UK: British beer is 'too hot’, an inspection revealed

Hundreds of British pubs are serving real ale, which is too warm to be refreshing, quality experts from Cask Marque have revealed, according to BBC comments from June 21. The recommended temperature for a hand-pulled pint is from 11C to 13C but assessors found 44% of pints bought in 2,000 UK pubs exceeded 13C.

Publicans in London, Essex, Middlesex, Cambridgeshire and the West Midlands all pulled pints measuring between 25.9C and 28.1C, said Cask Marque. But the worst offender was in Kent, where an inspector found a pint at 35C.

The report was conducted by quality assessors from Cask Marque. Each of the inspectors' unannounced visits were carried out in the nine months up to February this year. The findings were part of the organisation's campaign to raise awareness of ale temperature.

Director Paul Nunny said many customers were confused about what makes the perfect pint. "There is a common misconception that cask beer is intended to be warm. "Proper beer is cool, refreshing and thirst quenching."

Ian Loe, from the Campaign for Real Ale, said warm beer should never be served. "We have invested tens of thousands of pounds to keep our beers cool at beer festivals because we recognise that real ale is best appreciated at about 11C."

23 June, 2005