Cask-Conditioned Ale May be the Only "Real" Beer You Ever Taste
If you like beer, checking out cask-conditioned ales and beers is probably worth the time, as these have been dubbed "real beer" by a selective and very serious group in England.
For beer enthusiasts - true beer enthusiasts who would rather just have a glass of water than a tasteless macro brew - finding the next great beer is can be a mission of sorts. For such folks, there is a movement going on in England that gets to the heart of the matter with aplomb, and takes the quest for the perfect brew to the next level. The movement, or organization as it should actually be dubbed, is the "Campaign for Real Ale" (CAMRA) and its mission is to promote real ale, real cider and the traditional English pub. Here in the U.S., the traditional English pub is likely never going to take hold. But for those who enjoy truly good beer, there is still hope.
Without going into too much detail about CAMRA itself, the better focus is "real ale" (or real cider, if you prefer), as this is really at the heart of the organization and the movement as a whole. "Real ale" is the name given to cask ale or cask-conditioned beer by CAMRA. To be considered "real ale" or by the more generic term of "cask ale," the beverage must be unfiltered, unpasteurized and then conditioned and served from a cask without the addition of nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure. Of late, bottle-conditioned beer also falls under this description.
Now that we know what "real beer" is, the better question is why should we care? The answer is that once you've tasted cask-conditioned beer, you'll never look at a bottle of cheap American macro brew in quite the same way (unless, of course, you looked at it with disdain in the first place). There is also one more extremely important element of cask-conditioned ale that contributes to its unique properties and flavor. In addition to being brewed from traditional elements, as well as remaining unpasteurized and unfiltered, the "conditioned in a cask" portion of the definition is extremely important.
While the "natural elements" concept is to avoid unnatural elements, preservatives, unnecessary chemicals and "fillers" of any sort, the conditioning is perhaps the most important aspect of what makes cask ale the drink that spawned an entire organization. Ale, or any sort of beer, that is conditioned in the cask or bottle enters its storage container with live yeast. The point of this is so that the fermentation process continues after the bottling process or after the beer has entered a cask.
The yeast results in sediment in the beer that drinkers of macro brews will have to become accustomed to but, generally speaking, also results in a natural carbonation process that does not interfere with the natural taste of the beer. Such ales and beers are typically served at a higher temperature than is the custom in the United States, often at 55 degrees Fahrenheit or at what is called "cellar temperature."
This is another element of cask ale that the uninitiated drinker will need to grow accustomed to, but it is worth pointing out that many beers in the U.S. use "cold" as a selling point in their advertising when, in fact, the coldness is merely used as a mask of the relative flavorlessness of the beer itself. A beer that is served at cellar temperature must actually TASTE good or it will obviously discernible that something is amiss, while a beer served near the freezing point will generally just taste like cold, carbonated water with a twist of...something.
Without going into too much detail about CAMRA itself, the better focus is "real ale" (or real cider, if you prefer), as this is really at the heart of the organization and the movement as a whole. "Real ale" is the name given to cask ale or cask-conditioned beer by CAMRA. To be considered "real ale" or by the more generic term of "cask ale," the beverage must be unfiltered, unpasteurized and then conditioned and served from a cask without the addition of nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure. Of late, bottle-conditioned beer also falls under this description.
Now that we know what "real beer" is, the better question is why should we care? The answer is that once you've tasted cask-conditioned beer, you'll never look at a bottle of cheap American macro brew in quite the same way (unless, of course, you looked at it with disdain in the first place). There is also one more extremely important element of cask-conditioned ale that contributes to its unique properties and flavor. In addition to being brewed from traditional elements, as well as remaining unpasteurized and unfiltered, the "conditioned in a cask" portion of the definition is extremely important.
While the "natural elements" concept is to avoid unnatural elements, preservatives, unnecessary chemicals and "fillers" of any sort, the conditioning is perhaps the most important aspect of what makes cask ale the drink that spawned an entire organization. Ale, or any sort of beer, that is conditioned in the cask or bottle enters its storage container with live yeast. The point of this is so that the fermentation process continues after the bottling process or after the beer has entered a cask.
The yeast results in sediment in the beer that drinkers of macro brews will have to become accustomed to but, generally speaking, also results in a natural carbonation process that does not interfere with the natural taste of the beer. Such ales and beers are typically served at a higher temperature than is the custom in the United States, often at 55 degrees Fahrenheit or at what is called "cellar temperature."
This is another element of cask ale that the uninitiated drinker will need to grow accustomed to, but it is worth pointing out that many beers in the U.S. use "cold" as a selling point in their advertising when, in fact, the coldness is merely used as a mask of the relative flavorlessness of the beer itself. A beer that is served at cellar temperature must actually TASTE good or it will obviously discernible that something is amiss, while a beer served near the freezing point will generally just taste like cold, carbonated water with a twist of...something.
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