The Brazen Head, located in Brooklyn, will be having a Fall cask beer festival this upcoming weekend (November 2,3,4). The event is tri-annual, but a cask ale festival in general is quite unusual. The event will have 11 types of cask beer on tap throughout the weekend.
The Pour, the NY Times blog about all things related to beer, wine, and spirits, recently included a post that is quite informative on cask ale. For those of you who are not sure exactly what cask ale is or do not know as much as you would like to know, this post is chock full of information. Many say that cask ale is the only “real ale” …so you better recognize! Some highlights that I was not aware of regarding cask ales..
“Cask… is really a sort of archaic word as only a few rigidly authentic brewers in England still insist on using actual barrels. Most casks today are metal.”
“If you are curious about cask ale, I have one important piece of advice. Always call ahead to your destination to make sure they are serving cask ale. Each cask has a life of around two to four days, and if the bar or restaurant has not planned well, there can be a void in between casks. Call ahead to avoid disappointment.”
Read this very informative article here