Yankee Brew News Archive

Boston Exhibition Puts Spotlight on Real Ale

Originally Published: 08/97

By: Brett Peruzzi

There are few beers more sublime in the world of brews than a pint of cask-conditioned bitter.

And for a roomful of real ale aficionados during a hot summer weekend in Boston, there was no better place to be than the cool confines of Redbones' downstairs bar. There, being poured by the careful hand of Redbones cellarman Paul Yeghiayan, were over a dozen English real ales, flown specially to Boston for the event. A pint of Bateman's XXXB transported this writer back to London with a stellar, complex example of the bitter style, often imitated but rarely perfectly duplicated in the United States.

The tasting was part of the New England Real Ale Exhibition, a four-day event sponsored by CAMRA (Britain's Campaign for Real Ale), Back Bay/Commonwealth Brewing Company, Redbones, and Planet Sportswear.

In addition to half a dozen real ale tastings, the exhibition included several seminars for both professional and home brewers on the art of real ale, the English method of preparing and dispensing traditional, unfiltered ales using only natural pressure, with no injected CO2 or nitrogen. The result is smooth, aromatic, very fresh tasting ale with low carbonation, typically cooled to only the ambient cellar temperature (about 52 degrees Fahrenheit).

Most of the real ales were dispensed from gravity-fed casks, nattily-outfitted with insulated covers to keep the beer close to cellar temperature, with four were being pulled by hand pump. While English beers were the main attraction, there was also representation from New England brewers such as Tremont, Long Trail, Commonwealth, and Emerald Isle.

Jonathan Tuttle, New England's CAMRA representative, believes real ale can expand its position in the U.S. craft brew market. "The brewers like it," he remarked, "because it's one of the greatest expressions of the brewer's art."

Tuttle also cited the typically lower alcohol content and lower carbonation level of real ale as factors that make it an ideal session brew. "You don't get the gassiness and bloated feeling," that beers dispensed under CO2 pressure tend to cause, he observed.

Yet most American pubs don't have the turnover of draught beer that English pubs do, a phenomenon that sometimes make real ale a difficult sell to U. S. pub owners. Because the beer is delicate and has an extremely limited shelf life, it must be handled carefully and consumed quickly. This presents little problem in England, where approximately 80% of the beer consumed is draught, whereas most U.S. beer is sold in bottles.

Even in American pubs where draught beer sells well, the specialized dispensing equipment required and the staff training necessary are other obstacles for publicans. Despite these difficulties, real ale in the U.S., and particularly New England, is growing in popularity. This is perhaps partially due to the fact that as the craft beer market gets increasingly crowded, real ale is one way a brewery can distinguish itself from its competitors.