Franconian Beer Message Board

Cask v Keg pricing
Posted by Nick B. on 2015-01-02 01:53:35
Indeed, it's still odd to me that the more labo(u)r intensive method of handling and serving is the less expensive in England. Of course, there is the argument that kegging systems are more expensive to invest in and pay for, and then there is the issue of the disposable key-kegs that cost more. This has been argued about on the internets and in the tweetosphere for a long time now.

The most local pub to our place here in Ramsgate is a bit of an oddity: The Queen Charlotte. It's kind of a hippy place, very left-wing oriented (great big hand-painted complaint to Nigel Farage on display) and with a bit of a dining room upstairs, serving Venezuelan cuisine when they do. 3 Handpumps and 18 (!) keg lines. A supposedly regular handpump ale there should be one I'm dying to find, Spratwaffler. All three pumps were empty when I called in last night.

My policy is normally to drink only cask beer over here, but when I saw Neck Oil, a so-called "session IPA" brewed by the ultra-hip Beavertown in London, operated by a Led Zeppelin offspring. I'd had a can of it and thought I'd have it from key-keg. The poor girl working had to spend a lot of time dealing with all the foam. She agreed that it would be easier if she could just use the handpump. It was so carbonic, really a shock to the palate after days and days of cask beer. After I swirled it around and around, it got more enjoyable, but what a mis-use and abuse of perfectly fine beer. And that for a 33% increase in price, as seen on the board:
That is a half pint of the Little Things that Kill, a very tasty half-IPA, I suppose (though, why it's classified as "Session IPA" at ratebeer, but the Spratwaffler Pale Ale is a "Golden Ale" is beyond me), again after driving off ridiculous amounts of palate-wrecking gasses, including dumping the beer into an empty pint glass as seen in the photo. Very tasty, except it was going *sour*. I learnt later that that key-keg is at least a month old.

Also, these people need to work on how to pronounce "Yakima". At least I've learnt to pronounce "Folkestone" properly.

Now on my morning coffee, looking out over the harbor. Hey, look, there's France over there across from Dover. Best get up and going, only 3 days left here, and lots of ale about.
 
Followups:
                               (Post formatting above) by Nick B. on  2015-01-02 01:55:47
                               Cask v Keg pricing by barry on  2015-01-02 02:13:31
                                 Cask v Keg pricing by JohnRatcliffe on  2015-01-02 02:33:00
                                 (Post formatting above) by FredW on  2015-01-02 07:44:43
                                   Marble Arch by Nick B. on  2015-01-06 04:09:16
                                     Marble Arch by barry on  2015-01-06 04:46:30
                                       Westvleteren Expansion by Nick B. on  2015-01-08 00:50:54
                                         Westvleteren Expansion by Nick B. on  2015-01-08 00:51:34
                                         Westvleteren Expansion by Mosquit on  2015-01-08 02:12:17
                                         Westvleteren Expansion by barry on  2015-01-08 03:30:00
                                           Westvleteren Expansion by Nick B. on  2015-01-08 04:37:30