Casks?

No.

 

Churchkey always has at least 2 casks on. Not that you would be disappointed either way.

 

A bitter or mild properly served on cask is a thing of beauty. I am fortunate that there are a number of bars and breweries (brewpubs) in the Philly area that know how to do this right.

As other have posted, if the cask (and the style of beer in the cask) is not done right, then all bets are off.

Cheers!

P.S. Some stouts and porters also come off well in cask.

 

More bars seem to be adding cask options in my area, it seems, but it does seem like the staffs aren't necessarily practiced at their care and handling and I frequently see stronger brews than I'd expect to see on cask here. It's a shame; I'd be stoked beyond belief to have a range of bitters and milds available in that format.

Though not necessarily just bitters and milds. I had some Berkshire Czech Pils on cask at Deep Ellum in Boston that almost made me cry it was so full and expressive. (I didn't cry, though. This is Boston, not L.A.)

 

It's not only low ABV beers that are good on cask; I've had some pretty heavy-duty ones that are great as well.
THere's a cask fest a couple times a year here in Boston area, NERAX.
Anyone local who is a fan or even interested I recommend to go and check out some properly handled casks.
The next one is in Haverhill on Nov 14 - 16 (I think about the exact dates; but it is that weekend)
www.NERAX.Org

 

Very hoppy American style rely on higher carbonation to give off a lot of their finer aromas, as well as to lift some of the bitterness off the palate. There's a great local brewery that does a nice lighter IPA on cask, but I've had DIPA on cask that was just a mess but the same beer is fantastic from the keg.

 

To me cask beers taste slightly watery with less carb. The upside is that this makes them ridiculously drinkable to me and allows them to show a bit more character.

I cannot say that I truly appreciate them but I do frequently feel like drinking them for inexplicable reasons, sadly they are not really a thing in Belgium. They can make for some superb sessioning which is the point I believe.

Whilst they are fun, I will never get the love that British beer geeks have for them or why they consider cask beers to be superior to everything (preposterous). I think that I have had proper cask, I have had it only in the UK and at festivals by acclaimed UK brewers.

 

If you havent checked out Churchkey your missing out!
http://www.churchkeydc.com

ARTISANAL CIDER - STILL
PICKER'S PASSION (Made w/ English Cider Apples from Herefordshire, Gloucestershire & Worcestershire)
Hogan's Cider | English Cider - Medium-Dry | England | 5.3 % | 50-52º | Becher | 14 Oz.

MALT
BROOKLYN BEST BITTER (Brewed w/ Maris Otter Malt & Hallertauer Perle, Willamette, American Fuggle & Cascade Hops)
Brooklyn Brewery | Best Bitter | New York | 5.0 % | 50-52º | Becher | 14 Oz.

HOP
PERPETUAL IPA (Dry-Hopped in the Cask w/ Chinook Hops)
Tröeg's Brewing Company | American IPA | Pennsylvania | 7.5 % | 50-52º | Becher | 14 Oz.

ROAST
BROOKLYN BROWN ALE
Brooklyn Brewery | American Brown Ale | New York | 5.6 % | 50-52º | Becher | 14 Oz.
BRECKENRIDGE VANILLA PORTER (Brewed w/ Vanilla Beans; w/ Chocolate in the Cask)
Breckenridge Brewery | Brown Porter | Colorado | 4.7 % | 50-52º | Becher | 14 Oz.

 

Wateriness isn't necessarily a bad thing when you remind yourself that beer is a drink rather than a sipping liquid.It developed as a safe substitute for drinking water.
Cask beer isn't a sort of beer, just a delivery system. One which gives the minimum level of processing yet allows the beer to develop beyond what it reaches in a closed vessel.My opinion is that when done well it knocks the same beer from in bottle/can/keg into the weeds. But cask conditioning doesn't compensate for a poor quality beer.

 

This is exactly the type of thing I try to tell the beer geeks who "advise" me to amp up my milds. They just don't seem to get it -- and I seriously doubt they ever will.

 

One of my favorite things on cask is a dry hopped IPA.

 

I see your point about the watery part.
I am aware that cask isn’t a style of beer, if my post indicated differently, please blame it on my crappy writing.

I have heard proponents of cask state that it allows to develop beyond what is possible otherwise. What about bottle conditioning, bottle conditioning taking place over a longer time give more room for development in my opinion. Your statement might be true for styles like mild, bitter etc. light styles in UK vein. I cannot believe that cask can do more for a beer like Pannepot or Oerbier. Nor do I think it is optimal for USA hoppy beer which is why I think more USA inspired UK brewers don’t really do cask. Kernel comes to mind for instance.

My point being that cask is optimal only for a number of styles and varieties.

 

I quite like mild, I do think that the same beer cask will taste a bit waterier than on keg.
That is not the saying as telling you amp up your mild’s. I have had 2 % beers that didn’t taste watery to me.
Emelisse 2.5 was a recent, really great example.

 

Don't see how anyone could disagree with that.

 

Bottle conditioning doesn't allow the secret ingredient of development-oxygen. Mention the O word to most BAs and up go their arms in horror.And of course oxidation can ruin beer.Not straight away though and for a precious two or three days it works its magic.Bottled beer IMO , though an improvement on filtered/pasteurised gassed up beer still falls far short of the same brew on cask with a good cellarman.

 

Any remarks or experiences on Belgian styles on cask. Particularly stuff like quad, strong ales etc. as opposed to bottled versions? I have none, curios as to the effects.

 

I had Firestone Walker Pale 31 last month on cask that that stuff was amazing. Seek that one out if you see it.

I love me a good cask pale ale or english bitter... especially when the breweries add a special hop to that cask that completely changes the taste and smell of the beer. Oh the creaminess! Oh the wonderfulness! Yeah. I like cask. (512) Brewing probably has the best cask program in town, as they predominantly do British Styles. Luckily here in ATX, places seem to be doing cask beer really well. Jester King, in particular, seems to always have an amazing cask option on lately.

I'd say the best I've ever had though was the Chin Wag ESB on cask at Hogshead in Denver, CO. Seek that one out if you're in the area. Completely amazing brewery.

 

I've had this on cask and it was better than the bottle...

 

This is true. There are definitely milder styles especially the English style but also things like Alt & Dunkel's which typically are more mild and subtle that are lost in the US where by & large there's a "bigger is better" lean that prevails, be it in abv or flavor palate. I think there's a knee jerk reaction to lower abv stuff to being weak in flavor like the usual lite beer BMC fair. Which I can understand, as nationwide we've been beaten over the head with this stuff longer than the scourge of classic rock radio. American craft brewers do not brew a lot of this stuff, or it's limited or brew pub only when you do find it.

 

There's a fairly new Belgian inspired micro opened up near aberdeen (called six degrees north) that I think have done some of their beers in cask, I've not tried any yet though I am intrigued.

scotch ales are nice on casks I think, so I suspect some of stronger and darker belgian ales would be good too, although it'll be interesting to see how the difference in carbonation affects them