This year’s Great British Beer Festival, organised by the Campaign for Real Ale, Camra, will be held at London’s Olympia exhibition centre on August 2-6.
The event, which is regarded as the biggest cask beer festival in the world, attracts more than 45,000 beer drinkers to sample the 450 real ales, foreign beer, ciders and perries, from 200 different brewers.
Many will use the event to showcase new products,
including Hall & Woodhouse, which announced earlier this month it would launch a new Badger beer at the event, developed together with celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. The Robert Cain Brewery is also using the event as a launchpad for its Cains Finest Lager, winner of this year’s Camra Liverpool Beer Festival.
The final judging of the Champion Beer of Britain competition will take place at the festival on Tuesday August 2.
Last year’s winner, Pale Rider, which is brewed by Kelham Island Brewery of Sheffield, has displayed the title on its draught real ale promotional material.
Shepherd Neame has announced a deal with Asahi Breweries to brew Japanese beer Asahi Super Dry, under licence for the UK. The beer was previously brewed for the UK in the Czech Republic at Staropramen Breweries.

Interbrew UK has launched a new bulk pack design for Stella Artois to emphasise its Continental brewing heritage. The 20 x 330ml pack will be rolled out across all take-home sectors in August.

Liverpool brewer Cains is launching its biggest-ever trade ad campaign in the run up to the Great British Beer Festival next week. Print ads have the strapline: ‘Continental Lager - all the way from Liverpool.’

Allied Domecq has unveiled a direct consumer marketing campaign for Courvoisier. It consists of a premium bespoke box and booklet and has the theme: ‘Accept nothing less than perfection.’

Australian wine Wolf Blass is running a summer sampling and promotional campaign to support its partnership with English cricket.
asahi for the UK
stella in bulk
cains splashes out
‘perfect’ cognac
that’s cricket