Caring for Cask (Keep Cask Alive pt 1) | The Craft Beer Channel
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2021
- In the first episode of our docu-series and campaign to Keep Cask Alive, we're visiting two of the UK's best cask ale pubs to talk about the challenges that real ale faces and the incredible work that goes in to making it the freshest form of beer.
Huge thanks to Fuller's Brewery and Asahi for making this series possible.
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So tell us - where is the best pint of cask ale you've ever had?!
I gotta give a nod to Southampton Arms.
The Swan in Stratford St. Mary, especially after hiking or kayaking there.
The Brewery Tap in Chester
Civil Life - St. Louis Missouri USA
Definitely the Lake District as the water there is so soft. I also had this imperial pint somewhere after a long drive (I can't remember where unfortunately) which was lovely. And finally the best cask beers I've ever had were in Skipton/Gargrave. You can't beat the northern sparkler! One I remember in particular I *think* was at The Boar's Head in Long Preston. They had a very dark beer which I think was called Ink Jet and it was beautiful!
I'm Irish, and would drink cask ale until the cows come home. Absolutely love it
Same here but shame it disappeared from wide spread existence here in Ireland in 1973
You’re barking up the wrong tree guys - The key for popularity is this. Pastry Cask, think banoffee bitters, think marshmallow milds, think gingerbread goldens…folk will lap it up
I mean I'd drink a banoffee bitter to be fair
Wouldn’t banofee make the bitter sweet so defeating the purpose of it being a bitter
Great documentary guys, I live abroad thee days and fortunately we have a couple of cask ale options locally. But my heart is still in England and traditional cask ale. Thank you, I didn't realise the impact of Covid on cask ale production and consumption. It looked like it was going from strength to strength before I left the country.
Thanks for the effort chaps.
I’m in a Professional craft brew certificate program at Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island, USA; just discovered this channel and I LOVE it!! Educational, easy watch and holds attention. This is awful to day but there are so many douchy beer channels that all blend together. I LOVE seeing the cultural aspect in this episode!!
As a young guy, cask ale is wonderful. My university pub really opened my eyes on it.
Wish we had more cask ale here across the pond!
Also that guy at the Old Fountain made Jonny look about the size of Frodo
I KEEP INTERVIEWING GIANTS. I'm 5 ft 10. I used to think that was average height!
Man he's a unit! I bet he has few problems with drunks!
American beer (particularly craft) is amazing, but please try to come to a great UK pub! You would love cask beer. It's a unique experience. A perfect cask pint is hard to describe, but it's generally smooth and very session-able. I normally like to try multiple varieties on a night out, but a good pub with good cask beer means you can generally stick to the same beer all night and love every pint. This video is brilliant is describing how it needs to be served - and only the best pubs get it right.
@@thebackyardbrewer5611 There's a cask ale breweires on the West Coast in Los Angeles (MacLeods), Portland (Away Days) and Seattle (Machine House). There use to be a pub in NYC that had cask on tap called The Spotted Pig.
@@jackmclean5202 and Hogs Head in Colorado.
Yes guys! So happy to see you championing Cask Ale. I love craft but there is nothing better than a fresh pulled pint. As a Canadian whom moved to the UK 8 years ago, I fell in love with your pubs and hate to see any of them go, this documentary series is much needed. Cheers! 🍻🍻🍻
I'm always stunned at how different a bottle of (for example) doombar or adnams broadside tastes vs. Cask. You'd think they were different beers.
I also find cask (and bottle conditioned) much easier to digest than force carbonated.
Fantastic start to the series. A great way to shed the stuffy reputation cask ale has gotten in recent decades. CAMRA has done great work at keeping cask "purity" but has not helped itself with public image or media management resulting in a reputation of being somehow outdated and exclusionary.
This series looks like it could be a helping hand at attracting or/and educating more youthful drinkers that wouldn't ordinarily choose cask by highlighting the artisnal and historical aspects that aren't always at the forefront of a drinkers mind.
I love cask ale! It's why I worked in a Fullers pub and there was no better satisfaction than tapping an ESB! It's a beautiful art. That said though, there's so much bad cask. So many pubs are clueless, the majority use long life plastic spiles, lots use vertical extraction (all brewdog pubs do this - absolute no respect) and since people have been returning to pubs management of pubs are reluctant to add a variety of cask. You also have pub companies like Greene King who have 'must stock' products (Greene King IPA, 'house' bitter) which are usually of poorer quality and not very popular so they detoriate, the management figures there no demand for other cask beers so that's all whats on offer. It's like if you had a sweet shop and you were forced to sell chocolate with shit in and no one wanted it you might think no one likes chocolate. I love cask and whenever I go to a new pub I will ask 'what's your most popular cask' that way I know which will be the freshest and if its Doom Bar its a shit pub.
