MeridianFC
04-30-2004, 11:47 AM
Another Thursday night, another cask. Last night I had some poker to play (up $70!) so I went early and didn't stay long. Isn't it great to drink beer in the early afternoon? Don't bother answering it's a rhetorical question. I spyed the firkin on the bar so all is good. The firkin, that is the phsycial vessel, was in very good condition. Usually on firkin night it's some beat to hell tub of metal, this one was practically gleaming. Interesting.
Anyhow, the pump clip, which they just attached to the bottom of the cask, said RCH Speculation Pale Ale 4.5%. So there you have it. This is the third RCH product in the past month or so, giving us (or the royal we) a nice glimpse into that brewery. The beer pours golden, though not quite as golden at the Pitchfork. Once again there's little bits of protenatious (is that how you spell that?) matter. Brian has mentioned, and I definitely agree, that they have issues getting the beer to drop completely bright owing to having to place the beer on the bar. The temperature changes in the Reef must play havoc with this. Still it's not terrible and I'm willing to forgive much to get a decent (passable?) pint.
Where was I? Oh, appearence; golden...said that....soapy bubbles....yup. A bit of hop in the nose and that very slightly sugary malt smell. Maybe the beer has oxidized ever so slightly. You know that smell you get from a bottle or glass that you've left out over night? It's not bad, to be honest I quite like it. Anyhow it gives you a very specific malty type smell. Well there was a bit of that.
This had an unsually firm mouthfeel as if there were a lot of unfermented sugars. Maybe that's part of the nose too. A decent very easy tasting brew. It's interesting that the Pichfork was .2% weaker but tasted much stronger than this. Still a very drinkable pint. Nothing that special, though on a hot summer day one could make good use of this.
It could be with the lack of brightness and the sugar/malt thing that this cask was a wee bit green. Seems unsual given the distance it travelled, but it's a possibility. It definitely shows why keeping real ale is an art and one that has fallen out of favor almost everywhere but Britain.
Brian is going to be discontinuing the casks for the summer, as he always does, owing to it becoming very difficult to stablize the tempratures. I think we've still got a few more weeks, but I'll have to switch to writing about random drafts or I'll get myself out to Dogfish Head.
K.
Anyhow, the pump clip, which they just attached to the bottom of the cask, said RCH Speculation Pale Ale 4.5%. So there you have it. This is the third RCH product in the past month or so, giving us (or the royal we) a nice glimpse into that brewery. The beer pours golden, though not quite as golden at the Pitchfork. Once again there's little bits of protenatious (is that how you spell that?) matter. Brian has mentioned, and I definitely agree, that they have issues getting the beer to drop completely bright owing to having to place the beer on the bar. The temperature changes in the Reef must play havoc with this. Still it's not terrible and I'm willing to forgive much to get a decent (passable?) pint.
Where was I? Oh, appearence; golden...said that....soapy bubbles....yup. A bit of hop in the nose and that very slightly sugary malt smell. Maybe the beer has oxidized ever so slightly. You know that smell you get from a bottle or glass that you've left out over night? It's not bad, to be honest I quite like it. Anyhow it gives you a very specific malty type smell. Well there was a bit of that.
This had an unsually firm mouthfeel as if there were a lot of unfermented sugars. Maybe that's part of the nose too. A decent very easy tasting brew. It's interesting that the Pichfork was .2% weaker but tasted much stronger than this. Still a very drinkable pint. Nothing that special, though on a hot summer day one could make good use of this.
It could be with the lack of brightness and the sugar/malt thing that this cask was a wee bit green. Seems unsual given the distance it travelled, but it's a possibility. It definitely shows why keeping real ale is an art and one that has fallen out of favor almost everywhere but Britain.
Brian is going to be discontinuing the casks for the summer, as he always does, owing to it becoming very difficult to stablize the tempratures. I think we've still got a few more weeks, but I'll have to switch to writing about random drafts or I'll get myself out to Dogfish Head.
K.