’s always important to include an option for those looking for a fruity flavour, or, for session drinkers looking to titillate their tastebuds with something new or different.”

According to Allison: “The standard is berry, but there are cidermakers out there making some very interesting creations with other, more adventurous fruits. At Hawkes, we experimented with pineapple to make our tropical Pineapple Punch, which turned out to be hugely popular. We’ve also recently called on the summery cherry to give our newest fruit cider a sour kick. So, the perfect cider lineup for me consists of a premium mainstream apple, a crafted apple, a berry cider and a cider made using a more unusual fruit, just for good measure.”

For pubs interested in partnering with Hawkes this World Cider Day, replacing all beer on tap for cider, with £1,000 worth of Hawkes kegs thrown in, contact the team at hello@wearehawkes.com and state how many beers the pub will be replacing. For more information, visit www.wearehawkes.com for further details.