On Black Friday I made a stop in at Goose Island's Clybourn Pub to buy their release of King Henry Barleywine. Unfortunately, they sold out in less than 2 hours and had to turn away over 70 people. But I was determined to get some beer so I took a seat at the bar. The opportunity that opened as a result was the chance to try the same beer not only on the typical keg draft system we are used to but also as a cask pour.
Cask ales saw a small surge in popularity a few years ago, but the cost of dedicating an entire tap (with incompatible equipment) to warm, flat beer made it somewhat of a fad and now few places other than a couple of hardcore British pubs offer cask beers. And it's a shame. A properly managed cask beer can be sublime. Heavy carbonation and near freezing temperatures can zap the more delicate malt and alcohol flavors and aromas from otherwise great beers. Being a British innovation it stands to reason that British style beers go great on cask systems, so I had a pull of Old Clybourn Ale from both keg and cask.
The differences in the two pours were apparent right off the bat. While both were a very nice, crystal clear, nearly black ruby color, The head on the cask pour (pictured on the right) was much more dense and formed some mild lacing down the glass, while the keg pour did not.
Both beers exhibited some roasted malt in the aroma but the cask version was a bit more forward in the nose. The taste was similar with roast malt up front with both. The keg version was a bit heavier on the chocolate and coffee tastes and was quite bitter from the roasted malts. The cask version was softer in the bitterness but showed some alcohol and a bit more dark chocolate flavors.
The big difference in the two beers was in the palate. The keg version had medium body and carbonation. Not nearly as smooth as the cask version, which was almost completely flat with just a light tickle of carbonation on the tongue. The cask version was also medium bodied.
Overall I enjoyed both beers tremendously, but the cask version wins this tasting set for both it's superior appearance and more complex flavor.
I like the additional information on cask ales, very nice. It could be helpful to mention that cask ales are naturally carbonated (and I'm assuming it needs to be kept at that higher temperature in order to maintain carbonation), whereas many bar kegs are force-carbonated with CO2 or sometimes nitrogen. Then there's those pump-type kegs...
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