Places Where Cask Ale is Regularly on Offer

On the Hand Pump there last night and it was sublime-
2016 J. W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin Whisky Cask)

 

Yea, no AC there so it’s not the best during the summer heat. Glad you enjoyed it, unfortunately the last few times I’ve been the cask lines weren’t on. Fingers crossed they have at least one on my next visit. Was it blipstream on cask or something else?

 

Anywhere in Maryland?

 

I googled “cask ale Maryland” and found this place

Chesepiooc Real Ale Brewery

2408 Crofton Blvd, Crofton, MD 21114
(410) 630-1579

https://g.co/kgs/1XRmSr

I never been. Looks killer, let us know how it is if you go

 

Awesome

 

Old Forge, Danville PA, has two hand pumps. Usually they have British styles like a mild or ESB, but occasionally another malt-forward beer like a porter. (I've tried the mild, but since I've never had another one I don't know how true-to-style it was. It was, uh, mild...)

 

Friday the Firkenteeth!!

Cheers!

 

The Grand Delancey in Manhattan just opened and has two lines dedicated to cask ales.

Strong Rope in Brooklyn is having a Caskiversary event this weekend. Sounds promising. From their website:

Celebrate Strong Rope Brewery’s 4th Anniversary with Caskiversary! We will have a lot of unique beers on cask, featuring fellow New York breweries as well as a few specialty beers of our own. Check back with this page for the final cask lineup, but just to tease your interest, we've got a couple classic English styles as well as a special collaboration barleywine with Fifth Hammer, guest casks from Keg & Lantern, Rockaway, Big Alice, KCBC, Sixpoint, Coney Island, Finback, Gun Hill and Singlecut!

We'll tap the casks on Friday, December 13 at 5pm and pour all through the weekend until 5pm Sunday, December 15.

Buy your cask tickets at the bar, and take them to the back for a pour of any cask of your choice!

 

just my heard them talking about this on steal this beer podcast. Sounds like such and awesome place. If I ever find myself in Manhattan I’ll definitely stop by.

 

I have 2 more Maryland options for cask ale:

Brewer's Alley in Frederick MD puts 1-2 beers on the hand pump at all times.
https://brewers-alley.com/brewhouse/our-beer/


Milkhouse Brewery near Libertytown/Mt. Airy (literally its very rural/remote setting), always has a beer on their hand pump as well.
https://www.milkhousebrewery.com/on-tap/

Both of these places do an excellent job with their beers on cask...just depends on if you want to go downtown urban setting at Brewer's Alley or visit a taproom reminiscent of being in the UK countryside somewhere (i.e. Milkhouse).

PS: I've visited both Seneca Brewing (The Beerocracy) in the Fingerlakes, NY and Bull's Head Public House in Lititz PA and both were amazing experiences as well. Highly recommend either. Seneca hs the best English beer I've ever had on cask before and gave it a perfect score (not a NEIPA or Pastry stout..imagine that).

 

Do you happen to know whether these places use a cask breather for their cask beers?

Cheers!

 

Hi Jack, considering Ive e never heard the term “cask breather” used in conversation until now, I can safely say “not sure”. So I will be glad to ask on my next visit, but I need brought up to speed, what exactly is a cask breather? I could go to google but like the conversation here better.

 

Rochester NY,

The Old Toad, a British pub that has been there for a long time. Many cask options and specials

 

OK, let's talk.

The 'challenge' with cask ale as it is traditionally dispensed is that air is introduced into the cask as you pump out the beer with the hand pump (also sometimes referred to as a beer engine). The oxygen in the air will eventually have a deleterious effect of the beer but in the short term (1-2 days from tapping) the oxidation that occurs in the cask actually produces 'interesting' flavors that I personally enjoy. But later on (day 2+) the beer starts to go stale and off-flavors are developed. If the beer is served at a busy pub (e.g., a London pub) hopefully the beer is fully consumed in a mater of a couple day.

What a bar/taproom can do to mitigate staling is mount a cask breather system whereby no air is introduced during dispense. A low level of CO2 is injected into the cask to operate like a 'blanket' and as mentioned no air (oxygen) enters. This helps the beer last a longer period of time without going stale but it has a bit of a downside since there are no 'interesting' flavor development initially. If the bar/taproom is not assured of depleting a cask in a couple of days it could be argued a cask breather is the 'better' option.

For further reading:

https://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/3qvzokTqO1/

Cheers!

 

That was a great upload of information. Thanks, I’ll ask next time I’m around either Milkhouse or Brewers Alley.