Apparently today is the beginning of Cask Ale Week in Britain. There are competitions, specials in pubs, and the Independent newspaper is publishing a special supplement. There is even an app for the I-Phone to help you locate the pub closest to you that is serving cask ale. How cool is that?

It makes me sad to hear news like that.

Cask ale, by the way is a beer put into, traditionally, wooden casks (steel kegs are acceptable today) without filtration or pasteurization. The beer is allowed to carbonate naturally in the cask, and is served fresh. Often hops will be added at the same to intensify the hop qualities. It is dispensed using a hand pump, rather than through forced carbonation. The same beer, one packaged normally, the other in a cask, will have widely different flavours, body and mouthfeel. It is a remarkable thing. Cask ales were the historic way to serve ales in Britain, and, of course, died out with the advent of industrial beer production. Thankfully in the 1970s it was resurrected by some craft brewers and the heavy lobbying of the Campaign for Real Ale (more on them another day). It marks a commitment to fresh, natural beer.

And why does that make me sad? Because Alberta is bereft of cask ales. The Wild Rose Taproom puts one up every Friday afternoon, to their credit. And recently Alley Kat served one for a special MS fundraiser. But that is it. Nowhere else. To make matters worse, there are eight different cask nights a month in Vancouver, and they are a regular sight in Ontario pubs.(Saskatchewan and Manitoba fare little better, I must add.)

[EDITED APRIL 6 TO ADD:] I neglected to offer credit to two other places where a cask ale can be found. Dave from Half Pints reminded me that they do regular cask ales, and that Bushwakker in Regina also does a monthly cask night. They deserve kudos as well. However, my main point remains – three cask opportunities among a population of 5 million is hardly something to be proud of.

Why are the prairies such a laggard?

A number of reasons, but a huge piece of it is that pubs and restaurants in our area of the world are beer-timid. They have become self-satisfied with their boring selections of the standard macro-beers with a couple taps of either Sleeman’s or famous imports. They can see no value to something as odd and strangely British as a cask ale. They can’t see how it would enhance sales or bring in more customers. But they are wrong. Cask ales are events – the beer is tapped and gone within a couple of hours. It draws in both the avid beer adventurer wanting to taste the latest version and the beer-curious. And, if my experience in Vancouver and Hamilton is any measure – they stay for a couple regular pints after. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed, leading to very positive feelings about the bar and its owners. How can that be bad for business?

There is more wrong with the prairie pub scene than just the lack of cask ales. But hearing of week-long celebrations for the substance across the pond makes me introspective, and just a touch angry. We should start a campaign or something.

At any rate here’s to cask ale. Pity!