A few words are guaranteed to make a beer geek’s eyes light up. “Cask” is one of them.
Cask ale, also called real ale, is the storied quaff of British pubs, the very same stuff that’s been wrongly dismissed for years as that warm, flat, gross beer that old men drink in England.
Hand-pumped and served at cellar temperature, it’s defined by soft carbonation, heightened aromatics and a complex flavour profile. Put simply, it’s beer unadulterated, served so fresh (and unfiltered) that some might even call it alive.
Over the past decade, Toronto’s become increasingly obsessed with cask ale. While it’s still a pub drink back in jolly old Albion, it’s gaining serious hipster cachet here, and Toronto’s annual Cask Days festival (caskdays.com) has had a lot to do with that.
Craft beer trends aside, cask ales are an important part of Ontario’s brewing heritage.
“I think cask really took off locally because our brewing tradition is deeply rooted in the British style,” explains Tomas Morana, co-owner of Bar Volo and Cask Days. “A lot of the brewmasters in Ontario are English-style brewers.”
Cask Days – founded by Morana’s father, Ralph, 11 years ago on Bar Volo’s patio, and once a small gathering of British beer lovers – has grown into a huge celebration of barrelled beer accompanied by good food, live music and art.
Hosted at the Evergreen Brick Works, each year the festival broadens its focus to include more international breweries. Beers from Washington state, most of which have never been poured north of the border, are spotlighted this time around, along with casks from California, New York, the UK and, of course, Canada. This year the festival plans to tap almost 400 firkins and welcome 10,000 attendees on October 23 to 25.
“The third week of October is the ideal time and temperature to serve cask beer,” Morana says. It’s cool enough that the beer won’t spoil, but comfortable enough to hang outdoors – especially with a heavy sweater and a few pints.
Even those (myself included) who don’t prefer cask can admit there’s something comforting about sipping a nutty, warmish beer on a crisp autumn afternoon.
And consider this factoid: “A lot of the old English guys will tell you that you don’t get a hangover from drinking cask because of the natural carbonation,” Morana laughs.
It’s probably an old publican’s tale – albeit one worth exploring.
drinks@nowtoronto.com | @s_parns
