Bottle or draft?
That is the question that many of us get when ordering a beer. 9 times out of ten, we just pick one over the other, not realizing that by picking one, we are actually choosing an experience. The experience can come from differences in aroma, flavor, mouthfeel, bitterness, and maltiness.
Another beer experience is trying new beer right out of the cask. Cask beer is served fresh from a wooden barrel, traditionally, or a metal cask, more common nowadays; kept at cellar temperature (50-55 degrees versus a refrigerator’s 35-40), and lightly carbonated by the digestive action of living yeast. Yes, compared to a brisk, bubbly keg pour, it’s warm(ish) and flat(ish).
All that said, the beer we get from the cask should be far richer in the subtle flavors lost with over-chilling.
So where in St. Louis can we try some cask brew? Well, luckily our friends at 2nd Shift Brewing are cask beer fans and have long celebrated the cask. Every winter at their original location in Cedar Creek, 2nd Shift would hold a festival of the cask featuring a few of their nearest & dearest brewery friends and that tradition continues.
Caskfest 2022 is back and will take place on December 4th, 2022 at the St. Louis taproom. You’ll find casks from several local breweries, as well as casks from brewing friends near and far.
Guest Breweries
Speciation Artisan Ales – Grand Rapids
Wiseacre Brewing – Memphis
Forbidden Root Brewing – Chicago
Main & Mill Brewing – Festus
Embrace The Funk – Nashville
Yazoo Brewing – Madison, Tennessee
The Big Rip Brewing – Kansas City
Revolution Brewing – Chicago
Perennial Artisan Ales – St. Louis
BKS Artisan Ales – Kansas City
Third Wheel Brewing – St. Louis
Branch & Bone Artisan Ales – Dayton
Southside Alchemy – St. Louis
Nilhistic Wines – California
Crane Brewing – Raytown, Missouri
Wooden Robot Brewery – Charlotte, NC
18th Street Brewery – Hammond, Indiana
Birds Fly South Ale Project – Greenville, SC
Transient Artisan Ales – Bridgman, Michigan
Alematic Artisan Ales – Huber Heights, Ohio
Good Word Brewing – Duluth, Georgia
608 Brewing Co. – La Crosse, Wisconsin
Lupulin Brewing – Big Lake, Minnesota
Scratch Brewing – Ava, Illinois
Narrow Gauge Brewing – St. Louis
Free Will Brewing – Perkasie, PA
Cigar City Brewing – Tampa, Florida
Stubborn German Brewing – Waterloo, Illinois
Mondo Brewery – London
