The Bar Towel

I was thinking about this in light of the Cask Days announcement. I've long felt that thanks to Volo, many casual beer drinkers associate "cask" with rare/unique/barrel-aged/funky/etc. beer, as that's what they've come to expect at Cask Days, and not the traditional definition. And back in the earlier days of craft beer around here, beer bars were often judged by the presence of a cask line as being legit or not.

But nowadays as multi-tap beer bars are rarer (or they're corporate-y) and brewery tap rooms emerge as go-to destinations, it seems like cask beer is barely a part of today's beer scene. Some of the older places still have cask (Volo, C'est What, Granite), but it sure does feel like it's not much of a thing anymore. Maybe its a bit of a pandemic thing, but it doesn't feel like today's craft brewers do cask, and it certainly doesn't fit with the hazy IPA craze. What does everyone think?

I still love a good cask beer - and frankly am starting to tire of the hazy IPAs… hopefully this will come full circle at some point.

I agree, it's barely on anyone's, or any brewery's, radar... but it begs the question if it ever really was?

That said, as much as I hate going to Toronto nowadays, seeing the CaskDays announcement made me kind of excited and wondering if I should go.
Can't think of any other beer event that would make me contemplate the drive in.

as a brewery owner I can tell you Ive been asked for cask beer zero times in 6+ years
not once in our taproom by a customer
not once by a licencee looking to bring in cask beer

we usually fill one or two casks a year for cask days but that is it

Pretty much agreeing with the general sentiment here, true cask beers aren't really on most people's radar these days. Maybe Cask Days' return will spark some renewed interest, but it seems to be a fairly niche thing here. North Americans seem to like their hazies, pastry stouts, exploding fruited sours, and other overwrought brewing experiments.

seangm wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 10:13 am North Americans seem to like their hazies, pastry stouts, exploding fruited sours, and other overwrought brewing experiments.

this is both 100% accurate and 100% sad
the general craft beer consumer just doesnt want beer that tastes like beer

matt7215 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 10:15 am

seangm wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 10:13 am North Americans seem to like their hazies, pastry stouts, exploding fruited sours, and other overwrought brewing experiments.

this is both 100% accurate and 100% sad
the general craft beer consumer just doesnt want beer that tastes like beer

The only encouraging trend has been the resurgence of well-made, regional lagers. It seems to run counter to the rest of the trends, but I suspect there are enough of us who are yearning for, as you put it, beer that tastes like beer.

I'm guessing that with the short shelf life, it may have been to economically dodgy to commit too much to casks for the last few years. I hope to see a comeback. That said, I have no interest in the trends that had infiltrated the cask scene. I stopped going to cask days because it stopped being good value when so many of the beers were becoming adjunct loaded deliberately spoiled experiments.

I'll probably drop by this year in the hopes of just finding a good cask pale ale, porter and stout without any chicken bones in them or souring.

+1 on the growth of decent lagers.

Tapsucker wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 2:28 pm I'm guessing that with the short shelf life, it may have been to economically dodgy to commit too much to casks for the last few years. I hope to see a comeback. That said, I have no interest in the trends that had infiltrated the cask scene. I stopped going to cask days because it stopped being good value when so many of the beers were becoming adjunct loaded deliberately spoiled experiments.

I'll probably drop by this year in the hopes of just finding a good cask pale ale, porter and stout without any chicken bones in them or souring.

+1 on the growth of decent lagers.

we are sending a cask of porter, just a porter made with beer ingredients, let me know what you think if you do go and give it a try

I wonder what the youngest bar is in the province that has cask available regularly is. I can't think of a single place that has cask that isn't one of the old stalwarts.

Craig wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:27 pm I wonder what the youngest bar is in the province that has cask available regularly is. I can't think of a single place that has cask that isn't one of the old stalwarts.

Bent Elbow in Kitchener... unless they don't do it any longer.

EDIT
Also all the Beertown's used to tap a pin every Thursday, although I've been to two Beertown's someone recently and didn't see this advertised. Probably died due to Covid.

MatttthewGeorge wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:51 pm Also all the Beertown's used to tap a pin every Thursday, although I've been to two Beertown's someone recently and didn't see this advertised. Probably died due to Covid.

Beertown in Oakville doesn't do this. I don't remember if they did it pre-covid. They used to have a Randall but that went away a while back.

I think it's Volo, Granite, C'est What Durham and brewers/bars of that vintage keeping it alive. I can't recall seeing cask beer at any more modern place anytime in recent memory.

First of all, to answer your question "is cask beer still a thing?" in a more pointed way, the question did reignite Bartowel participation!

I think I recall seeing cask beer at Northern Maverick, but that could have been an anomaly and I don't get there all that much to verify.

I have a pint of Arkel best on cask almost every single time I’m in The Wooly. Each and every time I say to myself that I wish more places did cask beer.

Cass wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 4:22 pm

MatttthewGeorge wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:51 pm Also all the Beertown's used to tap a pin every Thursday, although I've been to two Beertown's someone recently and didn't see this advertised. Probably died due to Covid.

Beertown in Oakville doesn't do this. I don't remember if they did it pre-covid. They used to have a Randall but that went away a while back.

I think it's Volo, Granite, C'est What Durham and brewers/bars of that vintage keeping it alive. I can't recall seeing cask beer at any more modern place anytime in recent memory.

I used to sell pins to Beertown Waterloo, Cambridge and London. But I've been to the first two mentioned in the last 6 months and didn't see anything, so I'm assuming it's not a thing any longer.

The Wooly in Guelph (4 engines!), King Edward in Ilderton, and the Sheppard's Crook in Georgetown are the only one's I know for sure are still doing it west of Toronto. Maybe Bent Elbow (Kitchener), Milos (London), Merchant Ale House (St Cats), and/or Winking Judge (Hamilton), but I don't know for sure, and I won't know of any others.