As pubs and bars continue to navigate rising costs, RedWillow Brewery has announced Nonetheless, a new series of traditionally modern, cask-only pale ales.
Nonetheless has been designed from the outset to be the most competitively priced beer in the brewery’s range. The first orders have gone out this week, tying in with Cask Ale Week.
RedWillow will be releasing Nonetheless beers once a month, with each beer sharing the same base recipe. The range is built on the characterful maltiness of Maris Otter, with a rotating single hop or hop pairing on top. Each release will celebrate the best of British and European hops, many of which aren’t commonly used in modern craft beer.
The series opens with a 3.8% ABV Challenger Pale, brewed with Maris Otter and Challenger hops. A modern take on a British classic, it delivers soft orange marmalade, gentle hedgerow fruit, and subtle spice over a smooth malt base, finishing clean, balanced, and drinkable. This will be followed by Ernest Pale and First Gold Pale later in the year.
The look of the range takes its cue from the past. The team found an old pumpclip from a long-closed Macclesfield brewery, Stancliffe Brothers, and used its dense, text-heavy style as the starting point for the new artwork.
The Stancliffe pumpclip which inspired the Nonetheless design
The new branding has been brought to life by RedWillow’s original designer, Jon Pink, who recently worked on the redesign of their popular bitter Feckless, which is bottled and sold through the Co-op. The result is a deliberately old-school clip that nods to the pumpclips of decades past rather than the minimal, illustration-led look of most modern beers.
“We love the pub!” said Toby McKenzie, head brewer and co-founder of RedWillow Brewery. “Is there ever a better one-word text from a mate than ‘Pub?’.
“As a brewery, we want pubs to stay open, and that means giving licensees a beer that’s affordable to pour and accessible to as many people as possible. A few pints at the local shouldn’t feel out of reach for people. If Nonetheless helps keep even a few more people walking through the pub door, that’s exactly what it’s there to do.”
Paul Mellor, head of sales added: “Hospitality is going through a genuinely tough time right now, and we wanted to give pubs and bars something that doesn’t ask them to compromise. Nonetheless is proof you don’t have to choose between a beer that tastes great and one that’s affordable to put on the bar.”
