Actually, Cask Ale IS Growing... Isn't It?

If you've been reading my blog for a while, this won't surprise you: One of the things I miss most about living in Belgium is living nearer to British cask ale.

I already loved Belgian beer when I moved to Brussels more than four years ago. I expected to keep loving it. What I did not expect, while there, was to fall in love with British cask ale. Also unexpected was finding a thriving cask ale scene on my visits back to the States.

And so I've got to raise a point and a question about the latest Cask Report, written by colleague Pete Brown and funded by the industry. The gist of the report is that more British people are drinking cask ale, and more British pubs are selling it, even if volume there is not increasing overall. (All this is happening while pubs are closing and other beer sales are dropping pretty dramatically, so one way to put it might be, "Wow, guys, things sure could be a lot worse!" Which is totally fair to celebrate, frankly.)

On his blog last week Pete wrote, "But despite the fact that many people simplify this good news into 'cask is growing,' actually it's not. Cask's fantastic performance is great news for drinkers, but good as it is, it's still only static in volume terms."

Here is my point: The Cask Report only covers the U.K., which is what it is supposed to do. It does not cover the U.S. (although Garrett Oliver notes in the foreword that "hundreds of American craft breweries make cask beer these days.") Meanwhile I've seen--with my own beady eyes, I mean--plenty of anecdotal evidence that cask ale is thriving among us Yanks. Everywhere I went on my recent trip--Mid-Atlantic region, Midwest, Mountain states, and the Pacific Northwest--I found cask ale options that had not always been there. And I saw people drinking it.

Here is my question: Does anyone have numbers to prove or disprove my point? My suspicion is that cask ale volume is actually increasing in the United States... and it might even be increasing somewhat dramatically. That would mean logically that cask ale volume overall is increasing as well, although it would sadly not include the British brewers and enthusiasts who sponsor the Cask Report.

But for for those of us who carry a love of cask ale with us wherever we travel, wherever we live, it would be welcome news just the same. Because, to quote Mr. Oliver's foreword again, "British cask beer is an inspirational thread that runs through a worldwide artisanal brewing movement."

So... Does anyone track cask ale production or consumption in the United States? Or farther abroad?

Upper photo: Cask porter and fries at the Mad Fox Brewing Company in Falls Church, Virginia. Lower photo: Oliver head brewer Steve Jones peeks into the cask cellar--into which only he is allowed--beneath the Pratt Street Ale House in Baltimore.

In The Future, Maybe, All Food Will Be Smoked Pork Belly, and All Beer Will Be Cask Porter.

Last week was the Mad Fox Brewing Company's first in action, and on Wednesday we slid into one of its booths after a hot and steamy mile-long hike from the Metro station. Well, it should have been a mile long. Our navigator's wrong turn made it more like two miles. Oh, sweet air conditioning. We love you almost as much as we love cold beer.

And any fool who says beer should never be served cold has never been in DC in July. But I digress.

The pub's atmosphere was just fine. Still feels and smells a bit new. Faux-English style, with wood paneling and bonus points for cushioned stools all around the long bar. They are the sort of stools you could sit in for a very long time.

Winners from brewer Bill Madden: the (chilled) Kolsch, the Scotch ale, and the porter - those last two being especially fine from the cask. All showed a willingness to be bitter without losing balance. (Loser for me: the saison. Too sweet and yeasty-spicy and lacking the bitterness that made the others beers stand out. Sadly I've had many American-made saisons with similar problems, but that's a post for another day.)

Like any other reasonable men, we were completely unable to resist ordering the small slab of smoked pork belly. (Good luck finding a beer that wouldn't pair well with that.) I stuck with a barbecue theme and advanced to the brisket sandwich. My choices were correct.

Meanwhile that cask porter is still lingering in my mind a few days later. Velvety smooth and chocolaty rich, it should not have tasted as fine as it did after that walk through the Inferno. We were told there are many more beers on the way. It was only the first week and all. Many good things to come from 444 West Broad Street in Falls Church, Virginia. One to watch, as they say.