C’est What’s Cask Ale?
C’est What’s director of beer studies, Leah, is taking a month off from beer school. In the absence of a lesson, this month we are providing you with a refresher on cask ale. While our own Al’s Cask Ale has been drawn directly from the cask for decades at C’est What, the first cask ale served here was Wellington’s Arkell Best Bitter. The Al’s Cask Ale you see on the shelves in the LCBO is, strictly speaking, not a cask ale – it is lightly filtered and we pressurize the can with nitrogen to mimic the soft carbonation and creamy …
Definition of “Cask Ale”
Cask ale is unfiltered and unpasteurized. Traditionally cask ale is also cask-conditioned, undergoing a secondary fermentation in the cask. This contrasts with “keg beer” which is generally filtered and carbonated. Cask-conditioned beers are also referred to as “real ales”. It is common in Canada to find cask dispensed brews that are racked off from a larger batch of beer that is destined for filtering and packaging. These racked cask beers do not undergo secondary fermentation but will often have additional hops or other ingredients added to infuse additional flavours.
Beer Delivery Systems
It took until until the 17th century for bottled beer to become commonplace. Up until that time most beer was consumed by pouring it directly out of a cask. Along with advances in science in the later 19th century such as pasteurization and mechanical refrigeration the inevitable march towards tightly controlled, factory produced, mass made and marketed beer had begun. Filtering, pasteurizing, adding controlled amounts of carbon dioxide, and packaging in bottles eliminated the natural variability of cask beer, and the extra care that was needed to properly dispense it. Modern keg beer is identical to bottled beer except that …
Cask Dispensing
There are two ways of dispensing a cask beer: Gravity or pouring the beer directly out of the cask and pulling the beer out of the cask using a piston called a beer engine or hand pump (patented, 1785). The Old English word “draught” meant, “to pull,” like the draught horses that used to deliver beer casks back in the day and later pulling a pint from the cask. Etymologically speaking, keg beer is not draught as it is pushed to the tap faucet. A gravity dispensed cask beer is set on its side in a rack that is gently …
Casks and Kegs
As with many traditional systems of measurement definitions of common terms such as barrel vary from country to country. When it comes to casks, British terminology seems to rule. The most common size of cask is a Firkin at 9 imperial gallons. The standard keg size at The Beer Store follows American traditions and is ½ barrel or 15 ½ US gallons (12.91 imperial gallons or 58.67 L). Cask sizes: Pin (4.5 gal.), Firkin (9.0 gal.), Kilderkin (18 gal.), Barrel (36 gal.), Hogshead (54 gal.), Butt (108 gal.), Tun (216 gal.).
Cellaring
Most cask beers are delivered to the pub ready to be prepared for serving. In instances where a freshly casked beer is delivered the cask may have to be cellared for up to a week to let the secondary fermentation finish. It should be noted that cellar temperature is around 10° C plus or minus a couple of degrees, considerably warmer than the sub-zero taste of “cold”. Cask-conditioned beers usually have “finings” added to the cask to help settle the yeast. Finings are most commonly made from a seaweed called Irish moss, which is processed into carrageenan, or Isinglass, which …
The Trouble With Air
Oxidation is the biggest threat to cask beer. As beer is drawn out of the cask air fills the space that remains. Air has an oxygen content of about 21% its effect on the flavour of beer is rapid and not very pretty. The presence of oxygen also encourages the growth of various non-beneficial bacteria that can lead to off-flavours. Heat speeds up both of these detrimental processes. For this reason, you have about three days to consume a refrigerated cask ale and as little as a day for one stored at room temperature. However science can help even the …
Cask Ale – Liquid Heaven?
The lower carbonation, and warmer serving temperature, although not suitable for all beer styles, yields a more aromatic and flavourful brew that truly “tastes better and is less filling”. While many modern craft brews have their own merits when kegged or bottled there are no shortcuts that reproduce the undeniable charm of the cask-dispensed beer.
