Wishlist #1; Proper Keg Bitter
Keg bitter. There's a reason why brewers brew it, pubs stock it and punters drink it. Reliability. Cask beer can be shagged up at every turn; on too long/tapped too early in the pub, poorly stored by the distributor, infected when it left the brewer. Keg gives a drinker the confidence that their beer will taste the same every time they have it, regardless of where they buy it.
A shame, then, that most keg bitter tastes of wet cardboard. What a great opportunity going begging - a ready-made market who (hopefully) wouldn't be scared off by a slightly tastier pint than the usual smoothflow dross. A quality keg bitter from a successful cask brewer could be an entry-point into the rest of their portfolio for non-cask drinkers. I'd rather walk into a pub I don't know and have the choice of quality-keg than only potentially-dodgy casks.
A shame, then, that most keg bitter tastes of wet cardboard. What a great opportunity going begging - a ready-made market who (hopefully) wouldn't be scared off by a slightly tastier pint than the usual smoothflow dross. A quality keg bitter from a successful cask brewer could be an entry-point into the rest of their portfolio for non-cask drinkers. I'd rather walk into a pub I don't know and have the choice of quality-keg than only potentially-dodgy casks.
(originally posted by scissorkicks)
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. Surely all but the most dementedly hardcore CAMRA goblins have got over the demonisation of keg now, right? I hope so anyway.
It's not a Bitter (although it's pleasantly bitter) but Meantime High Saison is a cracking example of a home-grown keg beer that's absolutely packed with flavour. There's no reason why there couldn't be a decent bitter equivalent.
I don't have anything against the idea of good keg bitter per se - Meantime are a great example of unpasturised keg done well - but surely a pub that can't manage/be bothered to keep a decent selection of cask ales is not worthy of my custom? I'd sooner seek out somewhere that is.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, Meantime now supply cask versions of some of their popular and seasonal keg beers to the free trade as well as to their own tied house in Greenwich.
Scissorkicks: "Surely all but the most dementedly hardcore CAMRA goblins have got over the demonisation of keg now, right?"
Not when by and large the only keg options are restricted to the very poor John Shiths, Worthy's/Tetley Smoothflow or sometimes GK IPA/Speckled Hen or a random relic mild in foody pubs. In my experience, people who choose to drink keg bitters like the taste of wet cardboard and shy away from the more challenging flavours of the cask, even when well conditioned. It's questionable whether these joyless souls would be more inclined to drink something like Meantime beer when served from a keg font rather than through a handpump. My guess is that they'll stick with their generic pondwater.
Oh, and I haven't renewed my goblin membership this year but will (probably) always believe that cask is the king method of dispense.
The correct terminology is Proper Real Keg, although I appreciate the kudos for this much maligned product. The UK has a very strange view of Proper Real Keg. I assume this is largely do to the efforts CAMRA has put in to claim its unworthiness. One needs to just look at Brewdog, Punk IPA in Proper Real Keg to see the greatness this product can achieve. There are many other fine examples on the West Coast of America.
ReplyDeleteGood work. It's about time more people step forward and shout the praises of Proper Real Keg.
Sausageman has a good point here - there's nothing wrong with kegs as a serving device; I'd say most people who don't like keg have never been outside the UK and drunk beer from keg in, for example, America, Czech or Italy.
ReplyDeleteThe issue is not that it's served from a keg but if the beer is pasteurised (which will ruin it whatever it's served from) and if it's a good beer in the first place. Crap beer from a cask is still crap, great beer from a keg is still great.
It's the beer that matters and if it's pasteurised, not the serving container.
Holy shit, I'm in agreement with Prescotti! Proper Real Keg is usually lightly filtered, not pasteurized. By lightly, I mean the life force isn't sucked out of it. I can see why keg is considered shit in the UK. Once they rape it of all its goodness, there isn't much left.
ReplyDeleteI was very excited when the Lincolnshire Poacher in Nottingham added BrewDog Punk IPA as a permanent keg beer, even though the quality of the cask beer in there is usually excellent. But, towards the end of the night, I like something more powerful and a beer like that is perfect for kegging. Sadly, apparently, no one was buying it but me, so it disappeared quickly.
ReplyDelete