Posts Tagged ‘glass ended firkin’
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!
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!
Bishop’s Indulgence Release
Monday, February 1st, 2010
Just a reminder regarding the release of The Bishop’s Indulgence at The Pratt Street Ale House tomorrow evening @ 6pm. The Bishop’s Indulgence is an 8% a.b.v. stout brewed with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans. As well as making its debut on tap we will have a kilderkin on the beer engine that has been aged on American Oak. Tuesday evening is always cask appreciation night at The Ale House so cask pints will be $3 with the exception of The Bishop’s Indulgence which will be available as a 10 oz pour for $3. If that wasn’t enough we’ll have a glass ended firkin of Best Bitter (dry hopped with Maryland grown Chinook) on gravity pour in the lounge area. If you have an interest in cask ale and want to know more about how we make it here then come along and we’ll answer your questions as best we can. We will also be introducing our new “seasonal veterans club”, come check it out!
The Friday Question
Friday, January 29th, 2010
The time has finally come to reveal the winner of the Tactical Nuclear Penguin. There was an incredible spread of answers, from 9 pounds sterling at the lower end to over 60 at the other. A couple of answers were pretty close but one was the clear winner. The correct answer was …. bagpipe flourish & drum roll ….
If you can’t quite make that out apologies for the poor picture quality (you’d think i-phone could do better) but the answer is 17.32. By my reckoning, that makes “Red Rob” the winner with the answer of 18.86. Congratulations sir, I will be in touch to arrange collection of your prize. For those of you who may be interested, to have it shipped directly from BrewDog to the Ale House would have been 40 pounds! I had asked my Mother to ship it to me by the quickest method regardless of cost (within reason) but she, of course, being my Mother ignored this and just sent it regular parcel air mail. She didn’t even put a “fragile” sticker on it! Clearly no respect for beer there, even though her son has been a brewer for 16 years.
So, as you may know, on Tuesday @ 6pm we will launch our latest seasonal beer, The Bishop’s Indulgence, at The Cask Ale Social at the Pratt Street Ale House. As well as having the beer on tap and on cask (aged on a little American Oak) we will have a glass ended firkin of Best Bitter dry hopped with Maryland Chinook on gravity pour in the lounge so you can see how yeast settles in the cask. The Bishop’s Indulgence will be available in 10 oz snifters for $3 and our other cask beers will be priced at $3/pint. We’ll also have an informal discussion of cask ale brewing and handling so if you have any questions about cask ale come along, have a beer and we’ll do our best to answer them. You may have read in the previous posts about the Bishop’s Indulgence that it is an 8% a.b.v. stout brewed with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans. This week’s question is simple. How many vanilla beans did I use making this brew? I want the number of vanilla beans not the weight of beans and it includes any beans that may have been used in casks. As usual, answers via the comment section please, one answer per person only. The closest answer to the correct number wins and in the event of a tie the answer posted first takes it. The prize will be a growler of The Bishop’s Indulgence. Good luck.
For those of you in the DC area, look out for the Blonde Ale dry hopped with Chinook and Dark Horse mild @ RFD and Best Bitter and Dark Horse at ChurchKey. Next week we’ll also be sending casks out to both Pizzeria Paradiso locations and more to ChurchKey. Also mark your calendar for the Strong Beer Tasting at The Brickskeller on Tues 9th February where we’ll have our last sixtel of ’09 Hot Monkey Love. Commonwealth Gastro Pub will be hosting an Oliver Ale Beer Dinner on March 2nd (t.b.c.), more details to follow.
Have a great weekend.
Cheers
Steve
New on cask
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
Now on the Brewer’s Choice beer engine is the Blonde Ale, dry hopped with Chinook (grown, hand-picked and air dried in Frederick County). There’s only one pin available so get it while you can.
Dry Hopped Blonde Ale now on cask.
Remember on Tuesday 2nd February @ 6pm we will be releasing our latest seasonal offering, The Bishop’s Indulgence, an 8% stout brewed with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans (see the blog archive for details of the brew). As well as having a kilderkin of The Bishop’s Indulgence aged on American Oak on the beer engine, we will have a glass ended firkin of Best Bitter dry hopped with Maryland Chinook on gravity pour in the lounge for a more “interactive” cask ale drinking experience . I’ll be on hand to talk about cask ale brewing and handling and, as Tuesday night is cask ale appreciation night at The Pratt Street Ale House, cask pints will be just $3 (with the exception of The Bishop’s Indulgence, which will be $3 for a 10 oz snifter).
Cheers
Steve
The Cask Ale Social/ Bishop’s Indulgence Release
Monday, January 11th, 2010
Mark your calendars for a special event at The Pratt Street Ale House. On Tuesday 2nd February @ 6pm we will launch our new seasonal, The Bishop’s Indulgence, an 8% a.b.v. chocolate stout and will be holding an informal discussion of cask ale brewing and handling featuring a glass ended firkin of Best Bitter.
As you can see above, although the view through the firkin is impressive (who are those ruggedly handsome brewers?), when it is filled with beer you’ll be able to see the way that the finings in the cask promote the flocculation of the yeast, forming a sediment at the bottom of the cask. You’ll be able to draw your own pint straight from the cask. I’ll be talking about cask ale preparation and handling and we’ll have the various tools of the trade on display for you to look at and we’ll be on hand to answer any questions that you might have. The event will be pay as you go and of course Tuesday night is cask appreciation night at The Ale House so our cask beer is only $3/pint. For the Bishop’s Indulgence, $3 will get you a 10oz serving in a snifter. But wait, there’s more. If you choose to pay $4 for your first beer you get to keep a souvenir Oliver Ale pint glass!
Bishop’s Indulgence will be available on both cask and regular tap. The cask is aged on Oak with vanilla and is the only Oak Aged cask of this beer that I prepared.
Please come out and support the brewery and our love of cask conditioned ales, it’ll be a fun evening and, who knows, you may learn something!
Cheers
Steve
A firkin with a difference
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
You may remember from an older post that I mentioned that we’d be doing a small cask ale tasting/seminar sometime early next year. We’ll be using a glass ended firkin to demonstrate how yeast and finings interact to form a sediment at the bottom of the cask thus allowing bright beer to be drawn from the cask. Well, I just took delivery of the firkin (see photo below) courtesy of Steve Parkes at The American Brewers Guild. It is a very cool piece of kit and I can’t wait to us it. We’ll be announcing the details of the event sometime in January.
A glass ended firkin.