Psalter named top Barracuda cask pub

May 27, 2006: The Psalter pub in Sheffield has beaten over 80 pubs in Barracuda Group’s nationwide estate to win a cask ale incentive and be awarded Cask Marque status.

Manager of the Psalter, Andrew Bird, won the award after Barracuda ran a competition to improve the standards of cask ale within its pubs.

Mystery visits were conducted in 83 pubs over a five-month period before they were whittled down to the best four that demonstrated exceptional quality in their operation and serving of real ale.

From there, Cask Marque has named the Psalter overall champion and Andrew won a luxury weekend away for two, plus the coveted Cask Marque plaque.

Andrew said: “When I joined the Psalter over three years ago we only had one cask beer on - now we have seven from local breweries Kelham Island and Abbeydale. It’s taken that time to get the range, equipment and quality of beers up to scratch and we now have a strong real ale customer base,so the Cask Marque award is a real honour.”

Annabel Smith, national account manager for Cask Marque, said: ”All of the participating pubs did really well, but Andrew and his team at the Psalter showed an exceptional level of commitment and enthusiasm for the promotion and maintenance of real ale that put them head and shoulders above the rest.”

Barracuda Group area manager Dave Spiller said: “The cask ale incentive was designed to improve Barracuda’s range of cask ales, cellar equipment and management training across the company - we even introduced limited edition ale called Barracuda Bitter to capture the managers’ enthusiasm. All of the pubs have made a genuine effort and brought a new offer to their customers.”

Barracuda Group has six pubs listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2006: The Ivy House, Sunderland; The Racehorse, Northampton; The Travellers Friend, Essex; The Restoration Inn, Cheltenham; The Portrait, Sidcup; and The Crown, Egham, which was also recently named CAMRA North Surrey pub of the year.