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> cask ale - the preferred pint in Britain Not really - according to 2018 on-trade numbers, ale is 24% by value of beer sold, and cask is 55% of ale, so cask a

by twic 7y ago

> cask ale - the preferred pint in Britain Not really - according to 2018 on-trade numbers, ale is 24% by value of beer sold, and cask is 55% of ale, so cask ale is just 13.2% of all beer: https://www.marstons.co.uk/docs/reports/2018/on-trade-beer-report-2018.pdf https://www.marstons.co.uk/docs/reports/2018/on-trade-beer-r... (this is published by Marston's, but i believe the data is for the whole industry) Train passengers who want a drink are not necessarily the same demographic as pub-goers, but i'm not sure i'd expect them to skew significantly towards cask ale. > is ruined by movement Which is why the cutting-edge high-technology solution of "bottles" has been invented. Honestly, i find bottled beers usually better than the cask equivalent, even when i'm not on a train, i think because cask is so sensitive to keeping, whereas bottles usually reach you in mint condition. Although it might just be because the bottled versions are sometimes stronger: https://www.adnams.co.uk/articles/adnams-broadside-cask-and-bottle-whats-the-difference-and-why.htm https://www.adnams.co.uk/articles/adnams-broadside-cask-and-...

robotmay 7y ago
They also usually add some gas to the bottles, if I remember correctly, which does affect the taste. Not necessarily for the worse, but it is noticeable. It's pretty obvious in Hobgoblin, but I still like the bottle flavour and it even survives being in a car boot in a French summer. I imagine the only reason not to do bottles is because they're liable to being turned into projectiles, but I guess you could just serve it in one of those crap plastic glasses like they would from a cask anyway.
- krisgee 7y ago
  Real Ale in a bottle would continue to condition slightly so depending on the yeast strain I'd expect bottled beer to change flavour slightly. Also because of the way cask ale is dispensed it's pretty much always oxidized after the first couple of pints are pulled so that might be the change in taste you're noticing, since it's in the bottle it doesn't get oxidized.
Nursie 7y ago
> ale is 24% by value of beer sold, and cask is 55% of ale, so cask ale is just 13.2% of all beer: Interesting that they separate out stouts into their own category at 7%. I guess maybe because Guinness dominates stout and that's not a cask ale. I'd have counted it as part of "ale", myself... > Honestly, i find bottled beers usually better than the cask equivalent, Aww no, couldn't disagree more. Cask beer is fresh, bottled beer not so much. Even in a bottle, the fragrant, lighter hoppy aromas disappear pretty quickly, so there are whole dimensions missing from the product... IMHO of course, your preference is yours and not wrong.
smcl 7y ago
Those numbers are from 2018. The train-pub in question was from 1949, and at the time ale would have been overwhelmingly the beer of choice - I suspect pilsner/lager wouldn't have been widely available in the UK. I'm actually surprised cask ale is as high as 13.2% of all beer sold. While "craft beer" (I hate that term) is en vogue and has made people curious to more traditional style beer, the default pint in most pubs will be something lagery like Carling, Tennents or Carlsberg (all three pretty bad, but Tennent's has a nostalgia factor for me).
- Nursie 7y ago
  If you think about our most notorious pub chain - 'spoons - they generally have a decent selection of cask, so I'm not that surprised that it makes up a decent amount.
  - smcl 7y ago
    Good point, I often forget about them becuase while they're not rare in Scotland, they're not quite as commonplace as down south.
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  - bmsleight_ 7y ago
    Could never use them again after how they have reacted to the pandemic.
    - dTal 7y ago
      The reasons to boycott Spoons have been piling up for years. The strongarming of breweries, the use of the pubs as a pro-Brexit platform... and the bloke in charge is a notorious bellend. Wetherspoons is cheap, but it's not a net good. (Truth be told I stopped eating there after being served a frozen curry - literally solid ice.)

by twic 7y ago

robotmay 7y ago

They also usually add some gas to the bottles, if I remember correctly, which does affect the taste. Not necessarily for the worse, but it is noticeable. It's pretty obvious in Hobgoblin, but I still like the bottle flavour and it even survives being in a car boot in a French summer. I imagine the only reason not to do bottles is because they're liable to being turned into projectiles, but I guess you could just serve it in one of those crap plastic glasses like they would from a cask anyway.

krisgee 7y ago
Real Ale in a bottle would continue to condition slightly so depending on the yeast strain I'd expect bottled beer to change flavour slightly. Also because of the way cask ale is dispensed it's pretty much always oxidized after the first couple of pints are pulled so that might be the change in taste you're noticing, since it's in the bottle it doesn't get oxidized.

Nursie 7y ago

> ale is 24% by value of beer sold, and cask is 55% of ale, so cask ale is just 13.2% of all beer: Interesting that they separate out stouts into their own category at 7%. I guess maybe because Guinness dominates stout and that's not a cask ale. I'd have counted it as part of "ale", myself... > Honestly, i find bottled beers usually better than the cask equivalent, Aww no, couldn't disagree more. Cask beer is fresh, bottled beer not so much. Even in a bottle, the fragrant, lighter hoppy aromas disappear pretty quickly, so there are whole dimensions missing from the product... IMHO of course, your preference is yours and not wrong.

smcl 7y ago

Those numbers are from 2018. The train-pub in question was from 1949, and at the time ale would have been overwhelmingly the beer of choice - I suspect pilsner/lager wouldn't have been widely available in the UK. I'm actually surprised cask ale is as high as 13.2% of all beer sold. While "craft beer" (I hate that term) is en vogue and has made people curious to more traditional style beer, the default pint in most pubs will be something lagery like Carling, Tennents or Carlsberg (all three pretty bad, but Tennent's has a nostalgia factor for me).

Nursie 7y ago
If you think about our most notorious pub chain - 'spoons - they generally have a decent selection of cask, so I'm not that surprised that it makes up a decent amount.
- smcl 7y ago
  Good point, I often forget about them becuase while they're not rare in Scotland, they're not quite as commonplace as down south.
  - onlinemedscare 7y ago
    Xanax is the best pills in insomnia and now you can buy Xanax from our website @ https://onlinemedscare.com/product-category/buy-xanax-online/ https://onlinemedscare.com/product-category/buy-xanax-online... and you can order from call +1 (786) 802-1504
- bmsleight_ 7y ago
  Could never use them again after how they have reacted to the pandemic.
  - dTal 7y ago
    The reasons to boycott Spoons have been piling up for years. The strongarming of breweries, the use of the pubs as a pro-Brexit platform... and the bloke in charge is a notorious bellend. Wetherspoons is cheap, but it's not a net good. (Truth be told I stopped eating there after being served a frozen curry - literally solid ice.)