Cask Ale in a Bag/Box

What do you mean? If you can finish 5 gallons (or more...) of a cask in a few days, more power to you, and a home cask rig would be worth it. But most people can't, but 5 liters is doable for someone over the few days a cask if good for - a couple imperial pints a night, more on a weekend.

 

They've been doing this in Britain for some time. This has become popular while the pubs are closed. Go on youtube and you will find that some are building pubs in their backyard sheds complete with handpumps. They got their real ale from local breweries, it was always in a bag.

 

5 L versus 5 Gallons

 

My apologies, I read it quick and realized the second sentence said LITERS. Duh.

 

What's a few quarts difference on a weekend, right?

 

Ah, it's an understandable error (for an American ). I just wish the brewing industry would make up it's mind - go metric or not. Why I can remember when beer can lids and labels used to clearly state "PLEASE DON'T LITER" but now it's OK when they do!

 

The difference between throwing up or not?

 

Thanks

Have you had the cans? Not had that one yet. Is there a better day to order? Seem to be sold out or just a few different beers left when I end up looking.

Enjoy

 

I remember a few years ago the landlord of my then regular pub put on a cask of Fullers ESB for my birthday. On the day it was excellent, next day better still, the day after was stunning. The next day I turned up hoping for another pint but it had all been sold!
This was cask ale at its best, not a drop wasted.

 

That’s why I figured early in the post to do the legwork for others on the forum....5L = about 14 12oz bottles.

 

THat's the way to go. |Problem is, here in the States, not a lot of people know from cask beer, other than it's "warm and flat" (I know what it really is, that's the common perception.) If you find the right place, they'll have a Firkin |Friday or some such, and it'll go quick. Other places not so much.
I learned long ago to ask, if a place had a cask, how long it had been tapped. I once ran across one the bartender shrugged and said, " a couple, three weeks, something like that? You want one?" HELL NO!!!!!!

 

There was a time, a couple of decades ago, where cask ale was kinda regularly available in the Philly area.

One example was Dawson's Street Pub in Manayunk. They had three hand pumps and in the 90's they always had beer available on those three hand pumps. One was Yards ESA and the other two would vary (e.g., sometimes a Victory beer, etc.). Those beers back then would be beer styles traditionally associated with being served on cask (e.g., Bitter Ales, etc,).

Needless to say that 2020 is very, very different from those days, Basically beers served on cask is nowhere as popular as it was then. Craft beer drinkers simply do not support these sorts of beer like they did 'back in the day'.

Cheers@

 

Is a "boxed wine machine" cheaper than a crowler machine? Just toss that shit in a can and be done with it. If you cant finish 32oz of a 4% mild in a couple hours, what are you doing?

 

I'm not a cask expert but I'm pretty sure that cask folks say that canned/bottled beer is totally different than cask. I read this as this form of packaging being slightly closer to true cask

 

Machine? I'd guess it is just filled from a tap - as was long the tradition for growler fills, draught beer meant to be consumed ASAP

 

There are many beers in the UK available in cask, keg or bottles. A bottle is essentially a big keg, it holds the beer but doesn't improve it. Unless it's a bottle conditioned beer of course
(but some breweries cheat by cleansing the beer, priming and adding yeast to condition it, be beware)
Bottle conditioned beer is an improvement, but unlike cask conditioned beer it's unable to be enjoyed over a few days of development.
The point is that I have sampled many beers over the spectrum of keg, bottle and cask, after 50 years of beer drinking I avoid anything but cask. COVID has rather messed this up though

 

Below is from the CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) website:

“Real ale and dispense system

We believe in promoting cask-conditioned beer and improving its quality at the point of dispense.

Aside from the traditional Scottish air pressure system, we do not endorse any dispense system that involves applying extraneous CO2, nitrogen or any other gas directly to cask-conditioned beer.

We do not support dispense of a beer through a tight sparkler unless a beer has been brewed for dispense in that way. We have a neutral position on the use of cask breathers.

We recognise that real ale also exists in bottled, canned and ‘KeyKeg’ formats and campaign to increase consumer awareness of this.”

https://camra.org.uk/about/about-us/what-we-stand-for/

As you can read in the last sentence CAMRA also supports the dispense of Real Ale in formats other than via cask.

For example, I homebrew a batch of Bitter Ale every year and that beer is bottle conditioned and I utilize a modest amount of priming sugar to obtain a carbonation level of 1.5 volumes of CO2 to be consistent with the carbonation level of a typical cask beer. I also take the measure to drink those beers at cellar temperature (e.g., 55 degrees F). The net result is a beer very similar to drinking a cask ale in terms of beer flavor, carbonation level and dispense temperature.

Cheers!

 

Amen to that marquis...you're spot on, in my humble opinion, relative to the brewer's intended range of aroma and flavors for their real ale over time (typically 2-4 days depending on cask size) with oxygen gradually filling headspace, and the best cask ale brewers also factor in those accounts which go through the product more slowly and utilizing adjustable CO2 breathers. I've found most devoted real ale enthusiasts identify and align their desired "sweet spot" of the beer's evolution due to oxidation over time. Condition matters equally to me, and if the plastic can keep that level of mouthfeel I'd expect from a pin, firkin, etc., and provide the depth and evolving aromas and flavors of a living beer, well then I'm in for a proper pint from a bag.

 

So do you think this format is more gimmick or do you think this format might offer an improved "cask" experience over bottle conditioning?