Odell Peach IPA cask

When my fiancee and I stopped in to the Odell Brewery, I saw that they had their Peach IPA on cask, so I decided to order a glass. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white colored head. The aroma consists of peach, fresh juices, lemon, and pine. The taste is smooth and lightly dry with a huge peach flavor that can be likened to biting into the fruit. Hints of lemon, pine, and pepper come out on the finish that is dry. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I would give this beer a big “Wow!” because of its likeness to an actual peach, but also due to the sweet and bitter flavors that encompassed the experience.

Duclaw Pineapple Mango Serum on cask

Another beer I ordered at the Central PA release party of Duclaw at Al’s of Hampden was the Pineapple Mango Serum on cask. The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly off-white colored head. The aroma consists of pineapple, mango, passion fruit, and orange. The taste is bold and citrusy with lots of pineapple and mango flavors on the front end. Tangerine and orange also come through with a caramel backbone sweetness. A hint of pepper and pine come out on the finish. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. This was amazing and I couldn't say “wow” enough while drinking it. If you ever see this beer, ORDER IT!

Duclaw Caramel Apple Euphoria on cask

At the Central PA Duclaw release party at Al’s of Hampden, I ordered a glass of Caramel Apple Euphoria on cask. The beer pours a brown color with a bubbly off-white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, apple, and toasted malts. Mostly, it smells pretty sweet and candy-like. The taste is sweet yet dry and toasty. Overall, it tastes just like the caramel apple lollipop, which I absolutely love. There is a hint of toasted malts in the background that show up on the finish. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. For the record, I love the caramel apple lollipops, so this beer was right down my alley.

Pizza Boy Brewing Ballet IPA

I stopped in to Al’s of Hampden and ordered a glass of Pizza Boy Brewing Ballet IPA on cask. The beer pours a red amber color with a frothy white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, lemon, vanilla, anise, and pepper. The taste is bold with caramel and plenty of anise on the front end adding a sweetness the beer with a spiciness afterwards. There are hints of lemon and pepper on the finish. The alcohol content is 9.1% ABV. This was a wonderful beer that spotlights anise, provided you like the flavor. I know some people do not, but I definitely enjoyed it very much in this beer.

Selin's Grove Snake Drive Stout

I ordered a glass of Selin’s Grove Snake Drive Stout on cask on a recent visit to Selin’s Grove Brewing Company. The beer pours a dark brown color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of toasted malts, chocolate, vanilla, and caramel. The taste is smooth and chocolaty with a nice toasted malt balance. A bitter dark chocolate finish with a lemon and pepper hop bite rounds out the flavor with caramel and vanilla lingering behind. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. The Snake Drive Stout was a well done dry stout with lots of bitter chocolate flavor. Having it on cask really brought out all of the flavors, including the light hop balance.

Ballast Point Tongue Buckler Summit Hop Cask

On a day in which Al’s of Hampden tapped a ridiculous amount of beer including KBS, I ordered a glass of Ballast Point Tongue Buckler. This was served on cask and was dry hopped with Summit hops. The beer pours a dark amber color with a frothy beige head. The aroma consists of lemon, caramel, pine, and spruce. Overall, a faint aroma, but I credit that with the cask serving. The taste is really dry with lots of spruce and pine on the front end. There are hints of caramel in the background before a warming finish with some pepper and oak finish. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. This was a really dry and well-hopped beer that focused the Summit hop nicely. I think the cask serving helped round out the edges of the beer and made it that much more drinkable.

Spring House Planet Bean on cask with Starbucks Breakfast Blend and Vanilla Beans

Al’s of Hampden recently received a cask of Spring House Planet Bean with Starbucks Breakfast Blend and Vanilla Beans, so I ordered a glass. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of fresh coffee grounds, cream, and chocolate. The taste is dry and filled with fresh coffee grounds and a light bodied light vanilla accent. There is plenty of silky smooth chocolate that lies underneath the surface and a creamy after taste. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. The Planet Bean on cask is wonderful and fresh tasting, especially with the inclusion of the Breakfast Blend. It almost tasted like having a fresh cup of coffee in the morning, with the slight addition of chocolate and vanilla.

