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Back to Basics
Real Ale is beer, made like it always has
been.
It does not suffer the indignity of pasteurisation or filtering to take
all the goodness out, and does not have flatulence-inducing gases added.
It’s just beer. Real Beer.
Sometimes referred to as Cask Beer or Cask Ale.
Usually it is served by a hand pump, like the one on the right. You can see the bar person physically pulling the beer to serve it.
You may occasionally see beer served direct from the cask, by gravity from a tap.
You often see this at a Beer Festival. It’s
a lot better than the fake stuff that only sells at all because they spend
lots of money on clever advertising campaigns.
Keg or smooth beer is not Real Ale,
and typically costs more, so that the advertising agency can buy some new
Porsches.
Craft Beer is just a marketing term, with no meaningful definition. Most often it is not Real Ale.
Some craft beers are brewed with care and good ingredients and can be very good.
However, we feel that cask beer is the pinnacle of the brewer's art and is the very best way to present and to enjoy beer.
When cost, time or preference limit your intake; why not go for the very best?
If the beer you see is dispensed from a hideous sculpted or illuminated monstrosity on the bar, be clear; it’s not real (it will be lager, keg beer or smooth beer. Leave that for the others and go for the tasty real thing on the hand pump).
Get real; go for the hand pump!
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