Although this is an 'incredibly British' way of serving beer, as cask ale is impossible to get across the pond, and I never had one in my life, I am excited to learn more!
There is a place in Seattle that only does English inspired cask ales (Machine House Brewery).
check your local brewpubs, look for a beer engine, I know a few places in Portland (Hopworks comes to mind)
@@KevinPope @thebluep0tat0 Well, shoot. Me and my English expressions. I am European and across the other pond. So, when we Europeans are allowed into the US again, I'll keep an eye out. Thanks for the tips!
@@FatherEarth93 Where are you based? There are some spots that offer cask in mainland Europe, in Spain we have one that occasionally offers cask beer
@@kiliang96 I am based in NL, so the drinking culture is generally leaning towards the Belgian culture. Although there are great Dutch craft breweries, cask ale is, as far as I am aware, a rarity.
Cask ale is one of the few things that I miss about the UK after having been in Thailand for 20 years. It is this longing for cask ale that drove me to homebrewing.
Best cake ale pints? Three Tuns, Wyre Piddle, Timothy Taylor's, Salopian, Bass and surprisingly Banks' mild.
Nice to see Tring Brewery (a local favourite haunt of mine) getting some love in this video - that Ridgeway really is a gorgeous bitter.
This is truly the most inspiring video I have ever seen about cask ales and beer culture. Can’t wait to see more!
Here in Georgia (US) at least out in the rural areas craft beer unfortunately is still coming into its own although we have some fantastic craft breweries in the larger cities. But I've never had a cask ale but it sounds heavenly. I'm really into homebrewing and beer history and culture. I appreciate this channel and the content you guys put forth. Much love
Excellent comment. Our cask ales are something to be very proud of.
This video is so important and so well done. As an American, I can only sit here and dream of having a cask ale just down the street, but cannot. I really appreciate (and hope you guys appreciate) what the UK still has. Thanks for keeping the cask alive.
Ah so happy seeing my hometown repped so well in this
06:20 swung by this place a few weeks back after watching this video/ being in the area, sort of.
Stood right by that chalk board soaking up the menu on my Jack Jones while sipping on something from cask. I had an overly orange jacket on and stood out like a trooper, Mr B would have loved it, he rocks some interesting clothing lines now and then too.
Come to the West Midlands, there are about 50 ‘Black Country Ales’ pubs that you can visit, each roughly having around 15 cask ales on!
Might well be coming for season 2!
Fixed wheel - no brakes IPA- the Wellington Birmingham, 16 cask ales on everyday. One for you guys to visit.
Great pub!
Really happy to see you doing this series and makes me remember I need to get another homebrew on the handpull at home! Some of the best cask ale I’ve had was at the Southwold pubs serving Adnams beer, fresh Ghost Ship is a thing of beauty, cheers chaps 🍻👍🏻
I enjoy your channel. Maybe you should do a vid and promote it. I’m up for brewing a cask beer too. How do you keep it? Polypin / bag? Cheers!
As an American who has worked in the industry for years, I've been lucky enough to work for two different pubs on both coasts of America that always tried to keep a cask or two on. The first proper pint you drink as a craft beer drinker is one of the most eye opening experiences you can have.
Thank everything you are working to keep this alive London cask ale changed my life in 2006 and helped start my professional career as a brewer
Brickyard brewing company here in Lewiston NY has done cask ipa’s
I loved this episode!!! Can't wait for more! Also the best pint of cask ale I've had is from a local beautiful old style pub to me called The Cormorant, they always have a fresh cycle of cask and the best pint I had was called Fuggle Dee Dum brewed by the Isle of Wight brewery. It was my first pub pint after lockdown, and it was tremendous!
Batham's at any Batham's pub, bar the Bull and Bladder where it's brewed, for some strange reason. The Britannia in Gornal or the Unicorn in Wollaston serve a superb pint.
Any Beer at Sarah Hughes home pub and tap house, The Beacon.
Cleric's Cure at the Three Tuns, Bishop's Castle.
At the Ginger Man in Houston, TX. I’m pretty sure the were serving the Saint Arnold’s DR 13 on cask, and if so, that’s what I had. Delicious quad, smooth and creamy.
Absolutely love saint arnold and without them i might notve gotten into the beer industry!
I love the traditional and hope it lives with us for many years to come!
