NERAX (2018)

The Notch was poured at the kickoff event at Redbones on Monday, so unless more than one cask was procured, it likely is not making an appearance at the festival this week.

 

That beer was in the program, so I’m hoping there might be more than one. Unfortunately I’m done for this NERAX so I won’t get to try it either way.

 

Quick question for those who have a lot of cask experience: Is there considered to be any meaningful difference between beers that are "pulled" vs. those that just come right out of the furkin due to gravity? And will brewers have a preference about how their beer is served?

It felt to me like the 'pulled' beers had more head and a vaguely thicker feel (which was probably just psychological due to the thicker head), but since I never tried the same beer served both ways it totally could have just been an inherent difference in the beers themselves.

I did learn about the controversial use of "sparklers" on pulled beers last year, which I had wrongly been expecting at Nerax because that was how all the cask beer I had in Scottland years ago was served. But even without the sparkler it seemed to me like there might be a difference between the two.

Thanks for any info!

 

I always get advanced tickets, so I never really check on this. But my friend doesn't have an advanced ticket for Saturday day session. Have the sessions been selling out?

We plan on getting there around 1/1:30.

 

There was an article in Zymurgy last year about research done by Brewlab in the UK on carbonation levels and effects of serving on carbonation. The turbulence created by serving beer through a beer engine creates a bigger head but has released around 10% of the carbonation from the beer. Using a sparkler can cause up to 40% release of carbonation. Gravity pours keep the most carbonation in the beer in your glass. All depends on your preference ultimately.

 

What's worse...sparklers, nitro, or lactose?

 

I didn't get one either and plan on going with friends right when they open. I doubt it will sell out. Cheers!

 

Sparklers are at least still traditional....you won’t find them in London but you will in Edinburgh. I say Lactose and Nitro are way worse...

 

Anybody have Edward?

 

I'll chalk it up to personal preference, but I just don't get it.

Maybe the original concept has been diluted and beers like DIPA's and the like just aren't meant to be served on cask but honestly I cant appreciate beers served this way. In the end they taste like a beer left out on your counter over night.

I could be wrong, there was a large and lively crowd on Thursday and everything seemed pretty well received, but it just tasted like flat and almost oxidized versions of beer I can enjoy force carbonated that smell and taste much better.

 

You mean cask in general or just the trend to put non traditional styles on cask? Cask ale is absolutely an acquired taste - even more so for almost everybody else except those born and raised in the British Iles. You drink Fizzy Whizzies your whole life (as the publican of the Nags Head once described keg beer to me) - it’s gonna be hard to appreciate the subtle carb and sublime flavors of real ale. That said - there can certainly be stale/flat and just shitty casks. Everything I tried on Wed was in good shape. Don’t give up...try it again...try 3 or 4 traditional styles and then focus on the one you like the most. Cheers.

 

I really like drinking cask beer, but hate drinking hoppy American beers on cask. I’ll drink bitters and milds on cask all day (and still be standing). The beer has to match the serving style. You ever had a big stout served way too cold that got better each sip as the beer warmed up? It’s the same kinda concept, beer isn’t one size fits all. But no shame in not liking cask, it is an acquired taste. It just so happened that the first place I had good beer was Mahar’s in Albany which always had Coniston Blue Bird on cask, so I acquired it early.

 

Ill never give up on expanding my beer enjoyment. I had a few milds that were certainly passable. But for the most part it seemed like i was drinking stale, oxidized beer.

 

Oxidized? As in cardboard flavor?

I'd be curious to see what you thought of an English Bitter or Mild CO2 driven side-by-side with the same beer on cask.

It's possible you don't dig some of those styles either. Do you like Goose Island Honker's Ale?

 

For whatever it's worth I kind of felt the same way about some of the lighter beers in general, even the traditional ones. I found that anything darker than roughly an amber was more likely to connect with me.

But as someone who has made peace with the fact that the much celebrated Belgian yeasts don't really work for me, you like what you like and giving things an honest try is all you can do.

 

Some really good stuff so far. I will let everyone know that Black Ops ‘16 on cask was pretty bad, so don’t waste your time on that. Brick & Feather’s Positively 11th St singlehandedly disproves the idea that hoppy American beer can’t have a good cask treatment. Some cool sour stuff on too: Allagash’s Pick Your Own and Flying Dreams’ Blackcurrant Gose. Gonna keep exploring the list now, but it’s just as good a fest as every other year I’ve been. Cheers!

 

As an addendum, Down the Road (who I actually expect to have a good idea of how to prep an IPA for cask) put Dreamtime on for NERAX and it was pretty awful. I really like the beer as it’s packaged for retail sale, but the cask version just tastes like drinking from a can opened the previous night. Not a fan.

 

When I experienced an oxidized flavor to me it tastes like someone poured a beer into a large book and then funneled it directly through the pages into my mouth. That's what I get from dead flat beer. I'm sure Ive had Honkers Ale, but cant recall it.

Honestly you pour me a beer intended to be flat I have no head, no aroma retention. possibly half-assed cask conditioned then you're giving me an inferior product.

Reading up more on cask ales it's an art form requiring pretty advanced cellarmanship to pull off.

I'm guessing if you're a company that really has little interest in producing "real ale" and just putting one of your regular beers on cask you're putting something forward that's not really indicative of the style you're supposed to experience.

Ill admit I'm new to the style and not a fan. But if I've had most of my experiences from a product not true to form you can understand why I'm struggling to enjoy it.

 

I actually enjoyed Good Measures offering during NERAX the most. Maybe because it tasted like a Kahlua Sombrero and carbs didn't play into it.

 

For anyone who has ever considered volunteering at Nerax, all I can say is do it! Everyone is super nice and/or a character and they're so generous with the breaks, beer and food that I felt like I should have still paid for the privilege. I had a number of great chats with expat Brits that taught me a lot about the cask and pub world as well.

The Notch dark mild was indeed on tap as well as another by Widowmaker that I (as well as the Brits I was hanging with) thought was even better. I drank quite a bit of the Widowmaker because I mistakenly thought it was a UK beer that I'd never be able to have again, but turns out they're a small new brewery in Braintree. I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for them.

Best UK beer I had was probably Eclipse from Brass Castle in England (it was amusingly labeled as a Cascadian Dark Ale). Best non session strength US beer I had by a long shot was Death and the Maiden by CBC.

I was told that the venue they use in Salem has been sold so they are currently not sure where, when, or if the Fall version of the fest is going to be held. Hopefully they get things sorted out.