Casks?

Churchkey. That's all.

 

I actively avoid cask beer in the US for a number of reasons outlined above.

1.) Lack of staff knowledge in storage allied to low turn over
2.) Lack of staff knowledge in dispense (furiously wanking off the pump and in some cases producing masses of froth). Have also known cask to come via a jug in a fridge as they were struggling to serve it. However long it had been sat in the fridge totally defeated the point of a cask beer!
3.) Wrong styles of beer in casks (high ABV beers, DIPA's etc)
4.) Novelty value which often sees the cask beer being 1$ more in cost which from my perspective as a UK visitor is laughable !

There are some places I trust the quality of cask beer in the US such as DBA Brooklyn where Alex Hall is the cask cellarman (ex Dark Star). Other venues I will always observe how capable the staff are first and if its over 6% I'm unlikely to bother anyway.

 

No. Casks are traditionally English-oriented.

 

A beer of that strength has sufficient gubbins in it to withstand the flavour losses involved.
I had some Baltic Trader this afternoon on cask - 10.5% ABV and it was utterly superb.

 

why wouldn't a dipa be suitable for a cask?

 

Alex used to post in this forum as Imbiber.Pity he's a dormant member as he could bring a lot into this thread.

 

I know what you're saying but you never really know what's around the corner. In 2005 the beer scene in Scotland was absolutely desperate. Eight years later the contrast couldn't be starker. The same one day could be true with more traditional unamped beer. I'm certainly willing to play the waiting game to see how this all unfolds.

 

Nice! I never knew that. I usually avoid casks in the US altogether since I moved here from the UK (and just look forward to a treat whenever I go home), but I don't live far from DBA Brooklyn, so will give them a shot.

 

It will warm up too quickly and the carbonation will be flatter which doens't tend to aid drinkabilty on a hoppy 10% beer ... other opinions are of course available !

 

I have had a few 10% imperial stouts/porters etc on cask that have worked well.
I had O'Hanlons Brewers Special Reserve on cask last month, a 12.9% barley wine, that was superb !
It's the higher ABV hoppy beers that don't work for me on cask.

 

I saw Alex at Egham Beer Fest last month. Unfortunately he was over for his dads funeral but was still getting his cask beer fix !

 

Of course there are DIPAs and there are DIPAs, but generally (if referring to 8%+ ABV US-brewed DIPAs) I think that they can be too sweet/hoppy/boozy/intense to do well on cask.

A cask brings out flavours that otherwise wouldn't be detectable/there in lower ABV beers such as pale ales, bitters and milds.

Whereas to me, the reverse is true/needed for something like a DIPA. The slightly lower serving temperature, and the extra carbonation helps cut through some of that intensity.

I did insert "IMO" on my last post. And there are of course going to be exceptions going both ways (high ABV beers that do well on cask and lower ABV beers that don't), but generally speaking that's been my experience.

 

I think Alex gets involved with one or two other bars in Brooklyn also.

Brazens Head was certainly on his list a few years back, but this may be for festivals only now.

Check his website and drop him a line, he's pretty much the cask beer guru for NYC and surrounding area. He'll be happy to gen you up especially as an ex pat like himself.

http://gotham-imbiber.com/

The beer de-mystifier is a great resource as well.

 

Brilliant! Thanks very much. Will definitely get in touch with him. I feel very fortunate to be living here in the US, with so much going on in the beer scene, but I definitely have cask and pub cravings now and then.

 

Man there is nothing like a good cask DIPA served flat and in the high 50s low 60s temp range.

 

Yup - and to top off the experience leave it in a jug on the end of the bar for an hour with flies buzzing around it for a secondary pour !

 

Casks can be fantastic and also terrible. As others have said, freshness matters. I had the lucky experience of sitting in a local bar in Chico when a SN rep walked in with a cask of Torpedo w/Citra in the cask. He set it on the counter, popped it and we went to town. It was utterly amazing. There was nothing flat about it, it was bright and flavorful.

 

I've had some bad IPAs on the hand pump, but Racer 5 always tastes great to me. Once I tried Nugget Nectar and Head Hunter (with added dry hops in the cask), which were very delicious too.

 

That's pretty poor handling actually, and possibly a good example of what some others above have illuminated. You don't toss a cask out from under your arm and immediately 'pop' it.

 

Local Marble Brewery put on a New beer a Cask on Fridays. Today was Walter White Lie. Its a white Ipa that is delicious. All the cask beers I have had have been very good. A little flat and thicker verisons of their counter regular beer but still very good.