I'm not from Britain but visit there often, and I'm always sad when I see pubs disappearing or remodeled to some hip-bar-kind-of-thing, with less interesting beers on offer. I rather visit a pub with just a few real cask ales on pump than a bar with 100s of bottles and kegged beers. The real pub is something Britain should be proud of and I wish people would appreciate more, so good luck guys!
Come to Yorkshire for a cracking pint of cask.
Cheers, lads. I have tried for 10 years to get hand pulled cask into the mainstream here in the US. I will not quit, either.
Come to Manchester and try a fresh pint of JW Lees Bitter from their Middleton Junction Brewery. it's a gorgeous bladder-flusher which doesn't announce how fabulous it is until you're three quarters way through your second pint - then you're in love and it's too late - she's got you, and the longing for another lasts the rest of your life..Hydes is excellent too, as is Holts. All Manchester breweries. Neighbouring Stockport has fantastic pubs and the legendary Robinson's Brewery with their joy-inducing Unicorn Bitter.
Loved this episode. Excited for more!
I've been brewing for 11 years never made cask ale,I read and own cameras cask ale guide.the closest I came is to brew british pale ale and naturally carbonated in Cornelius keg,than serve it.Beautiful stuff.
Good stuff team - cheers
Beautiful!
Really enjoyed this episode and looking forward forward to part 2.
Great content guys! Keep up the good work.
Fantastic start to the series, can't wait to see more! Thanks for doing this 🍻
I am so happy you guys are championing real ale!
Great start to the series. Looking forward to watching them all. Really enjoy stories of beer 🍻
Can’t wait to sit down after a long day in work with a beer in hand and enjoy this series 👍👍👍 🍻
Awesome stuff!
Fantastic video and can't wait for the rest of the season. Like many, cask ale is what got me into good beers and still holds a special place in my heart.
Had several pints since lockdown ended. The beer in my picture is Cloudwater Mosaic on cask. You'll be pleased to know I got up half way through this video, walked to the pub and sunk a couple more. Just watched the rest and looking forward to the series 😊
Haha this is amazing! I went to the pub several times while editing it
What a fantastic informative video!!! 🍻
Now I really want to visit London again! Great series lads, keep it up!
Glad for this videos, never tried a "cask ale", cheers from Argentina.
Good choice of showing Jarl being pulled when talking about serving cask at it's best, one of the best session beers I've had on cask in a long time!
This is amazing, well done lads, go the original and the best, loved this video so much
Favourite pint of cask ale is a local one, the 90 Shilling ale from the Tryst Brewery, served in a few of the local pubs. Commenting for the algorithm, I'd like this project to reach beyond the cask lovers!
I fully support this. And I am always jealous how easy it to find cask ale there compared to in the States; might as well just fly across the Pond rather than look for it here.
Loved this so much. It is so great you are doing this, cant wait to see the rest of the series. It is by far the best way to drink beer and really needs to be saved.
The main issue for me is publicans not caring about it and serving it flat and warm or worst off. Imagine if a restaurant did that with food!
100%!
Wow, really looking forward to watching the rest of this series! Thanks for all your hard work guys. You deserve many more subscribers!
Thanks so much! Build it and they will come is our motto
There's such a great cask scene in the north east it makes me very glad to live there. Local breweries such as Almasty and Two by Two are producing some great new England style ipas in cask and in top condition I'd have them over the keg version anyday
So ironic that NEIPA actually works really well on cask... we might have something like that in episode 3!
Fascinating and so sad that it's in decline, when i visited England over 5 years ago, i was absolutely enchanted by the unique hand pumped beer, i didn't know it was cask beer, having only experienced beer in Germany before, English Ale was very refreshing for me, for it's freshness , lower carbonation and just right serving temperature
The Southampton Arms (the pub at the beginning) here is another example of why exceptional cask is difficult to find in London: a great pub serving beers from good breweries, but the cask is often flat and underpar simply because there's little else done to bring it to top level (no sparklers, no slow care). It's fine, sure, because the pub does so well it's all moving through (you won't get an off or eggy pint there, and most often you'll get a decent cask, just not a cracker). No cellar mastery any more. Most people loving cask in London - like younger folk at the Southampton Arms - won't know the difference, so things go on. What can we do, other than head north, or just crack on. Incredibly difficult to find immense cask in the big city. Thing of the past.
At last I've found the time to sit down and start watching the cask series, excellent and interesting first part. Cheers
A timely & superb video guys. Looking forward to the following vids. Cheers from an old cask/real ale fanboy 😎👍
Visited Southampton Arms in 2018 after reading The London Craft Beer Guide on my first visit to London. I was fortunate enough to meet Jonny and Brad during that trip, but I've been chasing beer so fresh ever since. I'm really missing truly good cask ale in the states! Keep up the good work y'all!
