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Learn & Discover
CASK Around the World: Pt.2
In the UK, and around the world, cask conditioned beer is seen as a British phenomenon and yet, there are pubs around the world like The Dandelion, Philedelphia U.S. that offer cask beer, In this three-part series David Jesudason investigates the type of customer who drinks in these pubs. Are they locals or British people who live abroad? What kind of experiences are they looking for? Are they wanting to recreate a slice of home or is it because of a genuine love of British beer? David looks into the practicalities of serving British beer abroad and whether the beer and the pub experience can be considered as ‘good’ as it is in the UK.
David Jesudason
David is a freelance journalist published by BBC Culture, Guardian, Pellicle and more. As a British-Asian campaigner for racial equality David seeks transformative narratives through writing about beer.
CASK Around the World: Pt.2
In the UK, and around the world, cask conditioned beer is seen as a British phenomenon and yet, there are pubs around the world like The Dandelion, Philedephia U.S. that offer cask beer, In this three-part series David Jesudason investigates the type of customer who drinks in these pubs. Are they locals or British people who live abroad? What kind of experiences are they looking for? Are they wanting to recreate a slice of home or is it because of a genuine love of British beer? David looks into the practicalities of serving British beer abroad and whether the beer and the pub experience can be considered as ‘good’ as it is in the UK
David Jesudason
David seeks transformative narratives through writing about beer.
Beer is pretty reliable
Old Speckled Hen isn’t as old as you may think. Although its original brewer, Morland, can trace its history back to 1711, the ale marketed by Greene King like it’s an artefact from a simpler, bucolic past was actually first made in Abingdon in 1979 and named after an old battered featherlight saloon used by workers as a run-around – nicknamed ‘Owld Speckl’d Un’ – in the Oxfordshire market town’s MG factory.
Like the wooden-framed car, the beer is pretty reliable, unfashionable and totally unique to Britain. It’s a bitter that’s easy to take for granted as it’s not tricky to find but can often be overlooked for flashier, newer ‘models’. But in one bar in Philadelphia, USA it’s desired like a modern supercar and its drinkers just can’t get enough of it or any similarly British-style hand-pulled beer.
It’s a big surprise because the Dandelion sounds like an unremarkable place. The multi-storied venue is part of a restaurant group that also includes French, Japanese and Italian outlets and its customer base are part of the city’s financial district, which doesn’t appear like it could contain discerning real ale enthusiasts supping bitters under the shadow of the city’s skyscrapers. But its management’s love and commitment to cask marks it out as really quite special and ensures that pints are popular despite fetching up to $12 (£9.65).
Beer is pretty reliable
Old Speckled Hen isn’t as old as you may think. Although its original brewer, Morland, can trace its history back to 1711, the ale marketed by Greene King like it’s an artefact from a simpler, bucolic past was actually first made in Abingdon in 1979 and named after an old battered featherlight saloon used by workers as a run-around – nicknamed ‘Owld Speckl’d Un’ – in the Oxfordshire market town’s MG factory.
Like the wooden-framed car, the beer is pretty reliable, unfashionable and totally unique to Britain. It’s a bitter that’s easy to take for granted as it’s not tricky to find but can often be overlooked for flashier, newer ‘models’. But in one bar in Philadelphia, USA it’s desired like a modern supercar and its drinkers just can’t get enough of it or any similarly British-style hand-pulled beer.
It’s a big surprise because the Dandelion sounds like an unremarkable place. The multi-storied venue is part of a restaurant group that also includes French, Japanese and Italian outlets and its customer base are part of the city’s financial district, which doesn’t appear like it could contain discerning real ale enthusiasts supping bitters under the shadow of the city’s skyscrapers. But its management’s love and commitment to cask marks it out as really quite special and ensures that pints are popular despite fetching up to $12 (£9.65).
“If we’re able to get something British on,” Mark Crookston, general manager tells me. “Those are the beers that are guests are going to go after the most. It comes over on a boat. We taste it before we hook it up and serve it to our guests.
“It’s authentic – and that’s what people go for.”
Cask being shipped from the UK has its problems though, Crookston tells me. Some of the beer is spoiled by the time the boat gets to Philadelphia – a website I look at estimates that the voyage could take 22 days – and import issues (Brexit, Covid) has meant he hasn’t had a shipment for three years. In fact, even before this trade disruption the Dandelion wouldn’t get any beer in the summer months because it was too hot for the ale to survive and would have to wait for late October/early November for a big shipment to see them through its busy winter months.
So despite the clamour for British beer – London Pride is also a favourite tipple – the Dandelion has to look nearer to home and serve cask beer made by local breweries, which means a heavy rotation of IPAs despite the overwhelming customer preference for bitters.
“We have a core base of local breweries,” Crookston says. “That we’ve been getting [cask] from for the last decade. And they know what they are doing. They were brewing it before we came along [as a business] and the only challenge was that we do a lot more [cask] than anyone else.”
“If we’re able to get something British on,” Mark Crookston, general manager tells me. “Those are the beers that are guests are going to go after the most. It comes over on a boat. We taste it before we hook it up and serve it to our guests.
“It’s authentic – and that’s what people go for.”
Cask being shipped from the UK has its problems though, Crookston tells me. Some of the beer is spoiled by the time the boat gets to Philadelphia – a website I look at estimates that the voyage could take 22 days – and import issues (Brexit, Covid) has meant he hasn’t had a shipment for three years. In fact, even before this trade disruption the Dandelion wouldn’t get any beer in the summer months because it was too hot for the ale to survive and would have to wait for late October/early November for a big shipment to see them through its busy winter months.
So despite the clamour for British beer – London Pride is also a favourite tipple – the Dandelion has to look nearer to home and serve cask beer made by local breweries, which means a heavy rotation of IPAs despite the overwhelming customer preference for bitters.
“We have a core base of local breweries,” Crookston says. “That we’ve been getting [cask] from for the last decade. And they know what they are doing. They were brewing it before we came along [as a business] and the only challenge was that we do a lot more [cask] than anyone else.”
“If cask can be super popular in a business district of a major US city then it can be a cause for celebration anywhere in the world.”
— David Jesudason
“You get soft, almost wine like aromatics, refeshing… acidity and apple driven, when you try Kent and Eastern style ciders”
— Alison Taffs
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There’s no wastage
Crookston believes that because his punters are used to gassed IPAs they don’t do as well on cask and has noticed more of a popularity – particularly in colder months – for hand-pulled stouts and porters.
“In the cellar,” he says. “We have a separate walk-in cooler specifically for our cask ales that’s a temperature of between 50F-55F (10C-12.8C). The standard draft beer a the Dandelion is served at 32F (0C).”
The Dandelion is a high-volume venue with Saturdays particularly busy with 800-1,000 customers being served between brunch and dinner.
There’s no wastage of cask beer even though they have six lines on at once, but despite this its business model hasn’t been replicated by its rivals in the City of Brotherly Love. The Dandelion is an outlier but the novelty of cask beer doesn’t put off their customers.
“Anyone that walks into one of the rooms,” Crookston says. “And sees the engine handles on the bar, their mind starts wondering ‘What is that?’ and then the conversation starts.
“We offer half pints. Even if they’re not sure they then may order a half. The interest of being in a different environment and offering something different is enough for us to move a decent amount of product. We offer customers a great variety of cask. If other bars in our city have cask then they usually have only one on at one time.”
