Capt Keith's Beer Blog

Next week – starting 5/17 is American Craft Beer week. We will feature a daily draft for $4 per pint during happy hour to support the local craft brewers.

Wednesday Nights 5 PM – we tap a new firkin

This week’s Cask – Real Ale ESB

Next week – Ska Nefarious Ten Pin Easter Porter

The Ska Modus lasted only one night. Looks like beer lovers have found us in the Design District.

We are proudly serving cask-conditioned ale in Houston, thanks to our friend Adam with Avery Brewing Company www.averybrewing.com.

Our first offering is their India Pale Ale. If you like the draught version, you are going love this! It pours a nice dark cloudy orange with a full bouquet of floral hoppiness. The head is amazing – pillowy white and it lasts awhile. I think the unfiltered version has more flavor and would be my first choice if I were craving a hoppy American IPA.

Our system is fairly simple and we use CO2 (1# of pressure only – just to keep the oxygen out) to operate this cylinderless hand pump. Ideally, we would have firkins with old school hand pumps, but that would limit us to only a few breweries. Another issue would possibly be spoilage. A cask will only last a few days with a vacuum pump.  Most European pubs that I have visited sell primarily cask-conditioned ales. With limited offerings, they can really move through them quickly. The Flying Saucer has 80 plus taps and would be hard pressed to move a firkin every 2 – 3 days. We should be able to keep a keg for up to a week. So far, the beer has been well received and we will be seeking other breweries to participate.

Austin and Fort Worth will have Cask Ale at their Fall Beer Festivals in early October. Live Oak dry-hopped IPA and Real Ale Shade Grown Coffee Porter will both be on cask for each event. We will kick off the festivals with either a Cask of Dunkel Roggen or Oaktoberfest.