Cheers 🍻 🍻 🍻
Munich Germany 🇩🇪
Turns out Gigachad works at the Old Fountain.
Great video,so glad I have a handpull to enjoy a proper pint with a lovely big creamy head.
Cheers 🍻 🍺
Looking forward to this series! Will be getting my homebrewed stout onto the handpull soon. Also just picked up your book from the Malt Miller :)
Amazing, thanks for the support!
Love it. love it. Brilliant stuff. Our very own unique stunning craft beer. A fresh cool pint of bitter with a foaming head in an old pub, country or town is the most refreshing thing ever.
As a brewer/distiller, my experiences with cask are as follows... Short shelf life (pubs only get 3-5 days to use up the beer once its tapped). Also the shelf life of cask even before its tapped is only around 6 weeks. Many pubs don't care for their beer lines and you end up with sour, warm beer. Cask doesn't (imo) really work as well as keg for the current predominant beer style (IPA). When its done right though, its a thing of beauty - preferably with a sparkler (cask in-joke).
Indeed these are key issues, but you can 100% brew great hoppy and IPA like beers for cask as we'll find out in episode 3!
This was a fantastic video to watch. You guys are helping shape my own tastes through education of different beers. For example, watching all your Larger/Pilsner urquell videos got me to re-introduce myself into larger after years of staying away from it. Now I've watched this, I have a massive hankering to get a nice fresh cask ale!
Thank you!
Thanks so much Ben!
As someone who just bought a cask for homebrew, this intrigues me.
Loved this episode and I am sure I will the rest. I love my cask ales and thanks to you guys I brew my own using the bag method like you have shown. Australian pubs some times have beer pulled using a beer engine but I'm sure its not from a cask. It was also good to see a sparkler being used when needed. I visited a pub in London once that had a Yorkshire bitter on and when I asked for the sparkler to be fitted I was told the manager did not like the sparkler to be used. I swapped to another beer as they would not serve the beer correctly. Cheers and happy drinking.
Great video looking forward to the rest of the series. Cask, when in peak condition is excellent. Being from the Midlands we have the likes of Bathams, Enville, Sarah Hughes and Banks's which are all excellent, even with Banks's becoming the much larger entity it is today.
Cheers Fellas! Looking forward to watching the next few cask vids, we don't have alot of cask here in New Zealand.. I can't even find a firkin to give it a go so in the mean time... your vids will have to do. Keep up the good work cheers, Mike 🍻🍻🍻
I'm an American. I love big, fat stouts and heavy IPAs. (I lived on the west coast after all lol.) I had such a hard time getting into lighter beers with lower abv, until my wife and I took a vacation to the UK and I got to have some cask ales at a few different pubs. It was AMAZING. And now I love those lighter, lower abv beers and am constantly on the lookout for cask ales around here.
As a nation we are VERY good at that 4% ish session ale. The extra 68ml in our pints demands it.
Good cask is the best, and so glad you're doing this important campaign. Best pint of cask in London was probably at The Harp off the Strand. Plan on going to the Old Fountain and Southampton Arms next week on your recommendation!
The best pint of Cask Ale that I ever had was in the city of York, in 1989, and it was Samuel Smith’s Museum Ale.
Been brewing a fair amount of British beers myself but since I’ve never tasted cask I’m referencing all the written accounts of their profiles. I reckon it’ll be interesting to compare actual cask to my “cask” beers once I do get to taste them in due time.
Terrific series! I’m a Yank that fell in love with cask on a 1995 trip to the UK. My city, Minneapolis has one brewpub that serves a few beers on cask. It’s not Fuller’s, but it’s pretty good. Looking forward to your next installment!
That's cool that cask has spread though!
great video guys. unfortunataly, here in brazil we dont have cask ale, looking foward when i will take a sip in a og cask in uk. cheers!
I live in Reading which used to be dire for good cask beer, but its seen a real renaissance. Great local breweries and great pubs like the greyfriars and the fox and hounds. All do great cask. To me it's more interesting.
Great idea for a series.
Great video, I am looking forward to the rest of the series. We're lucky to have one cask ale brewery here in The Netherlands, based in The Hague.
ah right whats the name?
@@kw2142 The Fiddler
Great video, cask ale is definitely the best, can't beat it.
Best pint for me was a little bar in northwich called salty dog, I had a custard stout on cask and it was tremendous, I'm from North East England so it's a bit far for me to travel just for that one beer haha.
