British Cask Beer Head

[rodwha]

I watched a video recently where an American went to England and was explaining how the pubs and the gents that come in differ from our drinking establishments (not all).

Then they went in to cask beer and being room temp (I've heard it's something like 13* C, but is it closer to 18* C?), and pouring a pint showed the typical nice creamy head I see on our beers. But I've seen something about cask beers being very lightly carbonated compared to the bottled versions.

If cask beer isn't really carbonated how do you get the nice head?


I must say that I'm quite curious about drinking a beer at that temperature.

When I drank crappy American lager I had to put it in the freezer for 15-20 mins to allow it to really get cold if I bought it at the store since they don't keep it very cold as I don't drink that fast, and when it gets warm it tastes awful!

Since drinking "craft" beer I've seen how it tastes pretty much the same as it warms up. But I've not started that warm.

 

[winelight]

Cask beer in a pub should be at cellar temp which is supposed to be about 12C.

http://www.cask-marque.co.uk/ is a good source of info.

See http://www.cask-marque.co.uk/beer-infor ... emperature for example.

There isn't usually much of a head unless neck sparklers are used.

 

[rodwha]

What are neck sparklers? Does it give the drinker the impression of carbonation?

If there is no carbonation to speak of why would you care about a head?

 

[Sandimas]

What are neck sparklers? Does it give the drinker the impression of carbonation?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_engine

I'd love to try some of your US beers dispensed with one of those, also served a bit warmer - you guys make some great beers but can't work out why you serve it so cold, especially up north. :wha:

 

[rodwha]

I'd have to say it's because after prohibition not many made it, and what we had afterwards wasn't what we had before. It's been mixed with large quantities of corn or rice, and when these get above maybe 14* C they taste terrible. So we've been conditioned to drink our beer cold. At least that's my story!

And maybe also that we keep our beer in the refrigerator where it's about 3-5* C.

I must admit I prefer my beer cold, but don't mind drinking it right from the store where it was kept closer to maybe 12* C, which is warm for our typical nasty American lager. I've literally poured mine out and got another it gets so bad!

 

[rpt]

Cask beer isn't flat but is lightly carbonated and is served at cellar temperature of about 12C. Sparklers are used in the north of England and give a nice creamy head. In the south they are not usually used and the beer there has very little head. I grew up with southern beer but much prefer the northern head. It's just as well that's where I now live.

The sparkler (and to a lesser extent the beer engine) actually knocks out a lot of the CO2 from the beer but it definitely needs some life. I tried not priming my polypins but didn't like the flat beer even though it had a head. The sparkler also reduces the hoppiness. Some people hate sparklers.

 

[graysalchemy]

Oh dear you have opened up the North South Great Beer Rift. :nono: :nono:

As a northerner I am right always :whistle: :whistle: and beer has to be served with a creamy head from a hand pump fitted with a sparkler, that is the law.

Now Darn Sarf they like flat beer for some strange reason, probably because they are close to France or something :lol: :lol: . However their hand pumps still have the thread to attach a sparkler, so really they want to try beer with a head on it and i suspect secretly they do :grin: :grin:.

 

[joe1002]

Oh dear you have opened up the North South Great Beer Rift. :nono: :nono:

As a northerner I am right always :whistle: :whistle: and beer has to be served with a creamy head from a hand pump fitted with a sparkler, that is the law.

Now Darn Sarf they like flat beer for some strange reason, probably because they are close to France or something :lol: :lol: . However their hand pumps still have the thread to attach a sparkler, so really they want to try beer with a head on it and i suspect secretly they do :grin: :grin:.

I was waiting for you to pipe up.

I managed to get a creamy head on my pale ale with my beer engine this weekend, no sparkler in sight. It may be a little over carbed though :whistle: (I didn't originally intend for it to be served through a beer engine but ongoing changes to my kegerator have forced that).

Back on subject though, I like my beers to be served around 12c ish.

 

[rodwha]

What do you serve your bottled beer at?

 

[mattyhall22]

The only time the sparkler comes off the beer pump is when someone orders a shandy! :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

:clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[rpt]

What do you serve your bottled beer at?

Depends on the beer. Lager at fridge temperature. Ales ideally at 12C but my garage is colder than this at the moment so the flavour develops as the beer warms up.

 

[rodwha]

So is bottled beer (ales) refrigerated for a while to push the CO2 into solution and then removed from the fridge and stored? Where do you keep your beer (ales)?

My home is kept ~23*C and so I wouldn't keep my beer for serving at that temp. I'm not sure what the warmest a refrigerator will go to, but I'm hoping to claim a fridge specifically for beer, and so I can keep it on the warmest setting.

Now I'm curious what our fridge is kept at...

 

[Runwell-Steve]

I store all my Ales at 12c ready for drinking. Whether that be in a keg, polypin or bottles.

I dispense from a polypin through my beer engine and I use a sparkler. I'm a born and bred southerner as well

I don't find I need to put bottles anywhere colder for the CO2 to be absorbed, I just leave them a bit longer.

 

[rodwha]

Where do you keep your beer? I assume a cellar could be that cold, but what of those without a cellar?

I checked my thermometer… 4* C in there. It's set on 4 out of 8 so it's midway. If there wasn't food in there I'd set it to 8 (warmest) and see what I got.

 

[Runwell-Steve]

I keep mine in a fridge, temperature controlled to 12c with an external thermostat.

 

[rodwha]

Nice setup!

I've been drooling over the day I get to set up a bar area including a fridge with thermostat! Alas, so much takes precedent though...

 

[rodwha]

I'm curious how others who do not have a system keep their beer.

 

[scott-ayling]

A nice tried and tested method storing bottles in shed then bring in house and store in fridge if its been got in shed but take out of fridge and hour or two before drinking. If its cold in shed bring in and leave on kitchen bunker to warm up a bit. But I like some pales ales served at fridge temp.

 

[chrig]

I keep the bottled beer im drinking in the fridge, and plan my drinking in advance so I take one out about half an hour to an hour before drinking.

Any beer in a pressure barrel stays in the fridge or under the stairs