American Tries English Cask Beer

Special thanks to Jonny and Brad! Check out their channel here: youtube.com/@TheCraftBeerChannel

This is the clearest, most articulate and unsnobby explanation of different types of beers I’ve ever heard! Great work!

Americans drinking English beer: Some 45 years ago we were out on exercise, one of our guys had been on an exchange to America and turned up with his guest - a Ranger. Physically he was a magnificent specimen, the clean cut American ideal. Well this guy beasted us up hill and down dale. Fortunately for us, as we were up near Catterick we'd got Old Peculiar on tap in the mess. Three pints of that and he was a very quiet, poorly, boy next day.😉

I have an American uncle who lived in the UK for a few years. When he visits, he exclusively drinks cask and spends a lot of time in pubs. When he’s away, he pines for it.

A well kept Old Peculier straight from the cask is a wonderful thing.

I love cask beer so much! There's nothing better, in my opinion, than a fresh English bitter!

I'm English, and when I travel around I have a little rule: in a pub, always have the cask ale that you don't recognise. Not only does it support small businesses, you can be amazed by the difference and quality available. It's one of those little pleasures in life that never grows old. Where I grew up every Thusday as I'd be walking to school the whole town centre would be filled with the smell of cornflakes from the local independent brewery - they were making cask bitter and seasonal special cask-only OId Speckled Hen for the purists - and I've always had a love for it. BTW, the whole video and no mention at all of the word 'bitter'? Everywhere I've been in the UK, it's the universally recognised generic term to order a pint of cask ale - useful info for tourists?

Pub, Inn and Tavern all have their roots in medieval England. A pub is a public house where ale was brewed and sold to the public. Over time, these houses would advertise their wares by putting a sign up with a distinctive name. This is where the pub sign and naming of pubs originates, essentially as a marketing tool. Ale would go off quite quickly, so had to be drunk quickly, usually in large volumes to get drunk because it was only 2-3% abv, until hops were added in the early modern period. This preserved ale for longer, made it stronger and also gave it a distinctive bitter taste, hence the term “bitter” for a beer brewed with hops. An Inn was an establishment that served travellers. Most would have facilities for horses and carriages. They would serve refreshments to travellers, such as ale and wine, and also food. You could pay for a bed for the night, though you were not guaranteed to be the only occupant! A tavern derives it’s name from the Latin Taverna, a shop where you bought wine, which could be consumed on the premises. In England, Taverns were distinct from Pubs and Inn’s because they sold wine and cider, rather than ale.

As an Aussie I was always told growing up that Poms drink their beer warm and flat, but its not really a very good representation of what it is. The fact Britain is so cold (even in summer) a cask ale is such a great option on any occasion. Any time I'm lucky enough to travel to Britain or Ireland I only ever drink the pubs house cask ale, Guinness or Smithwicks.

I ran a pub for 15 years and although not a fan of drinking cask ales I loved the management and care of them, choosing which guest ale to get in next, seasonal guest ales and so on. Good times.

That's the difference between an excellent landlord and a decent landlord. My uncle ran pubs for around 40 years and was very respected by many breweries because he cared for the beer.

This summer my wife and I took a vacation to London, Bristol, and Southampton. I was excited to try a true cask pulled pint. I was not disappointed. I really didn’t know about true cask beers until Johnny’s YouTube channel. Thank you.

It’s honestly lovely to hear someone talk about a topic they are knowledgeable on.

KYLE! Thanks for having us and putting this together. Hope to come visit you some day and make some more great videos x

What a fascinating informal chat - so much in this episode. The Welsh word for 'pub' is "tafarn" (like Tavern). Tavern itself is from the Latin 'taberna' which is inn/shop/tavern. An Inn would be from the Coach and Horses days. The old coaching inns on our roads, where you could eat, stay over and rest/change the horses. We are so lucky to have such a choice now of cask or keg, bottles or cans - for which I think we must thank the CAMRA organization. We just need to sort out the taxation regime pubs vs supermarkets to level the playing field.

The idea of a Public House only really became important when they needed to be licenced. The traditional words were Tavern, meaning a place you might drink and eat. Inn was a place where you might eat, drink and sleep over - hence the oft used phrase 'Coaching Inn' which would also have had stables! There were also places called beer houses. These were often just private houses in which the householder brewed beer, and then opened for business when they had finished making a batch. These were even found in the smallest hamlets.

Two of my favorite channels together? Doesn't get much better

British person here, in my early 30s and I do enjoy a cask ale have done for years. There's just something comforting about an ale in the wet and cold months. The trend towards super punchy AIPA's can get a bit much sometimes, I like some of them but they can be over the top. Obviously a refreshing cold lager is a go to on a hot day still. In my local they usually only have one guest cask ale on and regardless of what it is we usually just ask for "one from the barrel" rather than by it's name.

Such a great collab. Very informative. Johnny always knows what he’s talking about and it’s easy when you ask great questions. Cheers

Fantastic episode! Has convinced me to make the trek to the UK to try out a good cask ale pub