Places Where Cask Ale is Regularly on Offer

I appreciate this info. I could have "liked" your post instead of replying, but I couldn't stomach the idea of "liking" it.

 

Wait. Oh, damn, I just "LIKED" your post.

Yeah, despite my early reluctance to use it (a result of Facebookphobia, I guess?), I try to think of the "LIKE" option as a way of either saying "I AGREE" or "HEY, THANKS FOR THE INFO". Easier than reading through a lot "Me, too!" or "Thanks!" posts.

A "LIKE" is especially jarring when the post is about the death of someone, a brewery scandal, the closing of a brewery or dropping a favorite beer, etc.

 

The Dandelion restaurant always has casks, and usually three at one time.

124 S. 18th St, Philadelphia, PA 19103

http://thedandelionpub.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2018/05/DANDE_beverage-050819.pdf

 

Great thread. Just wish someone had posted some hidden gem I didn’t know about in NYC. Unless something has changed at BT they don’t know much about handling a cask. And while I agree ginger man is probably a relative front runner, they had the same Fyne Ales beer (I cant remember which one, but love the brewery) on for weeks not that long ago.

 

Two more for NYC:

The Shakespeare (E 39th St bet. Park & Madison)
The Breslin (W 29th bet. Broadway & 5th Ave)

Both bars are located in hotels. It's been a long time (10 years maybe?) since I was at The Breslin. I haven't been to The Shakespeare but it looks promising for cask options. I wish I had more of a report to give on both of them but I'm not in NYC as much as I used to be.

 

Will check out Shakespeare

In my experience - Breslin (near my work) - sort of like Spotted Pig - could be good but the beer tends to sit too long.

When I first moved to NYC I lived close to Spotted Pig. A couple times their spotted pig bitter was solid. But more often it was stale or even sour. My wife and I went for the first time in years a month ago. Straight up sour.

The problem in NYC is that there’s not enough demand/turnover for the type of beer that suits cask - because these semi after-thought casks are at places where they are competing with either NEIPAs / pastry stouts, or just other drinks period.

If someone was willing to set up some sort of brewpub that focused solely on UK style cask beers, and they were able to put out a great product and demonstrate a high level of craftsmanship - I actually think that being the only show in town they would probably do well, despite the styles not being sought after. But I don’t blame anyone for not pulling the trigger on that business plan.

 

Great place have been several times I was going to recommend as well.

 

I went to Cork City Pub in Hoboken last night. They had 6 cask handles going, and it seems like that is regular there. None of them were traditional English styles unfortunately, but there was a mix..coffee brown ale, stout, IPA, NEIPA (though NEIPA's don't work on cask for me). Pretty good beer list outside the cask as well.

http://www.corkcitypub.com/

 

Neighborhood Restaurant Group in the DC area, which includes Church Key and Rustico. Many of their locations have at least one cask option available.

 

Yeah it's regular there, and that mix is pretty representative of the selection for the past couple years or so they've had the casks set up like that. I have seen some classic styles on occasion though.

 

Cork City was one of my favorite bars when I lived in Hoboken. Laid back place with a nice focus on local beers. I forgot they had so many cask offerings.

On the contrary, this is one of my least favorite bars of all-time. An absolutely massive space with a touristy feel to it. Horrible service, very unknowledgeable about the beer, and expensive to boot. I don't like to bash or speak negatively about places on these forums, but this place really irks the hell out of me. I used to just walk the extra few minutes over to Pony Bar (when it existed).

 

A lot of times tonewood brewing has one of their bitters on for cask. But if you go I’d call ahead to check cause I’ve gone when they haven’t had it on.

 

Iron Abbey in Horsham, PA has one or two cask lines. It's easy to get to from the PA-Turnpike Willow Grove exit.

Maxwell's on Main (M.O.M.'s) in Doylestown, PA has a rotating cask line.

I haven't been in a long time, but I'm fairly sure Grey Lodge in Philly has a cask line.They also do "Friday the Firkinteenth" events where they tap firkins all day long when the calendar hits Friday the 13th.

 

Yep. I went once and asked for the cask bitter. The server was absolutely embarrassed handing me the glass of terrible looking liquid. He asked if I still wanted it and I said yeah. I came for the cask ale and I was gonna drink the cask ale. If your restaurant has a good reputation, why allow something poor in it that's in low demand?

This gets compounded by a lack of good cask beer producers, but the relationship between what brewers brew and what drinkers drink is a chicken and egg one. Regardless, servers have expressed disappointment to me with the lack of good options to bring in to the bar.

Yeah, but you forgot to mention the obnoxious music... and I don't trust the cask beer there either.

 

Just came across this:

https://punchdrink.com/articles/can...e-it-in-america-churchkey-spuyten-duyvil-bar/

a) forgot to mention Spuyten - that should be another one for NYC
b) interesting about Shakespeare getting the cask marque designation. Definitely will give it a shot
c) looked up Alex Hall's site http://www.cask-ale.co.uk/us/

i) that event at Mugs / monthly event (seems like last one was on 7/10 at fifth hammer) sound interesting
ii) I emailed him asking for where he thinks is best in NYC (there's a database on the site but very out of date)