Alley Kat Cask Ale Night = Huge Success

Wow, what a night!

Last night was the first Cask Conditioned Ale Night held at The Sugarbowl brought to us by the talented folks at Alley Kat Brewing.  We sampled a cask conditioned version of their staple brew, Full Moon Pale Ale, only instead the beer was dry hopped using Centennial Hops and the second fermentation took place inside the keg.

The keg was tapped at 5 o'clock and served to an army of eager patrons including Alley Kat staff, Edmonton Homebrew Guild members, local beer geeks, and a handful of lucky regulars that happened to be at the right place at the right time.  It was a terrific experience for everyone, who waited patently for the ale to come their way.  Alley Kat brought over their English pump tap for the occasion, which really seemed to slow things down as each foamy pint hand to be carefully pumped from the keg by hand.  But despite the slow pour, the cask was dry in little over an hour.  Unfortunately because of the overwhelming turnout, not everyone got the chance to sample this delightful treat, and the ones who did were only allowed one.

The task of the first pour was given to local beer aficionado Jason Foster of onbeer.org.  That's me with the big shit eating grin just over his shoulder.  I was excited, to say the least.

How'd it taste you ask....well, delicious.  My boss slyly snuck a pint into the kitchen for me and another chef to share in the basement, so we savored our splash of beer happily knowing we were lucky to even be tasting it.  Firstly the dry hopping added a huge fresh citrusy floral nose, with nice fruity notes.  The flavor was full and sweet, with a rich malty base and mild bitterness.  Because it was conditioned in the cask and not artificially carbonated the bubbles were extremely muted and barely present.  You could see them rising in the glass but they quickly disappeared once it hit your tongue.  It was a heavy beer, without the carbonation.  I saw it as a glimpse into the past of what beer was, before highly carbonated lighter beers took over the earth.

With this night being such a huge success, it's been decided that Alley Kat Cask Ale night will be a monthly event to take place at The Sugarbowl (joy!).  The next event planed for the evening of June 24th.  Stay tuned.

Photo borrowed from onbeer.org