Heavy Seas Loose Cannon on cask with Simcoe, Amarillo, Centennial, and Palisade Hops

Al’s of Hampden recently received some casks from Heavy Seas, so I decided to try the Loose Cannon with Simcoe, Amarillo, Centennial, and Palisade hops. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, lemon, tangerine, and pine. The taste is nice and citrusy with lots of grapefruit, orange, tangerine, lemon, and pine. The finish is creamy due to cask conditioning. The alcohol content is 7.25% ABV. This was a nice and bitter beer with a great with creamy accent. If you see this on cask somewhere, definitely crab a glass, and the creaminess goes great with the citrus flavors.

Appalachian Brewing Company Trailblaze Organic Brown Ale with Amarillo Hops

I noticed that Appalachian Brewing Company was offering a cask of Trailblaze Organic Brown Ale with Amarillo Hops on my last visit, so I decided to give it a try. The beer pours a brown color with a frothy tan head. The aroma is strong with the smell fresh and clean hops that provide a lemon and pine front end of the nose with a toasted malt accent. The taste is smooth and creamy with lots of fresh lemon and pine. There is a solid caramel and toasted malt base, mostly focusing on the toasted malts. The alcohol content is 5.3% ABV. The addition of the amarillo hops to the brown ale provided a great and welcoming bitter accent to the beer, and this whole new dimension made the beer completely dynamic.

Moylan's Old Blarney on cask with American Oak and Vanilla Bean

I stopped in to Al’s of Hampden for a few beverages and I ordered Moylan’s Old Blarney on cask with American oak and Vanilla Bean. The beer pours a red-amber color with a filmy white head. The aroma has lots of caramel, raisin, oak, malts, and vanilla. The taste is smooth and creamy on the tongue with lots of alcohol and malts. There is a sharp dry bite from the alcohol before caramel, raisin, and vanilla arrive and give the beer its sweetness. There is a dry oak finish with some pine hop flavor. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. This was an excellent dry and sweet beer that packs a flavor punch, an excellent example of what a casked barleywine should be.

The Brew Works Hop Explosion on cask with Citra and Chinook Hops

I stopped in to Al’s of Hampden and ordered a glass of The Brew Works Hop Explosion on cask with Citra and Chinook hops. The beer pours a golden color with orange hues and a foamy white head. The aroma is filled with fresh grapefruit, tangerine, orange, and lemon. The taste is dry and bitter grapefruit at first before tangerine and orange bring out a sweetness. The finish is dry and piny. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. This was a wonderfully fresh and citrusy beer that was also notably sessionable. If you get a chance to try this beer, go ahead and do it, as it is perfectly bitter and sweet.

Terrapin Wake N Bake on cask

One of the beers I most anticipated at Al's of Hampden when I went for work “team building” was the Terrapin Wake N Bake on cask. The beer pours a black color with a frothy brown head. The aroma is full of fresh coffer with cream and chocolate. The taste is smooth with lots of coffee, chocolate, toasted malts, and a light alcohol bite. There is a cream finish and mouth feel, most likely due to the beer being served on cask. The alcohol content is 8.1% ABV. I felt that the cask enlivens the Wake N Bake and really accentuates the coffee and cream side of the beer. Everyone from work at my table that ordered this beer thoroughly enjoyed it and I recommend your try it, as you will not be disappointed.

