Cask ale, or real ale, is the most ordinary delight you can have in a beer. Traditional styles are low-alcohol (4-6%), gently carbonated, and served cool, not cold. Sounds like a little less of everything, doesn't it? Both the craft beer fan who loves strong beers, and the beer-drinker used to icy brews may find to hard to imagine why it inspires such passion. But the first time you have a glass of brilliantly clear beer, with a coarse airy head climbing out of the glass, that tastes so delicate and alive you can't drink enough of it, you will understand.
That was my experience for two weeks in May 2003 in Oxford. I returned swearing I would never again drink "dead beer". The key is the yeast, which is still alive in real ale, or beer packaged unfiltered and unpasteurized. The yeast finishes its fermentation in the cask or bottle, creating natural carbonation (conditioning). "Cask-conditioned" ales are ideally served from a beer engine, or hand-pump, which draws the beer from the cask, instead of pushing it with extra gas as a tap does. "Bottle-conditioned" ales can be identified by the layer of yeast in the bottom, which should be left behind when you decant the bottle.
Because it's fresh, it's best drunk near the source. Because it's alive, it must be moved carefully. This is why brewpubs are generally your best bet when you're looking for cask ale. Beer bars with a good selection of craft beers may also have a beer engine. Ask. There are places that offer cask ale scattered all across the US and Canada. If you can't find a place nearby, make an excuse to travel to a cask festival.
As I live in the Boston area, you will find more detail there, including the date of my last visit, and what was on cask that day. If a location has a webpage, I've linked to that. Otherwise the link will open the location's beerfly page in BeerAdvocate.com. (Marked with an *.)
Let me know what you've found. I will credit you unless you ask for anonymity. If there's no credit, I was there myself.
For more information, try the cask-usa group in Yahoo. A more complete listing of cask ale in North America is on Alex Hall's Beer Page. There are several regional beer groups you might want to look up. You could also visit the mother-ship of real ale advocacy, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). Other resources include a few pub guides and suppliers.
Cheers!
Last updated 04/20/05 .