Managed pub and bar group TCG is kicking off its fifth annual ‘Proud of Our Ale’ festival with an attempt to break the world record for having the most people drinking the same beer at the same time.
The Proud of Our Ale festival, which runs through to 31 October, includes a raft of activities and offers designed to drive traffic into TCG’s pubs and bars and to help them make their mark as the best places in their locality to enjoy a great pint of ale. Proud of Our Ale coincides with Cask Ale Week, the celebration of cask ale which runs nationally from 24 September to 4 October.
Some ‘tried and tested’ initiatives which continue from previous festivals include beer flights, a ‘buy six pints, get one free’ deal and a 20% discount for CAMRA members. New for this year are beer and food matching menus and a ‘Top of the Hops’ pub quiz as well as the chance to win prizes including a weekend break and an engraved beer ‘growler’.
In addition, TCG has rolled out the Cask Beer Uncovered e-learning programme to managers and team members in all its participating pubs, to enhance their cask ale knowledge ahead of the festival.
Beating the world record
Proud of Our Ale starts on Friday 18 September and TCG is inviting customers into its 40 participating pubs and bars at 7.00 that evening to enjoy a free pint of Hobgoblin and beat the current record for 714 people, set in Mexico last year.
Participants register on the Proud of our Ale Facebook page to take part in the record attempt, which takes place one hour before England take on Fiji to kick off the Rugby World Cup.
Huge success for TCG
TCG chief operating officer Nigel Wright said, “Proud of Our Ale has been a huge success story for us. From the first campaign in autumn 2011 to the last one in 2014, our cask ale volumes over the period of the festival increased by more than 150%. It has also put our sites ‘on the map’ with local ale drinkers, so the sales benefit continues well beyond the few weeks of the festival.
“The World Record Attempt is a new element to the festival this year. On a day when rugby is coming home to the UK, it seems only appropriate that we should also bring home the record for drinking beer and I’m sure we can count on our enthusiastic staff and customers to do their duty and help us get Proud of Our Ale and the Rugby World Cup off to a flying start in our pubs and bars.”