Beer terminology: "Cask Conditioned Hand Pulls"

Beer and Spirits
1

What is it? Aside from a slang for something dirty. [wink.gif]

What makes this different from a keg pulled beer?

2

Beer undergoes primary fermentation which converts sugars to alcohol. (Good) bottled beer then undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle to carbonate it. Keg-beer is often carbonated like soda and, when the bartender pulls the tap, the beer is dispensed.

Cask-conditioned means that the beer undergoes that secondary fermentation in the cask. Without the addition of carbonation from tank, the beer will not dispense in a jet with a simple opening of the tap. If the cask is above the level of the tap, the beer will dispense. If the beer is in the cellar, it is necessary to use a hand-pump to pull the beer from the cellar to the glass.


A.

3

Cool. Thanks Andrew. Follow up questions:

  1. Does the soda analogy apply for kegs of good, craft beer? I recently toured Allagash in Portland, ME and we were told that ALL their beer, regardless of bottle size, was bottle-conditioned. They were bottling their White that day (including reg. kegs & 5.17 L “minis”). I failed to inquire what the process entailed.

  2. What vessels are these “cask-conditioned” brews sold in?

  3. What makes them such an attraction? Are they better than their kegged counterparts?

4

  1. Yes. When it is on tap from a keg. At least as far as I know. Some systems use N2 instead of CO2 to prevent over-carbonation. I don’t know what Allagash does. I know mini-kegs be just a like a giant bottle. You can also use a hand pump. Problem with that is the beer does need to be drunk fast or it spoils.

  2. Traditionally, a cask which can be plastic or stainless steel. Some people still use barrels.

  3. They are better, if you like stronger beer. The process leaves the beers on the lees, so it is cloudy and can develop over time. “Real ale” is also smoother in texture and less carbonated.

A.

5

Awesome! Thanks man.

6

1)Bottle conditioned is a little different, especially when referring to Belgian Ales. The fermentation isn’t to impart carbonation but to allow the beer to age. Usually the beers are left a bit sweet at bottling and dosed with yeast in the bottle to eat the leftover sugars. The fermentation process prevents bacteria from developing, essentially creating a ‘live’ beer that can actively protect itself, as well as drying the flavor of the beer. Mass market beers inject spent yeast to create the appearance of bottle conditioning, while some artisan breweries have a yeast strain solely for bottle conditioning, so that the longer the beer ages, the more that yeast’s flavors show through.

  1. Ummm, casks? neener
    There are special tapping systems for these types of beers. Specialty pubs and beer houses will have one or more dedicated lines just for these beers. You can also find them gravity tapped, where the keg is set up on a counter at a slight downward angle, and a tap is inserted through a hole in the bottom 1/3 of the keg. Again, special equipment for that sort of thing, usually English only.

  2. The attraction is mostly for English beers. The best bars and breweries in England have a cellarmaster, equal to a sommelier. There is a science to rotating the kegs into service at just the right time, aging them in-house to perfection. The texture of the carbonation is much finer, the beer is smoother. Almost like the difference between fined/filtered and unfined/unfiltered wine. The real art is for the basic Bitters and Mild Ales, where there is a fine line between keeping the freshness and lightness of the beer and having it fall apart.

7

More info here:

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Note the section on “Real Ale” here:

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and realize that the CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) has even run candidates for Parliament on a Beer Quality Preservation platform:

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8

You’re welcome.

The best beers I ever had were at pubs in Prague where it was brewed and hand-drawn from the basement below.

I should add - I am not a real beer expert. I have brewed a bunch (quit because I hated the clean-up and don’t drink enough beer), but am not hard core.

A.

9

Goose Island in Chicago used to host a Real Ale Festival each year, but I think they stopped some time ago. A local brewer here used to brew at one of their satellite facilities and learned a lot from what they do, and always has at least one beer on hand-pump.

10

I’ve had hand-pumped and nitro beers at a really good beer bar in Berkeley, and the difference is pretty amazing. I’m not a huge fan of carbonation, and these were what I really like. Just enough carb to keep them lively, but not enough to obliterate the flavor of the beer.

11

I’m pretty sure those Allagash kegs are force carbonated like any keg. Allagash does release some cask conditioned beers as well.

I’m sure this has been covered, but cask conditioned beer is absolutely better. It hasn’t been moved around as much and it hasn’t been filtered. The flavor and mouthfeel are far superior, assuming proper conditioning and service.