Get to know English-style beers

Beer engine: You can tell when your beer is cask-conditioned by the dispensing method, usually through a beer engine, a tap that has a U-shaped spout and large handle on top that creates suction to pull the beer up from the cask and into the glass. By using suction, rather than pressure from carbon dioxide, the beer doesn’t absorb additional carbonation.

Carbonation: English cask-conditioned beers are served at 1.7-1.8 volumes of carbonation, while an IPA, American ale or pilsner might be dispensed at 2.6-2.8, which is quite a bit more. For comparison, canned soda has about 3 volumes of carbonation.

Cask conditioning: A process where fully fermented beer goes into a vessel, sometimes called a firkin, which looks like a small keg, then gets sealed with added yeast and sugar to create carbonation.

Cellar temperature: Cask-conditioned beer is served at 50 degrees, compared to 40 degrees on most beer taps.

English hops: Part of the flavor that defines English-style beer is the use of English hops that were brought to Kent by the Flemish. The varieties that did well in the cold English climate include Fuggle and Golding, known for their distinctive herbal, earthy, lightly fruity flavors. This is a contrast to the citrusy, tropical, piney flavors from hops grown elsewhere in the world.

Styles: The range of what qualifies as a British-style beer includes brown ales, porters and stouts, but it’s the bitters subcategory most often found in cask (and the style most stigmatized by the overly dramatic description of “warm and flat”). The bitters subcategory includes styles called mild (light or dark), ordinary, best (also called special), and strong bitter, from lightest to strongest in hops and alcohol. In the U.S., the strong bitter is often called Extra Special Bitter or ESB, a catchall phrase for the slightly stronger bitters. (In England, ESB refers to a branded beer from Fuller’s.)