Cask ale appreciation thread

I, as one American, believe it is.

 

Glad to see this thread didn't end with my first post. I wanted to add the favorite pubs I'd visited in London when I first had cask ale in situ. The first ever was The Friend at Hand. Looking it up online it looks like the pub may not have real ale anymore. Next would be The Two Chairmen off Trafalgar Square, then The Blackfriar.

All of these are favorites for memories as well as sampling ales, and there are many more I enjoyed in a week-long London pub crawl.

There was a time when many brew-pubs in my area did their best to recreate Real Ale -- many doing a great job, many not, but they were always compared to the ales I enjoyed in the U.K.

 

Yeah, it's great when on form . love the stuff. But it's not cool or trendy at the moment with the crafterati . Probably because CAMRA are wedded to it so the image suffers and we all know how important image is to craft beer

 

I remember when that "image" was so different -- in fact, it launched a lot of what's now seen as the norm... if not even mundane in youthful perception. I won't forget that it made me look at beer differently (attended quite a few Real Ale Fests in Chicago). Let's do our best to show that "crafterati" how good beer can really be without being trendy.

 

I believe that cask conditioned ale has been a victim of its own success. Since its inception Camra made great strides in promoting cask ale until every licensee saw it as a premium product with which to entice a premium clientele through the doors.. Whilst it's not the most complicated job in the world to look after a cask of ale, getting the balance right between cask in stock and pints served daily without too much spoilage is more complicated. And this is exacerbated further by offering too much choice, yes there is such a thing.Especially when it leads to too many beers sitting there getting old and tired until the pub's reputation for quality ale takes a nosedive. The first ale freehouse in my town had a faultless record with their ales, six beers; four regulars and two guests and the place was packed most nights. It changed hands, became tied via a loan to a brewery and the beers changed, the clientele drifted away as they were no longer the only ale pub in town and only last week were down to one beer on three different handpulls. Sad really.

TLR too many indifferently kept beers puts people off ale. More to follow...

 

I've been a fan of cask ale since about 1994, but being from the U.S. it was hard to find and usually not in good shape. Many American brewers around that time started brewing casked real ales but they were rarely treated properly, and quite often not styles of beer you'd normally find (I actually won a medal myself for Russian Imperial Stout, but how often would you have found that in England?).

Finally I made it to Liverpool last year and it was everything I'd dreamed. Almost every pub I visited had several casks available, and they were almost all wonderful, from breweries both new and old.

I can't even imagine anyone who truly likes beer not falling absolutely in love with cask. It's possibly the truest expression of beer, and offers an experience unlike any other. Long live cask!

 

My first cask ale was Bass Ale served via a handpump at the Crown & Sceptre Pub in London back in the early 90's. That beer was a revelation!! A few years later I started homebrewing and my first batch was a Muntons kit beer labeled as "Traditional Bitter". I have homebrewed at least one batch of Bitter Ale a year since then (over 20 years ago).

For completeness I should report that I have a number of cask ales in the UK which were less than stellar due to being too old (oxidized with stale flavors).

When a cask ale is well brewed and not old it is indeed a beer of beauty.

Cheers!

 

Back in the early '90s my last beer in London was Young's Oatmeal Stout (yes, it was available in the U.K. then) -- it was from a tap-pull, but I really can't recall if it was cask-conditioned.

I particularly remember it because it was so damned good and it was the only one I'd had during my trip -- and it was last-call in the pub! I wished I'd been drinking it more throughout that trip.

 

My current favourite cask beer is Youngs too. Winter Warmer, which is just brilliant. Youngs beer is so underrated in my opinion, though I realise I'm fortunate to live in their local area which undoubtedly good leaves me biased.

I also find that the more new style beer I drink, the more I'm returning to old cask favorites, for whatever reason.

 

Because: "When a cask ale is well brewed and not old it is indeed a beer of beauty."?

Cheers!

 

Definitely one I'd like to try cask-conditioned.

 

Well there's great new craft beer on cask that I've had Fresh and well kept, pale ales and black IPAs and saisons made using new world hops etc, that have been brilliant but just never hooked me in and made me want to seek out and return to. Not like Fullers ESB, Youngs Bitter, Marston's Pedigree or Tim Taylor Landlord.

 

Somewhat ironic you made mention of a Saison:

I had the pleasure of drinking a Saison on cask (firkin that was gravity poured) at the last Yards Real Ale Festival:

“If anybody cares my favorite beer at the Real Ale event was Carton Eden Saison with grains of paradise and jasmine. That beer was AWESOME!!”

I discussed other beers on cask as well: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-585.414721/#post-4751122

@augiecarton

Cheers!

 

I'm considering my first trip to the UK next year so appreciate info so far on this thread as well as throughout this forum.

Anybody have thoughts on any of the guide books out there for real ale like London Pub Walks, etc.?

 

Cask/real ale is not a randall or a receptacle for all manner of shit. Cheers.

 

Needless to say but I disagree with your choice of wording here.