cask ale
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Ian hits it right in both of his replies here. I spent 3 weeks in Thanet in May, and found very, very, very little poorly kept ale. Except -- it was far too often much too warm, indeed even breaking the 20° mark. |
Originally posted by Theydon_Bois I can answer that...yes. Some time back. He may not be brewing himself much these days though. When we were there, he was not all that happy with the cask, though I thought his mild was great. |
Originally posted by Erlangernick I think this is a big part of the problem. In my experience many pubs only seem to have two serving temperatures for draught beers - cellar temperature, which should be around 12°C & a degree or so either side of that (certainly not 20°) or "Fosters temperature", which often seems to me to be far too low to appreciate the aroma & flavour (although fine if you more interested in quenching a thirst). I’ve also been told several times by pub landlords that they have to serve (key) keg beers colder than theyds like because they’re too lively to pour efficiently otherwise. Whether that’s fault of the brewers, the pub not being able to handle (key) keg beers properly or just the way it’s supposed to be - even if not always to my taste - I don’t know (hence my earlier question, which hasn’t got a reply). I might have to start carrying around a thermometer with me to collect empirical evidence. I also think, if you live in and/or frequently visit one of the big cities with plenty of hotspots, it’s easy to inhabit a "craft" beer bubble. In most places around the country your options are far more limited. Sure, many pubs are starting to see stocking some "craft" keg as de rigeur but the offerings are often a bit underwhelming - even in London I see plenty of pubs that boast "craft" beer but it turns out to be bog standard stuff ftom Meantime, Camden Town & the like. And, where you do find self-professed specialist craft beer bars out in the sticks, they often seem to me to be bandwagon jumpers that don’t have much in depth knowledge or expertise and you frequently only find the regular beers from "the usual suspects". Even where there is a decent, local "modern" brewery that puts some of its output into key keg, it can be tough to find, so it’s no wonder a lot of those brewers still put a lot of their output into cask because the (better) cask-led pubs & bars often have more commitment to stocking local products. Brewers like Cloudwater that have a high demand for their beers around the country, and even internationally, are a completely different kettle of fish. |
Originally posted by chriso Exactly! I remember reluctantly ordering a Summer Wine for a tick a few years ago (my past experience was pretty bleh at that point) and being utterly shocked at how good it was - and that they still are - or were back in 2015 at least. From my "Colonial" perspective, I still nine times out of ten prefer a good west coast IPA on keg - I don’t mind it cold, but prefer it at cool cellar temp, and carbonation isn’t an issue ... but when I visit London I am all about the casks. I love watching them being pulled, I enjoy the anticipation of will it be great? will it be meh? - and like Ian, I love gravity; the beer stands on its own merits. Good cask is wonderful, uplifting, delightful, mood-changing stuff; keg is what it is - I don’t hate it (you have any idea how hard it is to even FIND cask in Toronto, let alone cask that is handled properly? yeah ...). Anyway - in about 10 weeks or so I will be experiencing it directly, so maybe one or two of you can debate this with me over a pint of ... dare I suggest ... Sussex Best? Cheers for choice! |
Originally posted by Theydon_Bois Yes, been open 6 months http://breakwater.beer/tap-room Advertised opening hours Thursday 6-10 Friday 5-10.30 Saturday 12-10 Sunday 12-8 |
Originally posted by FatPhil To be honest a pub crawl of Maidstone would be Flowerpot (around 8 casks), Society Rooms (JDW), Rifle Volunteer (Goachers tied pub), The Pilot (Harveys), Olde Thirsty Pig (6ish casks a few taps), Muggletons (JDW) and the Cellars micropub (3-4 beers on gravity). It’s not a great town to be honest. Canterbury is better, Dover is better, and Margate/Broadstairs/Ramsgate on a bus knock all the others over easy. I sometimes rarely get out of Margate, my beer town of the year 2016. So if you are "in country" then definitely head to Margate/Ramsgate and let me know and I can show you how much fun you can have on a Thanet Explorer bus ticket (nearly every micropub has a bus stop within a few hundred metres if not right outside) |
Originally posted by Erlangernick The Conqueror in Ramsgate is guilty of this in particular, I don’t know why people go. I drink the cider in there. Lily the Pink if possible. |
Originally posted by HogTownHarry I remember standing in The Harp Chandos Place this spring, with a pint of Harvey’s Sussex Best Bitter, and after the first gulp, physically vibrating with sheer happiness, I felt like I was buzzing, and I had to hold myself down from shouting out to everyone in the pub how magnificent this beer was and how happy it was making me. Beer moment of the year so far alongside my week long holiday in Franconia in January. |
Originally posted by chriso Nick carries his thermometer around with him, so yes Chris, go ahead. Otherwise, yes I agree about the "bubble" effect. You get to know the pubs you trust and those are the ones that you tend to gravitate to over and over because you are more or less assured of quality and with the number of ticks around these days, you’ll get above your average number of rates. There are plenty of pubs I walk past without even considering them because I know there is something better around the corner. The last time I went into a pub knowing nothing about it was The Water Poet on Folgate Street north of Liverpool Street station https://www.waterpoet.co.uk/ and it was great, with Thornbridge Jaipur on tap. result. |
Originally posted by harrisoni I know. That’s why I mentioned it. |
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