Cask Ale 101: The "Real Ale"

Cask ale, cask-conditioned beer, “real ale,” or whatever you want to call it, it is regaining popularity. The buzz I am hearing from beer crazy cities (like Buffalo, NY) illustrates the popularity that cask ale is gaining amongst craft beer aficionados. I admittedly did not know what all the fuss was about, so I did some research. Below is a little intro to cask ale, or “Cask Ale 101.”

What is cask ale?

Cask ale is non-pasteurized or filtered beer, conditioned in the vessel from which it will be served, and served from that vessel without the aid of secondary pressurized gases. Beer must adhere very strictly to these guidelines to be considered “real ale,” a term coined by CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ales), a British group trying to preserve the tradition and practices associated with this method of beer brewing and serving. Cask ale/real ale can be served from a cask or in a bottle, as long as the guidelines are followed.

What isn’t cask ale?

The definition put out by CAMRA is rather restrictive, so what might resemble “real ale” while not really being “real ale?” Well first, anything filtered or pasteurized is not cask ale. Real cask ale uses finings put into the secondary fermenting vessel (which must also be the vessel from which it is served) in order to draw proteins and yeast to the bottom and keep them out of the draughted beer. Second, “bright beer” is not cask ale. If the clarified beer is transferred to another vessel before being served, in order to reduce the amount of sediment in the beer, it does not qualify. The beer cannot be separated from the yeast before serving. Bottle real ale must have yeast in the bottle. Third, any beer that uses outside collected gases (CO2 or Nitrogen) to serve the beer does not meet standards. Beer must be served by the force of gravity, hand pumped or use an electrical pump.

So what’s the big deal?

The big difference here is that cask ale is a “living beer.” As such, it can get better with time providing it is kept in the right conditions. The beer can develop complex flavors from the extended contact with the yeast, sediment and even the cask (for example, charred wooden barrels). However, because the ale is not preserved by external pressurized dispensing gas, once a cask is tapped, it has to be consumed relatively quickly (3 or 4 days for most non-high gravity offerings).

I can’t say I have had any “real ale”; these parts are often pretty slow to catch on to anything popular in the world of beer. But if any of y’all have had a chance to sample any, let us know what how it is!

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