What is the difference between a keg and a cask?

What is the difference between a keg and a cask?

Casks have a curved shape designed to help any sediment settle at the bottom, while kegs are normally straighter with a single opening valve and an extractor or spear running through the middle. Both typically have rolling rings to aid movement.

Why is cask cheaper than keg?

“A major reason for cask traditionally being cheaper is the shorter shelf life,” says Steve Grae, co-founder of London’s Affinity Brew Co. “Once you put that beer on it has to be finished in three days, and what are you going to do after 3-5 days; you’re going to go and buy another beer.

What is the difference between cask and craft ale?

‘Craft keg’ is a term used to describe the full-flavoured beers served under pressure from kegs rather than casks. However, many brewers use the term ‘craft’ to describe a modern style of beer, be it in cask, keg or bottle.

What does on cask mean beer?

Cask ale, also known as cask-conditioned beer or ‘real’ ale, is beer that undergoes secondary fermentation in the barrel. Brewers of cask ale don’t interfere with it, they don’t filter it and they don’t pasteurise it.

Is Guinness cask or keg?

As you know, “draught” Guinness nowadays is a keg beer, while the real thing is to be found in bottles.

What is a beer cask called?

Firkin. The ale or beer firkin (from Middle Dutch vierdekijn meaning “fourth”) is a quarter of an ale or beer barrel or half a kilderkin. This unit is much smaller than the wine firkin. Casks in this size (themselves called firkins) are the most common container for cask ale.

What is the most popular ale in the UK?

This statistic shows the leading 20 bottled ales ranked by market share in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2016. The bottled ale with the highest market share in 2016 was Sharps Doom Bar at 7.1 percent, followed by Old Speckled Hen at 5.9 percent.

Is cask ale artificially carbonated?

Cask ale is also called cask-conditioned beer. It is unpasteurized, unfiltered beer which is served from the same cask in which it was conditioned including secondary fermentation; the keg beer is filtered, pasteurized, and carbonated artificially while being served under pressure from chilled kegs.

Is cask ale naturally carbonated?

Cask Ale is naturally conditioned! This allows the beer to naturally develop carbonation, as opposed to keg beer which has been filtered and force-carbonated and must be dispensed using additional gas to restore the fizz.

How do you use a beer cask?

The most common way to serve cask conditioned beer is by the use of a beer engine, a hand-operated hydraulic pump, that draws beer from a cask in the cellar up to the bar. It is commonly called a hand-pull or a hand-pump.

How long does a cask of beer last?

How long does a cask of beer last for once opened? Ideally, cask beer should be consumed within 5 – 7 days of tapping. Darker and/or higher ABV beers will generally keep for a further 2 – 3 days. Something to bear in mind is that the quality of the beer will quickly deteriorate, however, if the cask tap is not clean.