Brewdog save cask beer. Again
BrewDog Cask beers
Brewdog have announced that as of today (15th June) most of their bars have started to sell cask Punk IPA.:
https://www.brewdog.com/blog/cask-is-back-at-brewdog
You could be forgiven for thinking that it was Groundhog Day and that they had already announced this. Indeed they did, last autumn, the difference now being that they have actually done it.
Cask beer is a one of the more iconic ‘brands’ to be found. It’s served at around 12C (perhaps slightly cooler for some modern tastes- including mine) from a handpump. Sometimes it’s alternatively served by gravity direct from the cask. Of course there are and have been other methods of dispense and a range of those also serve real ale. Does it matter? Not in my view. Its what the beer tastes like that matters.
Brewdog being Brewdog it is all about the brand so they are not of course using casks and handpumps but a modified keykeg with a tall font on the bar.
I haven’t yet tried it. I will. I’d be very surprised if its anywhere near as good as the actual cask Punk IPA sold at 6% ten years ago but one understands that its now brewed on a much larger scale for a wider market.
Those with longer memories may recall that Brewdog have saved cask beer before with Brewdog Live. This still exists, or did as recently this week, although the promotion of it had more or less dipped below the horizon in Brewdog bars. That is to be clear, ‘live’ was mentioned against the particular beer being sold but that was more or less it.
Live dates back to 2016 and also featured keykeg beer.
Here my thoughts, probably because I am old, are drawn back to Watneys. After a prolonged campaign by CAMRA against keg only Watneys they started to sell cask beer again. Defeat left a bitter taste so at first they sold Fined Bitter through electric pumps using a modified cask.
In the end they gave up and just sold cask through handpumps (Websters you may recall).
The latest Brewdog attempt to save cask suggests the same response. Why not just use a cask and a handpump where sales justify it.
On the other hand, and I’m a fan of balance, just as the Great British Beer Festival’s limited dalliance with keykeg this year may widen the horizon of some cask only drinkers perhaps Brewdog’s move will encourage others to give cask beer a try.
As ever we shall see.
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