Four More Real Hot Spots for Real Ale
1. Baltimore. Skip the 72 rotating taps at Max’s Beer Bar (737 S. Broadway), widely recognized as one of the best beer spots in the country, and check out the four rotating casks. Less than 10 miles away is Heavy Seas Brewery (4615 Hollins Ferry Road, Halethorpe), likely the largest producer of cask beers in the country. Its new tavern just opened, and there are always at least two casks on. That means you’ll likely get Loose Cannon IPA but also maybe something from deeper waters such as Hey Mon, a version of its Peg Leg Stout with additions of ginger and dried fruit (coconut, pineapple, banana) as well as rum-soaked oak.
2. Central Oregon. South of the beer capital of Portland, Brewers Union Local 180 (48329 E 1st St., Oakridge) is situated up in the Cascade Mountains in a tiny town really only famed for its mountain biking. Ted Sobel opened America’s first cask-only brewery in 2008 and proffers six delicious cask-conditioned beers brewed two imperial barrels at a time. Santiam Brewing (2544 SE 19th St., Salem;) opened more recently. Among its brewers is Ian Croxall, who began brewing in the UK at age 15. Beyond the 10 taps, you’ll always find four beers on cask. Yes, there are bitters and pales and a pilsner, but Pirate Stout-Private Reserve, an export stout aged in dark rum barrels with coconut, will shiver your timbers.
3. Cambridge, MA. Boston’s northern neighbor is famed for its erudition, so it’s a wise choice for pubs such as Lord Hobo (92 Hampshire St.) and Cambridge Common (1667 Massachusetts Ave.). Lord Hobo is one of Hall’s premier picks in the country for cask beer because beyond its 40 craft taps, the pub offers three cask lines as well, and you may find a fourth on gravity. Cambridge Common “only” features 30 taps, but the beer engine is known to yield rarer elixirs such as Sassy Rabbit Rye Ale from The Tap Brewing.
4. The Triangle, NC. Top of the Hill (100 E. Franklin St. #3, Chapel Hill) became the first brewery south of the Mason-Dixon bold enough develop a mild cask program in 2009. Its Back Bar pub features at least a couple of firkins, frequently casks of their Frank Graham Porter or Rams Head IPA, an English-style IPA dry-hopped in the firkin. (Full disclosure, the publisher of this magazine is a partner.) Cask-conditioned ales have caught on regionally, and stellar beer bar Busy Bee Café (225 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh) always has a cask from a local brewery available, such as French Broad Brewery’s 13 Rebels ESB. The newest game in town, Steel String Brewery (106A S. Greensboro St., Carrboro), even debuted with a cask program.
Brian Yaeger
Brian Yaeger is the author of Red, White, and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey.
Don’t forget Chicago! Tons of places offer cask here, as well. From Owen & Engine with 4 engines, to Map Room, to the Globe, to Goose Island, to Revolution Brewing, to Jerry’s Sandwich, to Links Taproom. We’ve got a ton!
Thanks so much for the rundown. Small point of correction: Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn does not run through Park Slope! You may want to substitute “Downtown” or “Boerum Hill” for PS.