Carbonation level of English (Cask) Ale?

[manticle]

Just get them to bathe in 10 degree water.

 

[Aussie Mick]

Great description there S.E.

The wife and I ran pubs in the Manchester area in the early 90's before emigrating here in 96.

They were real ale pubs and we served up long gone beers Wilsons, Websters and Boddingtons along with Holts (independent Manchester brewery), John Smiths and revolving guest beers such as Old Speckled Hen, Marstons Pedigree, Godsons Black Horse (GBH). I really enjoyed the first year or so, then it became just a job.

All our beers were pulled through a hand pump through a sparkler or the old style "dogs dick" sparkler to produce a tight creamy head. Optimum serving temperature for cask ales is around 8'c, so it's not exactly "warm"

I visited my nephew in London a couple of years back, and I found I couldn't bring myself round to drinking cask ale down there, as they serve it flat. I drank lager down there. As a northerner, it has to "look" right to be able to enjoy it. The tight creamy froth should stick to the glass all the way through the pint, and there should be rings down the glass where every gulp has been taken.

I remember in Cornwall one year the casks were behind the bar, and it was poured straight into a glass from the barrel, flat and warm. It was horrendous to my tastebuds.

 

[Bribie G]

Cornwall is a county of quaint harbour villages and towns, and accordingly a lot of Cornish pubs don't have cellars as they are right on the waterfront, so it was common for casks to be kept in a row on hurdles behind the bar. I remember back in the 70s many beers were served from a sort of stirrup hand pump so the barmaid didn't have to stoop so much. A guy on this forum posted a picture of one, can't seem to find it.

 

[good4whatAlesU]

Straight out of the cask/barrel with a haystack jug back in the day - not highly carbonated. Sorry to go off topic, this pic shows one of the actual jugs used in our family pub in the 1840's (the museum holds it).

I wonder if any pubs still using these? Plenty examples for sale on ebay mostly from the UK.

 

[MHB]

If you are really interested in Real Ale I can strongly recommend Cellarmanship by Patrick O'Neill.
Mark

 

[welly2]

If you are really interested in Real Ale I can strongly recommend Cellarmanship by Patrick O'Neill.
Mark

Good book, easy read, lots of useful info.

 

[billygoat]

Cornwall is a county of quaint harbour villages and towns, and accordingly a lot of Cornish pubs don't have cellars as they are right on the waterfront, so it was common for casks to be kept in a row on hurdles behind the bar. I remember back in the 70s many beers were served from a sort of stirrup hand pump so the barmaid didn't have to stoop so much. A guy on this forum posted a picture of one, can't seem to find it.

Was it this one?

 

[MHB]

I believe that is called a Simcup, or at least one model is, it's a type of hand pump, seen a couple on eBay.
Mark

 

[Aussie Mick]

Cornwall is a county of quaint harbour villages and towns, and accordingly a lot of Cornish pubs don't have cellars as they are right on the waterfront, so it was common for casks to be kept in a row on hurdles behind the bar. I remember back in the 70s many beers were served from a sort of stirrup hand pump so the barmaid didn't have to stoop so much. A guy on this forum posted a picture of one, can't seem to find it.

Cornwall is quaint I agree.

I holidayed there as a kid every summer. I never thought about them not having cellars, but now it's quite obvious.

I suppose it all depends what we are used to regarding our beers. Living in this part of the world I had to get used to fizzy beers, with Kilkenny and Guinness being the alternative.........until now I have taken up brewing again.