Most beer in the United States is filtered, carbonated and served cold from a keg. Cask ale works differently. It is a traditional style of serving beer that is still common in Britain and much harder to find in Pennsylvania.
What Cask Ale Is
Cask ale, also called cask-conditioned ale or real ale, is beer that finishes its conditioning in the container it is served from. The beer goes into the cask unfiltered and unpasteurized, with live yeast still in it. That yeast continues to work in the cask, which gives the beer a gentle, natural carbonation.
How It Is Served
Kegged beer is pushed to the tap with added gas. Cask ale is drawn up by hand with a beer engine, the tall hand pump you see on the bar. The bartender pulls the handle to bring each pour up from the cask.
Cask ale is usually served at cellar temperature, which is cooler than room temperature but warmer than a typical draft beer. The softer carbonation and the warmer serving temperature let more of the malt and hop flavor come through.
What It Tastes Like
People trying cask ale for the first time often notice that it feels smoother and less fizzy than kegged beer. It is not flat. The carbonation is simply lighter and finer. The flavor tends to be rounder and fuller, which makes cask ale a good match for rich, smoky food like barbecue.
Cask Ale at Stampede
At our restaurant in Mohnton, we pour cask-conditioned ales and a barrel-aged farmhouse cider from antique hand pumps, by the half pint or the pint. Our beer is brewed on site by Detwiler Brewing, the only wood-fired brewery in Pennsylvania, where the kettle is heated by the same fuel as our smokers. Read how a wood-fired brewery works.
The brewery sticks to traditional styles, so you will not find IPAs or sours on the list. See what is pouring on the brewery page.