NXNW Cask Night

It's the last Monday of the month, which means cask night at North by Northwest. I normally don't mention cask night too much on this blog, because I don't want you there. The cask only holds so many beers, and I hate it when it runs out early. More drinkers = less beer for me.

However, I don't feel up to going tonight, so I'm gonna let you have it all. Don't let me down. According the NXNW Twitter feed, tonight's offering is "Okanogan Black dry hopped with whole leaf chinook hops. Cask gets tapped at 7pm."

Firkin Friday

Firkin Friday is back at the Draught House. Today's offering, as told to me by brewer Josh Wilson:

We have an extra special cask of Green Flash 30th Street Pale Ale, originally brewed for their 6th anniversary. In any other place but San Diego, this would be called an IPA.

tapping @ 3pm as usual.

If you're not quite clear on what a firkin is, or why cask beer is so awesome, read this Austin Chronicle article I wrote last year. (Pictured: A row of casks at the Draught House's 41st anniversary party last year.)

Is Austin Doing Cask Beer Wrong?

In response to my story in last week's Austin Chronicle about cask-conditioned beer, somebody replied that the picture of Draught House brewer Josh Wilson shows him tapping the keg all wrong. But I thought that's they way everyone did it if you plan to use gravity to dispense the brew.

What do you think: Are we befouling our "real ale," or is this guy just too picky? (Bottom line for me: Just about every cask beer I've ever drank in Austin has tasted anywhere from damn good to magnificent, including the one being tapped in that picture.)

I encourage you to not only leave replies here, but to respond in the comment section at the end of the Chronicle story.

The 2nd Annual No.3 Bus Pub Crawl

Finally, by overwhelming popular demand, my recounting of the Second Annual No.3 Bus Pub Crawl is available. Read it here in The Austin Chronicle. (But if you live in Austin, I highly recommend you read it in Thursday's paper version of the Chronicle instead, so that you can see the fantastic layout by our art director.)

Also in tomorrow's issue: My round-up of where to find cask-conditioned ales in Austin.

(Picture of me reading the bus schedule by Jack Anderson; do not reproduce without his permission.)

Cask-conditioned competition tonight

Actually, not completely in competition – you could possibly do both if you were motivated enough, but I'm not.

At 6pm, Zax Pints and Plates (Barton Springs & Riverside) will tap a cask of Saint Arnold Christmas Ale, which has my mouth watering just thinking about it. This has become one of my very favorite holiday beers, so the thought of getting a cask-conditioned version makes my mind explode. But the thought of driving or even taking the bus downtown during rush hour is unappealing. Perhaps if I worked downtown.

But at 8pm, North by Northwest will tap a cask of porter, so I think I'll be doing that instead. Note that this is a week earlier than their usual last-Wednesday-of-the-month cask-conditioned night, and it's an hour later than usual.

Cask-conditioned beer rocks

I've been privileged to have cask-conditioned ales twice in the past week, and both attempts have been most successful. The first was Nov. 28 at North by Northwest, which offers a keg of cask-conditioned ale on the last Wednesday of every month. (Now forget I told you that, because I don't want you there — I get very sad when the keg runs out.) The other was Tuesday night at Uncle Billy's Brew & Que. Both were marvelously hoppy pale ales.

If you aren't familiar with the cask-conditioned ale, I'm not sure how to explain it, since I'm not a brewer. I think the way to explain it — and I'm probably wrong — is that after brewing, it continues to mature in the cask, and its carbonation occurs naturally instead of having CO2 artificially pumped in. And to get the beer out, pressure is not pumped into the keg — you either use a pump (common in a lot of English bars) or just use gravity (see the photo). It can taste a bit flat compared to regular bottled or keg beers, but once you get used to it, you realize the flavors can come out much better without all the extra gas. If you've had draft beer in a London pub, you have the idea. A better bet than trusting me is to read this article.

I think it's magnificent. And it's too rare of a treat here in Austin. When I was in Portland, it seemed like every brewpub had a cask-conditioned on tap, and I think I tried every one. You've gotta love the beer snobbery of a city where cask-conditioned ales are expected. (Humulone Red, by the way — he was at both events — disagreed with me. He thought the rarity of it here made it more of a special treat. I also know the Draught House have sometimes featured cask-conditioned homebrews, and the last time I was at the Ginger Man (some time ago), they had a cask version of Saint Arnold's Elissa IPA.

The next time you see a cask-conditioned is being served somewhere, give it a shot. Unless you're in Austin. In that case, I don't want you there taking my beer.