Iron Hill India Black Ale on cask

Another beer I ordered from Iron Hill on my last visit was the India Black Ale on cask. Not that I needed persuaded to order a beer on cask, but the India Black Ale was $6.25 for a 16oz glass or $6.00 for a 20oz glass on cask. Hmmm...there really much time taken to make a decision on this one. The beer pours a black color with a bubbly off-white head. The aroma consists of caramel and pine hops. The taste is smooth and creamy with some caramel, bits of oak, and a pine hop finish. There is also a flower taste at the very end, mostly likely a pine flower. The alcohol content is 7.9% ABV. The excessive flower taste was a little weird in this beer, as it stuck in the mouth and was recurring when I burped. I feel that the casking of this beer really brought out the flower flavor and it may be a little more subdued on draft.

Victory Storm King on Cask

Another beer that Al's of Hampden was running a $2 special on while celebrating the addition of a beer engine was Victory Storm King. The beer pours a black color with a foamy tan head that's very solid. The aroma is chocolate and cream. The taste is oak and sweet chocolate with a bitter chocolate finish. There is also a a bit of cream mixed in there due to the beer engine and light hop bite. The alcohol content is 9.1% ABV. I was very impressed with the Storm King, especially on cask. The creaminess added by the cask worked really well with the chocolate and I think that the cask brought out the oak flavors even more in the beer.

Victory Hop Wallop on Cask

I stopped into Al's of Hampden to get Victory Hop Wallop on cask . Al's was running a special for $2 pints of cask beers to celebrate adding a beer engine to their capabilities. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma is lemon and wheat. The taste is creamy and lemon with a good pepper taste. There is a piney bite on the back of the throat in the finish. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. The Hop Wallop was excellent and I think pouring it on the hand pump helped added a creamy flavor to the beer, which balances really well with the lemon and pepper.

Iron Hill Alt Bier on Cask

Another beer I had on my recent trip to Iron Hill in Lancaster was their Alt Bier on cask. The beer has a dark reddish amber color with a creamy thick head. The aroma is malty and sweet with caramel accents. The taste is sweet, malty and creamy with a bitter hop accent on finish. The alcohol content is 4.5% ABV. I thought that the Alt Bier was very delicious, especially on cask as it brought added a creaminess to the beer. In addition, a faint oak accent was also detectable.

Appalachian Brewing Company Purist Pale Ale Cask

On my last visit to Appalachian Brewing Company, the had the Purist Pale Ale on cask. The beer pours a cloudy gold color with a creamy white head. It has a light lemon aroma. The taste is soft, very delicate, and rounded. The lemon flavor is brought out with less carbonation from the cask serving. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. I thought that by putting the Purist Pale Ale on cask, Appalachian Brewing Company changed the flavor of the beer to have a good hops taste, but not a hop bite. It was really a remarkable beer on cask.

Appalachian Brewing Company- ESB Cask

I stopped by Appalachian Brewing Company last night and they had an Extra Special Bitter in the cask. I have not previously had an ESB from ABC, nor is any ESB listed on their website. The beer is amber in color, and has a thick frothy head. There is not too much aroma to the beer, but what is present hints at malts. The beer is creamy and warm in temperature, due to the fact it is served from a cask. The taste is mostly malty and not really bitter at all. I believe that the cask has really rounded out this beer and removed the bitter finish. There is a faint hop accent on the end. The alcohol content is around 5.5%, according to the bartender. While I thought that this beer was decent, I would like to try it not in the cask. I feel that the cask may have softened the bitterness too much, not really making this beer an ESB by definition.

Troegs Hopback Amber Cask Ale

While at Troegs yesterday, the employees opened up a keg of a special brew. This was a special run and an experiement, but they took a keg's worth of Hopback Amber Ale and conditioned it in a cask prior to putting it in a keg for serving. The result was miraculous. The aroma mostly comprised of the Hopback with a floral scent, but there was a hint of oak. I felt that the conditioning in the cask really rounded out the flavor and smoothed the hop bite. The beer took on a different character all together. I would assume the stats are the same as the Hopback, which has an alcohol content of 6% ABV. I would really like for Troegs to try this again, as I thoroughly enjoyed this special brew.