Always tend to pop in the southampton arms if I'm in London too which do a good range
I love cask beer and if it’s offered here in Syracuse NY I always drink that and encourage my friends to try it as well !
CASK is BEST!
That was a really enjoyable watch, I have some highly rated cask places near me and sometimes when the stars align I do enjoy one but I must admit the vast majority of them just taste sub par to me in comparison to what the alternatives you get in a craft taproom. I still appreciate real ale though.
time to pour myself a beer and enjoy this video
The only place within 300 miles that has a beer engine, The Crown and Thistle in Coeur d'alene, Idaho, in the US. The Crown and Thistle is the closest thing we have to a UK style pub. I don't know if they were keeping the casks well, or not, but I do know that the Scotch ale I had there was one of the softest, and most delicious beers I've ever had.
Had one on my travels to Leicester and I've been trying to get my hands on some in the US for years now
There are breweries doing it! We've visited a few on our US trips
I think there is some confusion in the (secondary fermentation) that occurs in the cellar. I work in a cask ale pub and look after cellar and everything that goes with that, as far as I'm aware the secondary fermentation happens in a "warm" room at the brewery and when we vent the beer we are just depressurising the cask and waiting for the right level of conditioning before we serve, (No fermentation in the cellar) if I'm wrong please let me know
This was my understanding as well - the secondary fermentation happens at the brewery at a suitable temperature to spur the yeast, then it needs to be cooled to cellar temperature, settled, vented and tapped before serving. There will be some residual flavour development and biotransformation after the secondary, but all fermentation is (or should be) done at the brewery.
Apologies for the confusion. Yes very often secondary fermentation occurs at the brewery but so many of them package the beer almost fully carbed so warm storage is less vital - it's nearly really to go, which partly explains the difference in when these beers are ready (hours or days)
You guys would love Hog's Head here in Denver, CO. USA. True to style English ales many of which are served cask style and proper temp. Not something I usually drink the warmer months but when it cools down I tend to hit them up a bit.
Consistency from the Brewery is so important.
Oh man i love Tring beer. It sucks i can't get it here in Australia.
im from gaspe canada and i remember trying a cask ale in the old port ottawa and totally fell in love with it ,but for some reason (just ignorance lol) i thought it was cream ale ,,but now i started brewing beer and i really wonna make cask ale ,,im working on recipe (serving it a little warmer and less carbonated ) but what is really really no fun for a home brewer is the price of the pump ,,almost 1000 dollards ,,outch ,,but im all with you guys ,,cask ale is nothing short of amazing
I love love love cask ale and the fact you can always drink a localy breweries beer . Being 28 i alwaye get the "old mans drink "
Cask ale is my favorite and I've noticed it's gone the way of the dodo here in the states where it was barely a thing anyway. Though I recently learned of a place 60 miles away that specializes in real ales.
Awesome vid, hopefully at some point you address how often lines are or need to be cleaned, how the air that’s pumped in affects the flavor over time, etc… looking forward to rest of the series
Unfortunately from here on in we are talking stories rather than the technical side. But clean lines are absolutely vital - whether it is keg or cask
So happy yous are doing this :) Really important stuff. I'm just so lucky to have the Grapes in Liverpool as my local. So many good small breweries in and around Liverpool at the moment.
One thing though is I genuinely think that pints poured without a sparkler can put people off. A frothy head with big bubbles can look at bit off and old-fashioned. Whereas a more "northern" style pint pulled through a sparkler with a smooth head and some texture to it is more appealing, and closer to more widely available beers. What does anyone else think?
I get your point but a good cask pint without a sparkler should still have a tight white head! All a sparkler does is guarantee it. The beers poured in the Southampton section were all unsparkled and looked MINT.
I agree, most pints I’ve had served in the south are as flat as a fart after 2 minutes of being pulled
Re watching this series as a cask ale fan and owner of a keg bar, the fact my generation (late 20s) don’t drink it actually does come from the existing customer base, my local which I love I receive bad attitudes because of of job selling “posh, expensive” beer. Sadly traditional pubs don’t always shut down locals with regards to social issues and that may be a reason as to why certain people don’t go there
It's definitely true that not everyone feels welcome in more old-school British pubs and that's definitely something publicans can work on.
I absolutely love craft beer, but it's more a friday night beer for me. Cask is a more Sunday lunch/dinner type of beer - relaxed, tasty, beautifully smooth. Glad to see you endorsing it!
Every beer has its time and place! Which is very much the theme of my new book
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Nice upsell technique there 😀
I’m lucky enough to live in Yorkshire and wasn’t aware there was an alternative to cask ale !!
0 dislikes - because it’s a bloody good video