Black Sheep Brewery relaunches its popular Velo on cask

Black Sheep Brewery has announced the relaunch of its renowned cask beer, Velo. First brewed to mark the 2014 Tour de France that passed the gates of the brewery, Velo has become one of Black Sheep’s most celebrated seasonal cask ales and is back by popular demand. Velo will be available in cask ale pubs across the country from the start of May.

Described as having a ‘complex flavour profile’, Velo combines a blend of Cascade hops and heaps of orange and coriander to provide a juicy, vibrant pint that washes down very easily.

Velo offers cask beer lovers delicious notes of citrus and zest whilst the coriander adds a subtle tang that works in perfect harmony with the pithy orange. At 4.2%, Velo is a refreshing pale ale that truly signifies that summer is just around the corner.

Velo is the fourth beer to be launched as part of Black Sheep’s 2022 Seasonal Cask Beer Range – its biggest range yet – to mark the brewery’s upcoming 30th anniversary in September.

Charlene Lyons, CEO commented: “We're very excited to announce the launch of Velo in cask, a true sign that the warm, summer days are almost here. For us, May signifies the start of the cycling season so we couldn’t let this ‘freewheeling’ pale ale go amiss this year as it really is one of our favourites. Our brewery is located on a number of popular cycling routes so cycling plays a huge part in our summer each year and hopefully Velo will provide some much need refreshment at the end of a long ride out.”

Back in April, Black Sheep launched its brand-new cask beer, Refresher, A traditional blonde ale that combines a blend of British hops to provide a sessionable, lightly-floral pint.

Despite cask beer being the ‘original craft beer’, the category has endured somewhat of a decline in popularity over recent years - due to changing consumer habits, the growth of other drinks categories, and pub closures as a result of Covid-19 restrictions.

In response to this, Black Sheep Brewery has launched its Drink Cask Beer campaign, working alongside local creatives to encourage young people to simply try a pint of cask. The brewery is set to commence phase two of the campaign in the coming weeks.

Charlene continued: “We’re super-excited to be launching the next phase of the Drink Cask Beer campaign very shortly, working alongside a brilliant local comedian to tackle misconceptions about the industry both honestly and brutally.

“We hope the launch of Velo, as well as the other beers in the Seasonal Cask Beer range, will continue to make cask beer more accessible and inclusive to all, challenging the perception that cask beer is old-fashioned, when in-fact it is for everyone!”

Black Sheep Brewery has committed to launching a new cask beer each month, as well as bringing back old favourites, available to on-trade customers in pubs across the country.