SPBW
The Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood

NATIONAL

In 1963 wooden casks were still regarded as being synonymous with traditional draught beer in contrast to the "sealed dustbins" which contained the processed and artificially carbonated product. For this reason the name seemed ideal. After a few years, realising that metal casks were rapidly replacing wooden ones, the Society decided to relax its principles accordingly. Nowadays there has been an almost meteoric rise in breweries using wooden casks. While the SPBW NEC does take on the new wave of craft ales the original name has been retained for the sake of tradition and the fact that the SPBW still supports the craft of the cooper, cask ale and ale outlets.

NORTHERN IRELAND BRANCH

The Northern Ireland branch of the S.P.B.W. was form in 1994 and ran until 1997 when the current Chairman stood down. It restarted in 2004 and ran until 2017. It is run by a couple of people, more for historic value than anything else.