Cask Ale Gaining Popularity in the U.S.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, British style cask ale is gaining a foothold in the U.S.:

B. United International Inc., a Redding, Conn., importer now sells cask ales to 40 bars in 12 states, twice the number in 2002. Brooklyn Brewery, in Brooklyn, N.Y., made 6,500 gallons of cask ale last year, more than triple the figure five years ago.

For uninitiated Americans who have not yet had an opportunity to sample, cask ale is served warmer than Americans are accustomed, and pumped out with a hand pump, rather than flowing freely from the pressure of its carbonation as in typical kegged beer. This means it is also "flatter" than kegged or bottled beer.

The growing popularity of cask ale has not been without casualties:

At Titanic Brewery & Restaurant, a Coral Gables, Fla., brewpub, a brewer had to go to the hospital after striking his finger with a mallet during tapping. Cornwall's in Boston says it stopped serving cask because its barrels kept blowing up, spewing sweet, rodent-attracting liquid all over the floor. Mark Posada, co-manager of Dublin Sports Pub & Grill in Dublin, Calif., says repeatedly pulling down the hand pump gave him "a little workout."

Having lived in the U.K. for a while now, I can tell Mr Posada how British bartenders seem to deal with that issue problem: just... serve... very... slowly...

Thanks to Howard for the news tip.