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One of my customers owns a kickass bar not far from my store. We stopped by late last night to check out some cask conditioned ales and one cider he had set up. Man, oh, man...way cool. I fell in love with this little Braggot that was full of chamomile flavor. Whiskey Kitty came along and had her first bar night out. She's decided she likes junk yards better.

LeNell,

Whose beer was it? I've had Cask Conditioned Ales before, and they have been very enjoyable. You'll have to let me know where this bar is for one of our future visits!

Honestly, I forgot whose beer it was, but I'll find out. Next time they do the Cask Festival, we'll have to have a get together. It's called Brazenhead and it's on Atlantic Avenue not very far from the store. Here's their web site: http://www.brazenheadbrooklyn.com/

The Braggot was made by Magic Hat.

Yum, yum. Magic Hat makes some darn good beers. I wouldn't mind trying that!

Bob,

I've had Cask Conditioned Ales before

I'm thinking that's what you would call Kentucky Ale's Bourbon Barrel Ale, right?
I drink KA when I can, I love to support the locals... But I haven't had the Bourbon Ale. Didn't you tour them? What did you think?
Bj

Brenda, is that out yet? I wanted Bob to pick me up a 6 pack of the cask ages one when he was there last year but I think he said it was still aging or soemthing like that. If you ever see it or get a sixer be sure to store a bottle away in a dark place for me next year! 8)

brendaj wrote:I'm thinking that's what you would call Kentucky Ale's Bourbon Barrel Ale, right?
Didn't you tour them? What did you think?
Bj

Brenda,

No, I didn't get to tour KA, but Mr. Ed introduced me to the guys that make/market it. One of them had a growler of the Bourbon Ale for me at the Festival. It was very good beer, and the price couldn't be beat, as he gave it to me!

Bob,
Yepper, I think I remember the grin on your face when you mentioned it. That was right before you and Nancy were taking off...
So, you liked it? Somehow, I was afraid the Bourbon would make it nasty.
I really, really want to like it.
Bj

Braggot is an old British style of ale which incorporates some honey, so it is a kind of mead and ale mixture. In cask-conditioned form I could see it would be very good. While it may have been brewed with spices other than hops, the camomile-like flavor may derive from the particular way honey tastes when fermented. Cask ale is one of the great drinks of the world and is an English specialty and is being emulated in North America, to varying degrees of success, by some small brewers. Sounds like you hit a winner, LeNell. I recommend you visit The Gingerman on 36th Street between Park and Madison. Apart from being a great whiskey and beer bar they regularly carry English real ale (alternate name for cask ale). Yes, they fly it in fast (cask beer is very perishable) and when I've had it there it's always in great condition just like in England. Also great is Gingerman's U.S.-brewed real ale, they often have cask-conditioned beer - beer matured in the barrel (containing residual yeast) and drawn by a manual handpump or occasionally by thumb taps from a keg sitting on the counter - that is how you know it is real ale - from various local breweries including one on Long Island. English cask ale is almost always made from English malt and hops and has its own particular, fine, complex fruity flavour. American real ale tends to be made with American hops and malt which can lend a different taste, often more piney-like (maybe that explains that camomile). Great to hear there is good cask beer in Brooklyn but you guys really must visit Gingerman for great English and American real ale (and many other great beers) if you haven't been there.

Gary

Hey Mark,

Brenda, is that out yet? I wanted Bob to pick me up a 6 pack of the cask ages one when he was there last year but I think he said it was still aging or soemthing like that. If you ever see it or get a sixer be sure to store a bottle away in a dark place for me next year!

Sorry, I somehow missed your post yesterday.
No, I don't think they're bottling that yet. I've asked the distributor when it would be available and he didn't have a clue.
But I promise to get my grubby little hands on some for your next visit!
Bj

The BBC (Bluegrass Brewing Company) does a very nice Bourbon Barrel Stout. Just a hint of bourbon in a nice creamy stout.

Mike Veach

Mike,
Geez, I didn't know that! Do they bottle it?
Bj

Brenda,
They have in the past. I took a six pack or two to the Bourbon Festival one year. I have seen it as recently as lasy year at Liquor Barn, but I have not looked recently.

Mike Veach

A little story about cask conditioned ale.

At the time of this story GA had a limit of 6% on alcohol in beers. I was in a certain port city, think Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and went to a local brew pub to have a pint. It was just after Christmas and they had a cask conditioned ale on the bar list, something they had never had before.

I couldn't believe it, but considering myself lucky, I order a pint. Man, was that good stuff!! I called the waitress over and told her I loved the beer and said 'this ain't no 6% beer, ask the brewer what it really is and I won't tell nobody!' She came back and said it was 'in excess of' 9%. So I said, 'any way I can take some home?' 'Nope,' she said, 'ain't allowed!'

So I said, 'must be some way I can get some of this great beer outta here, how 'bout if I go home and bring back a jug of my own?' She said 'we can't fill a jug.' I persisted and it ended up that I went back with a gallon plastic milk jug and order 8 pints and proceed to put them one by one into that jug. I will always remember that as some of the best beer I have ever had, it being slightly illicit only adding to the flavor!!