Cask Conditioned Ales in London..thats how it starts..then I rant.

So let me start off by saying that I've had a fondness for this style of serving beer. Just under room temperature, low carbonation ("flat" by American standards), and when done well...you can go pint after pint after pint after....

My first experience with cask conditioned ales was at the Map Room here in Chicago, then followed the experience up with my buddy Chris at, believe it or not, "Dark Lord Day" down in Munster, Indiana at the Three Floyds Brewery...and I've not turned away from this style yet.

Cask Conditioned Ales are often referred to as "real ales" which for me is just fine..except for now evidently the term "real ale" is appropriate to use with bottle conditioned beer (ie beer that has gone through a second, smaller, fermentation of added suger in the bottle so that it is carbonated..a common practice for home brewers) which I do not think is appropriate...in my opinion "bottle conditioned" is much more accurate and fair to say when the alternative is using the term "real ale" which refers to cask conditioned ales.

A quick wikipedia write up on cask conditioned ales can be found on this enormous hyperlink ;).

While in London I was able to enjoy a number of great, and not so great (really depends on how well the pubs take care of their lines and cask system..a little neglect can lead to a lot of bad tasting ale) cask conditioned ales. For my money a great cask bitter is worth it's weight in gold, there is no easier drinking nor flavorful beer to have in my experience. Not only will you find a well done bitter to be very easily taken down but you'll also find that they are incredibly well balanced.

This takes me to the point of American craft brewing, while I love it, and have drank MORE than my fair share of it, the more I drink the more I appreciate something my wife has been clued into for years...there really is nothing more quaffable then a well balanced beer. That of coarse means when in comparison to the hoppiest craft beers you can find, or what is often referred to being "extreme". Now many of my favorite breweries in the states utilize a ton of hops on some of their beers as well as go for the "extreme" or even stretch the usage of "grand cru" when labeling their beers, but I do believe their beers that are most suited to me now are the more balanced ales. There's just something about the culture of beer drinking, we all go through phases are having current favorite beers (I know I sure as hell do..I mean it was not too long ago that I shoved 7 ounces of hops into a 5 gallon homebrew batch) but I do believe that it all comes full circle at a certain point where after all of that flavor and "extreme" palate burnout returns us beer geeks to a place where we enjoy a simple, well balanced, and shit..maybe not even barely carbonated ale and rejoice in the goodness that is a well done beer or a cask conditioned ale.

Rant concluded...oh that shot off to the right was after having a pint and the butchers breakfast...jesus I look beat up!

Cheers!

Brian

Some photos from our Thanksgiving trip to London...

So right up front I'm going to apologize for the bulk of these food pictures having me in them..I suppose I should be thankful that somebody likes seeing me so much (my wife)..but you folks are just going to have to wade through it...send any and all complaints to my publicist. Thanks!

This picture pretty much sums up my goals for the trip! This was taken in the Borough Market, which is the neighborhood of London called "The city" (its where London was originally centered..then a fire..then it moved etc etc

The Butchers Breakfast! Found under the Smithfield Market in a amazing pub called "The Cock Tavern". Believe it or not this is one of the things I simply HAD to do while in London. I originally learned of it from the "No Reservations" London episode..and let me tell you I've never been happier to drink a few pints and eat these meats at 7am: Deviled Kidneys, Calf's Liver, Steak, English Bacon, Wiltishire Pork Sausage, Blood Cake. Yeah..that's right your not seeing things please also note that this is ALL that is included in the Butchers Breakfast. This is where the butchers who work in the Smithfield Market go grab lunch (they start work at 3am) and I was very happy to join them for my breakfast of beer and a plat chalked full of artery hardening goodness.

Enjoy the before and after shots..if in the after shot you think I look frazzled..then your god damn right I was! Good thing we went and climbed the 530+ stairs at St. Pauls right after this..it was either that or pass out in a protein coma on park bench...

Later in the day we explored the Borough Market where we were able to sample some of the best Oysters I've ever had as well as buy some of the world renowned Iberian Prosciutto..which exceeded even my expectations. Cured and hung to dry for 4 years it comes out a dark ruby red and absolutely delicious

After sampling the prosciutto we hit up the "Wright Brothers Oyster and Porter House"...which, as you can tell from the name of the establishment, focuses on two of my favorite things to consume..


We really enjoyed how this pub is designed. Nothing fancy, just a bar that goes around 3 walls, and swiveling plates on the bar where you get to enjoy your oysters from. Oh and they also have and Oyster Stout which was absolutely delicious. I've been meaning to try oysters with a stout ever since reading Mark Kurlanskys "History on the Half Sheff". which covers the NY area and oyster consumption along with stouts and porters extensively.

Those were the major foodie things we did, others include classic English breakfast which includes: English Bacon, Wiltshire Pork (yep..again), a slice of grilled tomato, beans, a fried egg and toast...pretty heavy shit to do on a daily basis but I did enjoy it quite a bit.






..it's 8am on a Saturday now I think I would go for another round of that right now actually..






Here's a shot of some amazing blood and tongue sausage we picked up in Harrods Market..it was awesome.


And here is some head cheese, also picked up from Harrods in the market..nothing like eating head cheese and blood/tongue sausage in the park to make the locals uneasy ;)

And of course you can buy jellied ox tongue easily in the UK..

And to finish this post off I thought I'd point out my new favorite snack combo...cask conditioned ales and olives...delicious.

Stay tuned for a post dedicated to the beers of London! Happy Holidays!

Cheers!

Brian