Franconian Beer Message Board
Cask Ales in Ireland |
| Posted by barryriley on 2013-03-05 08:14:57 |
| A very interesting conversation and one that really made me think back to my days in the pub - nearly 30 years ago now, so a good exercise to push back the onset of dementia - hopefully. I did admit to being a bit of real ale fanatic (ok, a lot of a real ale fanatic), so you're right about it being more a question of definition. We both managed to enjoy our night in the Roadside and that certainly wasn't drinking real ale. I'm sure the same will be true for the Oberpfalz (and, hopefully, Spielbach) but, as we might say, it's all grist to the mill and the precursor to interesting conversation when we meet. As you say, probably more experimention with the cask process is necessary. Possibly you should rack the beer a little earlier during the secondary fermentation and, certainly, the cask has to be well sealed. I've wondered about buying some sort of cask but hesitated because I drink my homebrew pretty slowly - still not got through 40 pints of the dark ale from 2 years ago! But, then, my visitors (except 1) being Irish are not too keen on real ales, so I tend to drink it all myself! In the past, I have kept it in 4.5 gallon flexible plastic containers (the ones with a little in-built tap) but it does tend to go off once you start using it. I'm truly amazed how well the dark ale has lasted in PET bottles, which come free with lemonade and the like. But what I really like is the half-litre swing top type bottles, especially those which have come from Hirschbrau, which doubles the pleasure! |
| Followups: |
 Cask Ales in Ireland by Mark Andersen on 2013-03-05 12:15:39 |