Augustiner Weissbier Question

I'll take your word for it, from your posts I know you appreciate cask beer (as do I!).

Makes sense to me though, anything bottle conditioned I imagine may not translate to cask. I'm not sure many Belgian ales would fair well cask delivered either.

 

Just remember, just because it's in a cask doesn't necessarily mean it's cask-conditioned. I remember a local brew-pub whose owner wanted to put beers on the hand pump to give the impression of cask-conditioning, but I knew the brewmaster who (angrily) told me the truth about the beer.

 

Ha, I actually almost wrote "cask conditioned" rather than "cask delivered".

Doesn't a hand pump allow oxygen into the beer?

 

Not necessarily. A local beer bar used to serve cask beer via a handpump but also implemented a cask breather system such that no air (oxygen) was introduced. Unfortunately they removed the handpump about a year ago because customers were not purchasing cask beer.

Cheers!

 

It does, but if the beer is already carbonated with CO2 it's sort of "protected" and the hand-pump oxygen just pushes the liquid from one spot to another.

When a beer is cask-conditioned the hand-pump does the same, but the oxygen added effects the beer differently (basically starting a "staling" process). I remember having one cask ale at a pub in London then trying the same across the street and they tasted completely different. That's the interesting thing about "live" beer -- you never know what you may get.

 

At least one week.Source: This legendary video, which herrburgess first posted here.You can actually see private costumers filling unfinished beer in their own barrels at the 9:17 mark.

Although no adulteration takes place, to me, ungespundetes Kellerbier which is still fermenting in the barrel and gravity-served is the closet thing to real,cask coniditioned ale in the lagerworld

 

Perhaps saying in the "German lager world" may be more appropriate.

I've been to a few real ale festivals here in Boston (NERAX) and there's definitely lagers there. I believe there's been German imports as well (much of it is imported UK firkins, which is the appeal, for me at least). The staff is well trained there and takes proper care of all the casks, in the same manner that @steveh is mentioning.

They won't serve a cask until it is ready, and continuously monitor all the beer as far as I know. For example, here's a scholarship they give out. There's trained cellarman at these events, unless I'm mistaken.

http://nerax.org/wp_nerax/

"Every year, the Cask-conditioned Ale Support Campaign sponsors two scholarships for cellarmanship training. Cellarmanship is the art of caring for and presenting cask-conditioned beers. The training consists of an overview of cask-conditioned beers including the history, benefits, and artisan nature of Real Ale. It will also teach the trainee how Real Ale is made and placed into the cask. The trainee will learn how to properly cellar it, set it up, vent it, tap it and finally serve it. Along the way the trainee will be taught the skills needed to know when the cask ale is ready to serve as well as if it is fit to serve."

 

I had the pleasure of drinking a Saison on cask (firkin that was gravity poured) at the recent 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

@sugiecarton

Cheers!