The Washington Post has an article on cask ales, those delicious beers typically served above 50 degrees Fahrenheit and carbonated only by natural conditioning. It's a good primer on what makes a cask beer different from beer served on standard taps.
I find cask beers much more flavorful that their carbonated counterparts.
In Durango, we're fortunate enough to have a few hand-pulled cask engines around town. Carver's always has its cask dedicated to Cascade Canyon IPA, a consistently solid bet. Durango Brewing Co. and Steamworks Brewing Co. also have casks, but in my experience, they aren't always in operation. Sadly, Ska is cask-less.
I've had a couple pints of cask beer while sitting on a patio right on the river thames, watching jumbo jets on their final approach to heathrow from locales all over the world. It was good there, but I haven't searched any out since. Soggy, if you ever visit denver again lets try to find some.
ReplyDeleteI love cask beer, but one downside is that it doesn't last long (well it shouldn't be let to last long) unlike kegged beer once tapped it should be drank as quickly as possible as it will start to oxidize and deteriorate in quality.
ReplyDeleteA lot of bars with cask beer else where will have special cask nights (rather than have a cask going at all times) this creates a bit more demand helps ensure a fresher product.
I wish Steamworks or Durango Brewing or Carver's would have a cask night or weekend once in a while where they tap some sort of special beer on cask on a Friday afternoon and try to drum up enough demand to get people to come in and drink it all in one weekend.