Keg beer is fresh, unfiltered and unpasteurized, with a short shelf life and delicate carbonation. Cask beer is transferred without pasteurization and continues to ferment in the barrel, producing a slight carbonation. It has a short shelf life and needs to be well cared for. Cask ale can also be found in the bottle, known as bottle-conditioned beer.
Keg beer is beer that is served fresh, unpasteurized, and unfiltered. The flavor and texture of keg ale are quite distinctive; these beers tend to be very creamy and rich, with delicate carbonation and complex flavours. However, keg beer also has a very short shelf life and needs to be well cared for if people are to experience the best flavor. As a result, it can be difficult to obtain.
This beer is also sometimes referred to as “royal ale,” a reference to the fact that all beers have been conditioned in casks for centuries, prior to the development of pasteurization, kegs, and other techniques used to store and serve beer. Additionally, the “royal ale” is typically brewed with all natural ingredients, in the traditional style, making it a favorite with purists. Proponents of real ale often argue that it has superior flavor and texture to other beers, making it well worth the extra effort.
When conventional beers are brewed, after their initial fermentation, they are pasteurized and then either poured into kegs for storage and shipping or bottled. These beers are inert, because the natural yeasts are dead and filtered, allowing them to keep for a long time on the shelf. However, once bottled or decanted into a cask, such beers will not continue to develop, due to their inert nature.
Cask beer, on the other hand, is transferred to the cask after fermentation without being pasteurized. As a result, the yeast in the beer is still active, meaning the beer will continue to ferment as long as it remains in the barrel. This is known as “secondary fermentation” or “conditioning”. When people are ready to drink the beer, they tap the barrel, allow it to sit so the sediment can settle and the excess carbon dioxide from the fermentation can disperse, then begin serving the beer.
This type of beer cannot be served with the aid of a gas to maintain pressure and, consequently, must be poured directly from the barrel or pumped by hand. However, it won’t be flat, because the fermentation process produces a slight carbonation. Ideally, it will also be served at a cool temperature, as cask ale is traditionally stored in the cellar.
Once opened, a container of cask air conditioned beer is on the clock. Within about three days, the beer will transform. Therefore, many pubs prefer not to offer cask conditioned ales, as they cannot guarantee a high enough turnover to run out of casks before going bad. Equipment used to serve beer also needs to be cleaned on a regular basis to purge stale beers from the lines so customers drink only the freshest available.
In addition to being available in casks, cask ale can also be found in the bottle, in which case it is known as bottle-conditioned beer. A distinctive layer of sediment at the bottom of the bottle indicates the conditioning of the bottle.
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