Best bars for cask in Boston area

I've had hit and miss experiences even at the same bars. It's bee hard (at least for me) to find any real consistency.

 

Good question. I have limited experience with cask at bars in the area, but the few times I've been to Stoddard's it's been pretty good. I think they typically have 2 cask options. Mytic's Welkin Ringer ESB on cask was sexual

 

To be honest I’m not sure I can tell you good cask care from bad, but I still like to try it from time to time. Most of my cask consumption comes from either the British Beer Company in Walpole (near home), or Deep Ellum (near work). I’ve enjoyed cask pours from both so they’re probably “good enough” for someone like me who’s still slowly learning about the world of cask offerings.

Just recently had The Tap’s Joshua Norton RIS on Vanilla beans at the BBC.

 

My favorites for cask:
--Deep Ellum (of late, they've had british beers that aren't often found on tap in the U.S.)
--Cambridge Brewing Company (usually a dry hopped version of one of their house beers, but it's nearly always worth getting)

Also-rans:
--Stoddard's (good selection, but last I checked prices were high ... like $10/pint for cask)
--Cambridge Common (hit-and-miss offerings; cask is not always on)
--Redbones (hit-and-miss offerings)
--Lord Hobo (cask offering isn't consistently on)

Haven't tried, but looks promising:
--Row 34
--Magoun's Saloon (like deep ellum, they've also been offering English beers lately http://magounssaloon.com/english-cask-ales-in-january-february-2014/)

 

Russell House in Cambridge also does a cask offering. Like some of the other posters here, I can't say I am so experienced with cask beers to know whether they do it better than anyone else, but the Bluepoint Mosaic cask they had in late December was pretty solid in my book.

 

Follow "NE RealAleExhibition" @nerax on twitter for all sorts of Cask offerings in the area

 

Aside from Deep Ellum, I've had luck with cask offerings at Lower Depths

And Sunset Grille is hit or miss, more hit than miss.

 

Totally agree about the CBC casks often being worth getting; they usually have something interesting on, even if it's just a dry-hopped version of something else. Stoddard's usually has a couple casks on (and in my limited experience, they've been closer to $5 than $10). Lord Hobo, Deep Ellum, Redbones, Cambridge Common, John Harvard, Russell House and Park (in Harvard Square) often have cask offerings.

 

Good to hear about Stoddard's; that was my impression, but I haven't checked their cask price in eons. I know when they first opened, the cask prices were crazy ($9 or $10), but that was several years ago and I think they shifted their pricing. I did notice on a visit a few months ago that their draft prices had dropped across the board (not to crazy low prices, but down from outrageous and more in line with other downtown bars). However, I failed to notice the cask price.

 

The pints and half pints I drink at NERAX each year is more than enough cask beer I need to drink all year.

 

There is this tonight at the aforementioned Stoddard's:

Stoddard's Pub ‏@StoddardsPub 1m
We are getting ready for a big cask tonight, @TroegsBeer Nugget Nectar. Last year this kicked less then an hour. Get here early #Nerax

It's official, tonight is our Cultivator/Nugget Nectar Kick-Off @StoddardsPub! Both on tap, #NuggetNectar firkin tapping @ 6.

 

We put on NERAX festivals as a showcase for cask-conditioned beers from New England and beyond. More news about our next festival will be coming soon.

At NERAX our skilled cellar team puts on cask that is the proper temperature, carbonation, and clarity. Our standards are the same that you will find at the Great British Beer Festival. We are a small volunteer group, and we do not have the resources to make and publish quality judgments about area bars during the rest of the year. We prefer to enjoy the beer. In the meantime, we will always direct you to the freshest cask in New England via our Twitter and Facebook feeds.

Today's tappings Wednesday 2/19:
Stoddard's: Troegs Nugget Nectar
Bukowski's Cambridge: Notch Session Ale
Deep Ellum: Mayflower IPA w/ Willamette & Columbus

Tomorrow Thursday 2/20
Row 34: Notch Cerne Pivo
John Harvard's Cambridge: Locavore brew w/ malt & hops from Four Star Farms & Valley Malt for a book signing with Beer Terrain.
Russell House Tavern, PARK Cambridge, and Olde Magoun's all tap fresh casks on Thursday, but I haven't seen them announce what's coming.

Next Thursday 2/27
The Vault Boston: one-off brew of Mayflower IPA w/ Nugget, Simcoe, & Amarillo hops and dry-hopped w/Centennial (I think) for a new beer launch party.

Cheers!

 

Two real ale locations the Boston area that haven't been mentioned:

• Meadhall in Cambridge taps casks regularly (~one per week) and they usually do a good job with it.
• Nightshift Brewing taps a cask of their own beer every Thursday at their brewery, often infused with something interesting like Taza Stout with orange juice (although the last two times I was there they were having technical issues with the cask so I can't vouch for the quality)

 

We are new to cask beers and are still learning how to best fill, care, and serve them. Some of the additional ingredients have been clogging the taps. That should be remedied going forward as we now use bags to hold the ingredients.

Tonight's cask will be our Galaxynation DIPA double dry hopped and with Passion Fruit juice. Should be super tropical!