Cask conditioned beer

The article is on target, but the one thing it fails to recognize is that American brewers have a tendency to approach cask as a vessel that they can throw extra things into (vanilla beans, grapefruit peel, etc.). Love it or hate it, this approach amplifies the American craft relationship to ingredients and also the inclination to produce beer "variants." Often, American brewers appear to be attempting to market this beer as unique because of this change to the base beer rather than a change in carbonation. Perhaps it's a ham-fisted approach given the nature of the format, but American drinkers really don't seem to care too much for the format anyway. Regardless, it's unfortunate that English and German cask beer tends to taste so abused when it's brought to the US.

 

I've had cask beer twice and I'm not entirely sure that I get the appeal. It was warm and flat; as if you had left a beer out for 3-4 hours and forgotten about it.

 

I agree. I as well find the beer to be just too warm for my tastes flat. A place by me once had a cask of zombie dust as well as on a regular tap..and I couldn't help but regret not just getting the regular ZD. I just don't get the draw myself..It's like a brewery is just doing something different just do something different regardless if it's an improvement or not..and people flock to it in droves.

 

I actually like the warmer and slightly oxidized flavor profile. The temperature and decreased carbonic acid (dissolved CO2) tend to let other flavor profiles shine and I notice more subtle malt flavors usually. I couldn't drink cask every day but the change up is nice from time to time.

 

Cask ale is subtle, many don't get it the first time. Cask needs a proper cellar treatment, which does not happen often in the US. Slapping any random beer into a cask will not result in a good cask ale.

The first time I was in London and had one I thought the cast ales were thin, flat, watery crap. Maybe later on that trip I started to get it. After other trips to England I definitely now get it.

Cask ales have to be done right. There is a real ale fest near here, we went one year and were so disappointed. The casks had not been on stillage for any amount of time. The beers were huge ABV, and did not benefit from cask conditioning (dubtful they were conditioned at all). There was one that was a Pale Ale that was not too bad.

Some American beers, and even IPAs, can be excellent on cask. I have had Two Hearted on cask a few times, and that one can be a beauty on tap if done right.

 

@hopfenunmaltz is spot on. Cask beer is truly an art form. I've not found many places in the US that give it proper attention. The real shame is people think that is what cask conditioned ale should taste like. It should never ever be warm and flat. If a place is advertising tapping a cask at 5 pm on such and such day will probably be a poor form of cask conditioned beer. The beer should get tapped when it is ready.

One of the best beers I've ever had to this day is Timothy Taylor's Landlord on cask. The changes the beer went through over two days was remarkable. Truly lower ABV beer that was well curated by a real cellarman. I would drink that every single day if I was still in the UK.

 

It shouldn't be flat, not like cider is flat for example. Also it should be about 52-3F and I'm not sure you could call that warm by any stretch .

 

@TheodorHerzl I must agree on the Landlord, excellent beer. London Pride in London was one that opened my eyes to cask ale. Harveys Sussex and Mild are also ones I seek out.

Going to London next month, getting amped up right now about having some Real Ale!

 

Have a great trip! I've been known to get off the plane and head straight to Bree Louise. I don't care if I've got my luggage with me and maybe even smell a bit ripe after a day of travel. I need my cask ale!

 

If you don't already know about this thread its well worth a look:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/london-beer-recommendations-for-visitors.96473/

 

Nice list. Been to most of the pubs, except for some new ones. The Kernel is new since our last trip years back, but we have been to Craft Beer, the Rake, and Euston tap.

 

I quote from the link "First, a hand pump introduces oxygen to the beer in the cask every time you pull the handle. Oxidizing beer will create a fruity ‘off’ flavor that is very apparent after only a day or two"
This is the whole point of cask ale , the controlled oxidation which lifts the beer to a new level.But off flavours after a day or so ? Perhaps a cask ale is at its best after three days .You'll notice extra layers of taste nuances , if you drink it alongside the bottled version you'll find a significant difference (which explains why I rarely drink bottled beer)
Using a cask breather defeats the point of cask ale to a considerable degree.
Flat and warm ? Change pubs.

 

Servers love to warn me about the temp and carbonation of cask ale when I order it. They are too accustomed to complaining patrons who don't know what to expect. Sometimes the beer actually is flat in the US because the beer isn't in good shape. When I was in Belgium, I surprisingly found a bar with a handpump and ordered the beer. The bartender warned me that the beer was practically flat. He ended up serving me a cask beer with a wonderfully soft but certainly present carbonation. I thought, "Only in Belgium would they call this flat."

Flock to it in droves? Really?

 

There are a couple of things in the article I disagree with. I've been around a fair few breweries in the US and Canada in the last 12 months and just about every single one had firkins. Maybe I've been around atypical breweries, but I was surprised by how common they seemed.

I think most US beers work fine on cask, if handled properly cask. Deschutes Fresh Sqeezed IPA was one of the best beers I drank last year. Pretty sure I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much on keg, as one of the thyings I loved about it was its drinkability.

I agree that some US brewers are totally clueless about cask, as are some bars. I've had plenty of pints that clearly hadn't conditioned. As for the remaining fermentables necessary to condition a cask, you're a pretty crap brewer if you can't work that out.

 

I will opt for a cask ale every time. I specifically stop a particular bar every Friday after work, as they tap a new firken on that day.

For more cask info: http://www.camra.org.uk/faq

 

I see you're in CT. If you want to make the trip to Boston, NERAX is holding one of its two cask ale festivals for NERAX North in a couple weeks. There's no other place you'll get to sample multiple properly treated UK cask ales all in one spot, short of going overseas of course. There's also US casks, but I typically focus on the UK ones. Great atmosphere, and my favorite festival of the entire year.

https://nerax.org/nerax/neraxtickets/advance-tickets.html

 

I do see at lot of bars advertising "Special Firkin of XXX beer!" a lot. I don't think they'd do that if it wasn't popular.

 

They're just trying to push what isn't moving. ...

 

I've had perhaps 5-10 cask beers over my life. Most were forgettable or nothing much better/worse from the original (albiet slightly different in temp and carbonation). The one "done right" that was amazing on cask was at the DFH brewpub in Rehobeth. 75 MIN. Taste profile was very unique done through a cask pour and extremely tasty as well.