Cask Vs. Keg

Really??? Id LOVE to try said beer on cask!!! I believe that cask should add alot of flavor, specifically wood. While many may not dig that in their beer, I imagine it adding depth and character. I suppose the carbonation would be alot less, but desirable.

 

It's my understanding that cask ale is "real ale" and it's hard to do it right. Most casks only last 3 days or so and loose carbonation quickly. It is served at a higher temp (55) and more with the old style of serving. This is from me reading and having only drank cask a few times.

 

Cask beer will sometimes muddle hops which obviously can make an IPA far less enjoyable than a keg. @Jay_Ulreich I don't know as much about cask as some beer geeks but I've never heard of a cask adding a wood flavor.

 

I don't remember having a cask IPA but every cask ale I've had I loved, I much prefer it over keg.

 

Depends on the style & cellarmanship of where the cask beer is coming from. Most cask beers have at best a 48-72 hour window of greatness, based on my five years of trying as many as I could in the UK. Too young, they don't work, too old, they go bad quickly.

Plenty of people selling cask beer here still don't understand what that method actually brings to the table.

Most higher gravity beers taste better bottle conditioned or with a slight carbonation bump that draft gives them IMHO

 

It's all about the skill and timing.When done well it allows the beer to develop and bring extra layers of flavours and complexity . I often sample the same beer on cask, in bottle and on keg and at its best cask is in a different league.
But conversely if done poorly or if allowed to age too much cask beer can be a lot worse.
Well kept cask should never be flat though carbonation levels will be lower than bottle or keg.For many beer styles this is ideal.
Think about peaches.Fresh peaches need time to ripen, then they are tasty and fresh , they change a little from day to day but after a while they go off.Or you can buy canned peaches which keep indefinitely but never capture the fresh appeal of the natural product.

 

I just love the old school-ness of beer on cask!!

 

Sierra Nevada Torpedo does not spring to mind when thinking of beers that would be best suited to cask. English styles such as bitters, milds, browns, pales etc would probably be better suited (and styles that are traditionally associated with cask)

 

Most casks are metal these days.

Cask-conditioned beer is unfiltered and unpasteurised and naturally carbonated since it continues to ferment in the cask. The level of carbonation is much lower that you'd get in a standard keg beer and you get a lot of flavour if it's a decent product.

In my opinion this is how certain styles such as bitter and mild should be served.

Cask is one of the best things in the beer world, but the downside is that the beer goes bad quickly so it needs to sell fast. A pint of flat or vinegary beer is not something I want to drink!

I've had some really good cask-conditioned IPAs, so I reckon Torpedo could work well on cask, as long as it sold quickly enough (not everyone wants a pint of a 7.2% beer).

 

Cask is the way to go. I've never had a bad serving yet, well I'll take that back alittle, still a very good serving, but it was not at room temp, but I think the glass they served it in was chilled, this happened about 8-9 years ago. Here in Utah cask from the local brewpubs do it pretty darn good. I've also had some from Big Dog's in LV.

Cheers!

 

My life does not allow me to sit in the pub sipping pints, so I'll just take everyone's word that real ale in cask is awesome. I'm making do with bottles and cans.

 

Another British cask nut chiming in here. There's really nothing like cask ale when it's healthy. The best way to appreciate the difference is to have one side by side with a keg beer or a bottle of any pedigree, and you'll notice the cask ale will have a heck of a lot more vitality. It's more watery and yet more wholesome and there's something unique about the carbonation. On the other hand keg beer usually has more fizz which helps to peak the hops. Also, not all beer styles lend themselves to cask ale. Oakham's fruity double IPA is delicious from the bottle but sickly from the cask.

 

Ooh. SN Torpedo could an interesting one served on cask. The lower bite and roundness that that would lend to the profile from its natural carbing from its being poured out of cask would make for a nice drinker.
Personally, I tend to prefer beer on cask over keg. The self induced carbonation and ambient temperature its served at does something that you just can't get out of beer served from a keg that got its fizz from a brite tank and a carb stone.

 

You get something similar in Germany with Bayerischer Anstich and keg. The former is much better. Augustiner Helles is a wonderful beer straight from the cask. Bland when served keg.

 

Oh, and for lower gravity beer - under 4% ABV - you can't beat cask.

I'm sure that's one of the reasons it hung around in Britian. Because it's very hard to brew a good keg beer at 3.5% ABV. Had Britian stuck with Victorian strengths, they may have swapped over to keg sooner.

 

It might be more watery simply because the bottled versions are often significantly stronger in an attempt to restore the flavour loss through bottling (or kegging)
London Pride goes from 4.1% to 4.7% , bombardier goes from 4.2% to 5.2% and Adnam's Broadside goes from 4.7% to 6.3% when bottled.
But just as you can make a strong cup of instant coffee by using more of it, you still don't get that nutty aromatic taste that fresh ground beans provide however much you add.

 

I am kind of confused. Of the limited samples of Cask ales I've tried, I'd never claim any of them to be watery. My samples=an IPA and a RIS, so that may be why I am saying this?

 

It all depends on the beer for me.

Nugget Nectar? Had it on cask a couple weeks ago, and I thought the kegged/bottled versions were more enjoyable. I didn't dislike it, but I liked the alternatives better.

75 Minute IPA? I'll take cask over keg any day. Maybe it's because I had it on cask before any other version, but I just like that one much more from a cask.

 

I had one IPA on cask, and it wasn't life changing, not the cask's fault this was a middling IPA to begin with and for the life of me I can't remember what it was. So obviously not memorable.