The Power in the Cask: Old Ways, New Beer

By ERIC ASIMOV
Published: October 24, 2007

I WAS sitting at a noisy bar on a beautiful fall afternoon, watching the bartender work, and she was indeed working.

Bartenders work a pump, not a standard tap, to pour cask-conditioned ale, since its kegs aren’t charged with carbon dioxide.

She pulled down on the tap, then pushed back, pulled down and pushed up, in rhythmic repetition like a farmhand at a well. The ale poured slowly into a mug, at first all foam, then turning translucent before suddenly clarifying into a brilliant suds-topped amber.

I touched the faceted glass, cool, but not cold. A floral-citrus aroma rose up, and as I took my first sip I marveled at how soft and delicate the carbonation was, the bubbles giving the flavors lift and energy without aggression.

This was beer the really old-fashioned way. Today most draft beers are injected with carbon dioxide, filtered and often pasteurized, stored in pressurized kegs and served through gas-powered taps.

But the beer I was served was unpasteurized and unfiltered. Like the earliest bubbly brews, it was naturally carbonated, or conditioned, in its cask by yeast transforming sugar into alcohol with a side of fizzy carbon dioxide trapped in the cask. And it was served by muscle power pumping the ale up from its cask into the mug.


READ ON : http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/24/dining/24pour.html

I've had my only cask ales at the Blind Tiger in NYC. They were excellent.

[Robin Garr]

I've had my only cask ales at the Blind Tiger in NYC. They were excellent.

Am I losing it, or does not BBC St. Matthews have one hand-drawn cask on tap as a regular thing, usually with a cask-conditioned American Pale Ale? Help me out here, beer geeks ...

We do have a cask ale on once a week. Jerry and Cameron put the cask on every Thursday and it is available until the cask is finished. Last week's was Nut Brown Ale. I am not sure what this week's will be but I will try to find out!

Cheers!
Becca at BBC St. Matthews

Okay, this week it will be the Daisycutter Organic IPA dry hopped with German Tettnang. It usually is avaible around happy hour so come on in and have a pint!

Cheers!
Becca at BBC St. Matthews

[Robin Garr]

We do have a cask ale on once a week. Jerry and Cameron put the cask on every Thursday and it is available until the cask is finished.

Thanks for the reality check, Becca! I thought I remembered that from Thursday nights with the wacky lefties. It's a splendid example of just what the Times article speaks of, and definitely worth a visit to BBC St. Matthews for anyone who wants to give it a try without having to travel to Gotham.

ahh the purveyor of coffee finds the CASK

cask beers have been a staple at the NABC / Rich O's Public House for many years now and are a high demand item

the casks are usually smaller and rarely last more than 1 day

BBC and NABC have done a great job of introducing the lousivillians and new albanians to the ancient lost art of cask ales


enjoy one today (or on friday)

shawn

Becca,

You just convinced me to stop by BBC tonight!! Of course Thursdays are always good between cask night and Tim Krekel.

Thanks for the update.

I've had my only cask ales at the Blind Tiger in NYC. They were excellent.

Am I losing it, or does not BBC St. Matthews have one hand-drawn cask on tap as a regular thing, usually with a cask-conditioned American Pale Ale? Help me out here, beer geeks ...

My post was not meant as an implication that cask ales could not be had elsewhere. I think it is excellent that BBC is offering these fine ales.

As of yesterday, we had Schlafly's American Pale Ale on the hand pull at the Public House, and when it's gone, the Daisycutter mentioned by Becca will be coming on.

For hopheads, note that today we'll have Randall the Enamel Animal ready to modify our Elsa (Imperial Pilsner) with Hersbrucker hops.

Invented by the wacky folks at Dogfish Head, Randall is a "machine" for dry-hopping, i.e., exposing finished beer to another dosage of hops, in this case "by the glass."

Roger

Roger, how often do you let Randall out of his cage? I won't be able to make it over tonight.

That's a good question. As far as I know, we have one keg to devote to Randall this weekend; in the past, it has lasted Friday and Saturday. We might go back to it next weekend with something different. Although it's fun and educational, Randall is messy, too, so he doesn;t come out all that often.

Lately I've been wondering how a similar machine would work using, say, coffee beans for a stout.

Lately I've been wondering how a similar machine would work using, say, coffee beans for a stout.

Man, now you have my interest perked.... if nothing, it would be worth the experiment. I'm sure Ed Needham would donate some beans for the cause! I'm actually thinking about what else could be stuffed in the Randall.... vanilla beans came to mind, though I don't know how much they would flavor a beer. Some small smoked wood chips might be interesting as well, but might really mess up the Randall.

Yeah, that's the thing: I don't want to taint the hop machine.

Maybe buy another one, though ...

Roger:

I'm assuming "our Elsa" implies that NABC now has lagering facilities.
Have I been missing out, or is this a fairly new development over there?

In any case, I'll have to get over there to witness the nuptials of Elsa and Randall. They sound like quite a handsome couple.