It’s my understanding that sparklers are favored in north England and deprecated in the south. Found this on Google:Quote:
Apparently, once upon a time ale was not vented. The ale would condition in the cask, they’d hammer in a tap and start serving. The ale would be quite lively thanks to the lack of venting off excess c02, so when it poured it would throw a big head of foam. Somewhere along the way, they started venting, but now that head is gone. What to do? Some enterprising publican came up with a way to bring it back, and here we are today with sparkled beer in the North for a reason. Tradition. Appearance. Local taste. And default, through ignorance in the US.
-http://caskaleathome.blogspot.com/p/word-on-sparklers.html
Hey! That is taken from my blog that I started then didin't do anything with:rockin:
Keep in mind, the above quote was an opinion, not fact. I have no idea how sparklers evolved, but it makes sense to me.
Along those lines, I'm hardly an expert on this subject beyond lots of trips to the UK, and regularly using casks in my home brewery. That said, there a lot of mistruths in this thread, which is unfortunate. Just to clear up a few things: a cask is container of a certain shape with two holes in it. One to dram beer out of. One to fill/vent through. They can be made of any metal, but nowadays they are likely stainless. Wood went away a long time ago, and those "wood" german casks that the altbier breweries are using is likely stainless with a wood exterior. I've been to Dusseldorf, spoke to one of the brewers at Zum Eurige. That isn't cask conditioned beer folks. It's regular old filtered, force carbonated (with recovered c02) beer put into a cask shaped container.
CAsk ale is not flat. If it is, send it back! It won't be carbonated like many of us are used to either, but somewhere in between. You should be able to swirl the pint and see tons of gas in the ale, but there shouldn't be any bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass either. The art of cask conditioning is venting, but not over venting!
Breathers? Yeah, there is a time and place for one. My homebrewery is a good place for a breather! I can keep a cask in good condition for around 4 weeks.
What I find a shame is the default use of the sparkler in the US. I don't see any rhyme or reason for it either. It is the utmost form of ignorance. If you have tried the ale side by side, and prefer the sparkler that is one thing, but otherwise it's just ignorance. To my taste, the same beer pummeled through a sparkler tastes flat, lifeless, stale but with a great hoppy aroma. The non sparkled beer is lively, bursting with condition and hop flavor, but less on the nose. Real ale should never appear flat. There should always be a thin ring of foam on the glass. Of course, the best pint will be the one straight from the cask with no agitation whatsoever.
Here's the blog. Someday, I'll update it. Please don't hesitate contacting me anytime with questions on getting started. Cask beer at home is very doable, and highly rewarding!