Cask Ale Finds A Home In Lititz, Pa.
Pennsylvania has long been a haven for cask conditioned beer. Alex Hall’s web-site, http://www.cask-ale.co.uk/us/statemenu.html suggests that Pa has the highest number of cask ale outlets of all of the states (though this list has not been updated since 2008). It is no surprise therefore that fellow Brit Paul Pendyck, now a resident of Lititz, Pa started a business back in 1997 supplying equipment that is “bringing the British Pub to America” (www.ukbrewing.com). I have known Paul for many years now and took the opportunity on my recent trip to his first Real Ale Festival at The General Sutter Inn, Lititz to quiz him a little about his newly opened pub “The Bull’s Head” and the festival.
Paul Pendyck at a Cask Ale Night @ The General Sutter Inn
Paul’s business, UK Brewing Supplies Ltd, grew from his passion for cask conditioned ale and he states that his motivation was gloriously selfish …. to have more places available in which to drink cask ale! Some 3 1/2 years ago Paul became part owner of The General Sutter Inn in Lititz, his business partner owning a number of pubs (The British Beer Company) in Ma. Never one to shy away from an opportunity, Paul saw the potential for The General Sutter to offer cask conditioned ale by starting a Cask Night on the last Friday of each month. The Cask Night started in what was the breakfast room, holding 60 -70 people with one cask on offer. Before long, the event “exploded” with attendance far exceeding expectations and the event was moved to the ballroom with 3 casks on offer. The meteoric rise of the event continued to such an extent that the last (February) saw 3 casks sell out in only 70 minutes! Paul had always had ambitions to open a pub and in fact that was the original intention rather than to own an Inn. Bolstered by the success of the cask night, a clear indicator that Lititz was more than ready for a quality venue for good beer (& food), Paul secured the necessary financing to convert the former breakfast area into a traditional British style pub. Paul states that “our goal for the pub is for it to be as traditional as possible and for it to be a gathering spot for the community as well as a respite for the weary traveller”. I am very pleased to say he has achieved that perfectly. The back bar will be familiar to some of you. It is the former back bar from the Wharf Rat and I have to say it looks better than it has for many years.
"The Bull's Head"
Paul offers some traditional English food (Fish & Chips, Pork Pie) amongst other local favorites and a fine selection of beers on rotation on his taps and 2 beer engines. I sampled Old Engine Oil and Founder’s Red’s Rye PA on my recent lunchtime visit and was very happy to see Young’s Double Chocolate Stout on draft, a favorite of mine.
The recent Real Ale Festival was, according to Paul, a natural extension of the Cask Ale Night and is intended to be held bi-annually. Paul relied upon the expert contribution of veteran cask festival organiser Alex Hall (see http://gotham-imbiber.com/) for the smooth running of the festival. Alex gathered an exceptional array of casks (some 21 were on offer I believe) and I must confess when I attended the festival I did not know where to start. I decided to gallantly start at one end and sample them all in order. Needless to say I failed (but I got to number 17!) The beer was excellently handled and presented in excellent condition. I could not find fault with any aspect of the festival, I just wish that I could have stayed throughout the weekend to try all of the beers on offer!
the First Lititz Real Ale Festival
The calm before the storm
I am hoping that we will soon have a distribution agreement in place and casks of Dark Horse mild and Best Bitter will be regular offerings on the hand pumps at The Bull’s Head. You can check out the General Sutter Inn at www.generalsutterinn.com or follow them on facebook.
Tags: beer festival, Cask Ale
I wish I could have made it up for that. Next time for sure.
I was impressed by the selection and the fest was run very well. I only wish I could have spent more time – the 5 or so I tried were very good