I was at Churchkey in DC last weekend and they had Sierra Nevada Celebration on cask. It really was phenomenal. They also had it on keg, so it was fun to do a side by side comparison. A friend who was with me did the comparison as well, and he much preferred the keg version and actually thought I was a little bit crazy for preferring the "warm soupy version". I will admit the keg version had a crispness and a more noticeable hoppy bite that was lacking from the cask version, but the cask creaminess was just too good, I would choose cask 10 out of 10 times. Also after getting used to cask temperature, the keg version just felt way too cold.
I was able to do a side-by-side tasting of Troegs Nugget Nectar a long time ago (over a decade ago) on cask and regular keg dispense. As you describe there, the hop aroma/flavor of the regular dispense was much more vibrant as compared to the cask version. Like your friend, I preferred the keg version since for my palate the cask version 'dumbed down' the hop aroma/flavor. Cheers! @John_M
I took this photo of my pint of “Goldie’s Best Bitter” two weeks ago at MilkHouse Brewery in Mount Airy, MD. Unfortunately when I went back yesterday I kicked the Keg. I got the last half pint of that batch. Two search’s for a replacement keg of the English Bitter came up empty. The Cask Beer Engine/Pump can be seen in the background above the pint. MilkHouse has an Angam Cask Pump in their taproom lineup, seen on the right side of the counter top next to the fridge.
Forest and Main - Oatmeal Stout on cask. Very nice dark cocoa flavor, a touch of earthy hops to balance. Super smooth mouthfeel, fuller bodied.
Brothers Kershner Brewing in Skippack, PA is having a Cask beer fest on March 14th: FEATURED BREWERIES (so far) Forest and Main Brewing Troubles End Brewing Rural City Beer Co. Requiem Bar & Bier Rooster Street Brewing Old Thunder Brewing Co. Bespoke Brewing The Referend Bier Blendery Succession Fermentory Concrete Blues Wishful Thinking Brewing Co. Guest Speaker: Carson Kegerreis The Bulls Head Public House
Agreed Jack. One of my more memorable beer drinking experiences I've had was at Al's of Hampden many moons ago. They had NN on draft and cask, as well as hopslam on draft. All that and Al's infamous Philly cheese steak pizza slices. I didn't ever want to leave. The cask NN was still pretty good, but the cask conditioning muted the aroma profile considerably. So I much preferred the draft version. Now that I think about it, in many way the recent batches of NN remind me of the cask conditioned version I had at Al's/Pizza Boy all those years ago. Cheers!
No idea. After he sold the business he even ‘ghosted’ his former employees at TJ’s. After a few months Scott quit and we basically stopped going there. Cheers!
Lucky to live in downtown Beverly, Massachusetts, and near the bridge over to Salem. Puts me in walking distance to both Backbeat Brewing in Beverly, with it’s selection of british and irish ales from it’s multiple beer engines, and Notch Brewery in Salem with it’s Czech draft system and German gravity casks. Good food all around as well.
Cartel Brewing in Lancaster, PA Their Irish Stout (Danny Bag O'Pipes) served on cask via their beer engine. Way better than any nitro pour.
