Posts Tagged ‘Cask Ale’
Cherry Blossom Ale on cask now
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
It’s official …. Spring has sprung at The Pratt Street Ale House. The Cherry Blossom Ale is now on cask. This beautiful red colored English wheat ale is available in 10 oz pours from the beer engine now! It will also be served on regular tap soon (just as soon as tap space becomes available). Each 7 barrel batch is fermented with 210 lbs of pureed dark sweet cherries and is a very drinkable 5.5% a.b.v. Come and sip a little bit of liquid Springtime!
Cherry Blossom Ale ... now on cask @ the Ale House
Cask Ale Appreciation Week At The Ale House
Monday, March 29th, 2010
the glass headed firkin
So this week is National Cask Ale Week in dear old Blighty (www.caskaleweek.co.uk) so being British, a brewer and fan of cask conditioned ale I couldn’t let this event slip by us unnoticed. Therefore, The Pratt Street Ale House will be running special pricing on our cask ales throughout the week, offering all 3 of our cask beers at $3/pint from 5pm until close. Also we will have the famous glass ended firkin on the bar this coming Friday, serving gravity poured pint of Blonde Ale dry hopped with Maryland grown Chinook so come along and try some fresh cask conditioned (“Real”) ale.
As I was searching through the dusty archives I came across this photo of me at my former brewery, The Phantom & Firkin in Loughborough, U.K. circa 1998. I hasten to add that I wasn’t responsible for emptying the stack of kilderkins upon which I’m perched (not all by myself anyway)! For six years I brewed only cask conditioned ale in the U.K.,( brewing a little under 500 (Imperial) barrels in 1998 for some 12 Firkin pubs) so it’s very satisfying for me to be part of the current upward trend in cask ale sales in the U.S.! Speaking of which we’ll be sending out firkins of Dark Horse (mild), E.S.B., Cherry Blossom Ale, Dry Hopped Blonde Ale and 3 Lions Ale to ChurhKey this week so look out for them on the beer engines soon. Don’t forget, wherever you’re enjoying a pint of craft beer, if they sell cask conditioned ale, raise a glass and toast a true representation of the brewer’s art!
Taking a break, 1998.
Cask Ale Week At The Ale House
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
As has already been reported by Tom @ www.yoursforgoodfermentables.com the U.K. is about to celebrate National Cask Ale Week (http://www.caskaleweek.co.uk/) running from March 29th through April 5th. Of course, being a Brit, I couldn’t let a celebration of all things cask pass by without The Pratt Street Ale House doing their part so we will be running our regular Tuesday Cask Appreciation Night pricing ($3 cask ale pints) throughout the week (5pm until close). Also on Friday April 2nd we will have the famous glass headed firkin on the bar for gravity poured pints (again $3) of delicious Blonde Ale dry hopped with Maryland grown Chinook! So come along and show some love for cask conditioned (“Real”) Ale!
Get your firkin on!
Cask Ale Finds A Home In Lititz, Pa.
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
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.
Real Ale Festival News
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
I’m very pleased to announce that due to the overwhelming demand for tickets to this coming Saturday’s Real Ale Festival at The Pratt Street Ale House, a further 25 have been made available. They are available through advance purchase ($35) through www.spbw.org . A limited number of tickets may be available on the door ($40) on a first come first serve basis. The beer line-up is as follows:
Oliver Ales : Hot Monkey Love
Oliver Ales : Oak Aged 3 Lions
Oliver Ales : Mocha Java Porter
The Brewer’s Art : Resurrection Ale infused with blackberries
Flying Dog : Gonzo Imperial Porter
Pub Dog : Golden Belgian Ale
Stillwater Artisinal Ales : Stateside Saison
Arcadia : Angler’s Ale dry hopped with Goldings
Arcadia : I.P.A. dry hopped with Cascade
Weyerbacher : Hops Infusion
and providing the container is cleared by customs in time a cask from Craigmill (Scotland).
The festival runs from noon through 5 pm and as always sampling is unlimited (until the casks are empty).
Hope to see you all on Saturday.
New on cask
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
Now on the “Brewer’s Choice” beer engine is the Mocha Java Porter, 4.9% a.b.v. and bursting with coffee aroma and flavor. There’s only one firkin so get it while you can.
Mocha Java Porter on cask now!
March Madness – Firkin Style (revisited)
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
Russian nesting dolls, cask style!
The hits just keep on coming. To add to the already busy cask festival friendly March our friends at Yards Brewery are also holding an event. Check out the details @ http://yardsbrewing.com/events_real-ale-invitational.asp . A good time guaranteed. We’ll also have some information regarding developments for our own festival on the 20th in the next couple of days. Also, as already posted by Tom @ http://www.yoursforgoodfermentables.com/2010/03/national-cask-ale-week-in-us.html March 29th sees the start of National Cask Ale Week in the U.K. Being a Brit and an advocate of cask ale I could not let this event pass without some celebration at The Pratt Street Ale House so for the duration of cask ale week (March 29th – April 5th) all of our 3 cask ales will be offered at the special price of $3/pint between 5pm and close. Also on Friday 2nd April we will have the famous glass-head firkin on the bar serving $2 pints, oh yeah!
Real Ale Festival Tickets Now On Sale
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
O.K. folks, the tickets for the Real Ale Festival are now on sale. To purchase them follow this link
http://www.spbw.org/springraf/
Remember tickets are strictly limited to 110 so get ‘em quick, it’s going to be a blast!
Real Ale. From this ....
to this ....
to this! Fresh and delicious!
March madness, Firkin Style
Friday, February 26th, 2010
As I’m sure you know by now, I consider a good pint of cask conditioned ale to be the Nectar of the Gods. It’s with great pleasure therefore that I’ve seen how the March calendar is shaping up in terms of cask events. As well as all of the usual cask nights at various bars in the region there are also 3 cask festivals on the horizon. The first is to be held at The General Sutter Inn in Lititz, Pa on March 12th through the 14th. Paul Pendyck of UK Brewing is running the festival in conjunction with Alex Hall, veteran organizer of many such festivals so a well organized festival with an interesting line-up of beers is guaranteed. Check out www.gotham-imbiber.com for details. The following week (March 20th) we will be holding the Real Ale Festival at The Pratt Street Ale House in conjunction with the folks of the SPBW. Tickets will be priced @ $35 for unlimited sampling and will be limited to 110 tickets only. The event will run from noon until 5pm and will be located throughout the first floor of The Ale House. As well as our own Hot Monkey Love, Oak Aged 3 Lions and Mocha Java Porter there will be casks from Arcadia (Anglers Ale w/ Goldings and IPA w/ Cascade), Weyerbacher (Hops Infusion)and casks from Stillwater, The Brewer’s Art and Flying Dog and one other to be confirmed. Tickets will be on sale through the SPBW website in the next couple of days. The weekend after that will be the Heavy Seas Real Ale Festival We really are spoiled for choice with cask conditioned ale right now, a very pleasant situation to be in!
New on cask
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Today sees the debut of the Three Spires Ale on the beer engine. It’s a hoppy little golden ale, 5% a.b.v., clean and refreshing and dangerously drinkable. Come get some!
Three Spires Ale, now on the beer engine