What are Cask and Bottle Conditioned Beers? All Beer is created by fermentation of natural sugars by a living organism, yeast. Real ales and lagers are normally served from a cask or bottle but can also be served from tanks or cans. Conditioning a further fermentation in the bottle or cask that adds extra flavour and a natural carbonation or fizz to the finished product.
Bottle Conditioning
When the fermented beer is transferred to a bottle the brewer primes the beer. The brewer may rely on live yeast left in the beer but often will add a little extra yeast and sugar, a process called priming, which much like the addition of ‘liqueur de tirage’, which is a mixture of still wine, sugar and yeast added to still wine to make champagne. The bottle is then sealed.
As the yeast ferments the sugar the beer carbon dioxide is produced along with alcohol. As the bottle is sealed the carbon dioxide is dissolved into the beer. This carbonation is softer and gentler than beer that has carbon dioxide added to it under pressure. Like wine, bottle conditioning will change the flavour profile of the beer. Some bottle conditioned beers are stored for years. The fermentation will create a sediment which is left to settle in cask ales but may be an integral feature in cloudy beers.
Cask Conditioning
Cask conditioned ales undergo secondary fermentation in the barrel developing flavour and gentle carbonation. Brewers can also add extra hops to a cask to add more hoppy aromas; this is called dry hopping. Cask ales are alive they do not undergo pasteurisation so have a limited shelf life. They are also not filtered so a period of time in the cellar to stand and allow any yeast solids to settle to the bottom is necessary.
Cask Conditioned Beer Reviews
- Timothy Taylor’s Landlord
- Fuller’s London Pride
- Sharp’s Doom Bar
- Hook Norton Off the Hook IPA
- Gale’s Seafarers
- Youngs London Special
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