post on NYT about cask conditioned beer

http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/beer-naturally/

interesting read!

I *LOVE, LOVE, LOVE* cask-conditioned ales. There's a brewpub near me that always has something on cask. Oftentimes, it's not even an English ale; a couple weeks ago, they have their very domestic IPA on cask, but it's always wonderful. They feel so much fuller without the heavy carbonation, very smooth, all the flavors just come out to the fore. I am absolutely hooked.

Incidentally, for those of you in the greater Baltimore area, there's a real ale festival being held at Oliver's Wharf Rat down at the Inner Harbor (you can take the light rail almost to the front door) on Sunday from 1-6 PM.

Here's the link.

Tickets are $25, I bought mine yesterday so some are still available I think. The weather is supposed to be awesome.

Oh, did I mention unlimited sampling from 22+ breweries? Yeah. That's awesome too.

kvh

so...could you go from primary fermenter to a corny keg, add say 1/2 cup of cornsugar, seal it up and let it sit in a cool place for a month or two. Would that be the same thing? I can see hitting the corny with a few pounds of co2 to purge out the atmosphere and to get the lid to seal. any comments?

the_bird said:

I *LOVE, LOVE, LOVE* cask-conditioned ales. There's a brewpub near me that always has something on cask. Oftentimes, it's not even an English ale; a couple weeks ago, they have their very domestic IPA on cask, but it's always wonderful. They feel so much fuller without the heavy carbonation, very smooth, all the flavors just come out to the fore. I am absolutely hooked.

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I very rarely drink anything else.
Today I think i'm going to visit a "Camra Pub of the Year" pub.:rockin:

It still surprises me when people pop up thinking throwing a little oak in secondary means they have emulated a cask conditioned ale.

haha, I popped up with that question not too long ago. If you're not kegging, but bottle conditioning, couldn't you simulate by lowering the amount of priming sugar you use?

musikguru6 said:

haha, I popped up with that question not too long ago. If you're not kegging, but bottle conditioning, couldn't you simulate by lowering the amount of priming sugar you use?

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Yes a lower CO2 level will help emulate cask conditioned ales. Bottle conditioning is very similar to cask conditioned but will keep better.

Basically cask conditioning is allowing the Ale to condition and carbonate in the serving vessel and serving without the aid of forced C02.

fretman124 said:

so...could you go from primary fermenter to a corny keg, add say 1/2 cup of cornsugar, seal it up and let it sit in a cool place for a month or two. Would that be the same thing? I can see hitting the corny with a few pounds of co2 to purge out the atmosphere and to get the lid to seal. any comments?

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That would do.
It doesn't need to be any longer than you'd normally let it age for when bottling.

the gingerman here in houston mosttimes has some st. arnold elissa ipa cask conditioned. i always try to get some when i'm there. good beer.

Yes! Another thread on cask/bottle conditioned real ale. I love it. I use 1/2 cup of corn sugar for a 5 gallon batch and that works out nicely.

had my first two cask ales in burlington a couple of weeks ago. best beer I've ever had in my life. can't wait to have some more

musikguru6 said:

had my first two cask ales in burlington a couple of weeks ago. best beer I've ever had in my life. can't wait to have some more

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Where in Burlington? I'm heading up there with the wife for a kid-free weekend in early November...

american flatbread and the vermont pub and brewery

I also love cask conditioned ale but the closest bar with a beer engine is more that 30 miles away. Anyone know where to get a cask? also what is 1/2 cup in oz's? I just over carbed my last batch priming with DME for the first time.( just bought 4lbs of corn sugar yesterday) I NEED A CASK!

Oops - almost screwed myself out of $25 and some mighty fine beer.

Anyone who's interested, I'll say again, there's a Cask Ale Fest in Baltimore, MD this weekend. It's TOMORROW (Saturday), not sunday as I had originally thought. I should really read things more closely....

I'll shut up now.

kvh

killian said:

I also love cask conditioned ale but the closest bar with a beer engine is more that 30 miles away. Anyone know where to get a cask? also what is 1/2 cup in oz's? I just over carbed my last batch priming with DME for the first time.( just bought 4lbs of corn sugar yesterday) I NEED A CASK!

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Flying Bison sometimes has a cask on the handpull for special events down at the brewery. I would ckeck the website for such events periodically.
http://www.flyingbisonbrewing.com/

Also, the two Pizza Plant locations do have a handpull as well, although I do not know if the beer is actually cask conditioned, but it is very delicious & smooth tasting. Worth checking out if you are around that way. Cheers!

I went to pizzaplant a couple of weeks ago. I had cask conditioned impaled ale. damn that beer is good. The only problem is that I'm south of Rochester and that is a bit of a drive.

killian said:

I also love cask conditioned ale but the closest bar with a beer engine is more that 30 miles away. Anyone know where to get a cask? also what is 1/2 cup in oz's? I just over carbed my last batch priming with DME for the first time.( just bought 4lbs of corn sugar yesterday) I NEED A CASK!

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You can cask condition in a keg.