by Bradrick J. Pretzer

Hundreds gathered last week to promote the recognition and continuance of cask-conditioned ale at a week-long ale festival held at the Dilboy VFW Post in Davis Square. 

“In 1986, when I went to England, I said this is what beer is,” said David A. Wilson, head cellarmaster at the New England Real Ale Exhibition and assistant brewer at Concord Brewing.

"We have the most beers ever and the most people ever for this year’s exhibition," he said.  "NERAX is making a name for itself in the area and drawing people in from many states and even from England."

28 British ales were flown into Somerville and 43 American ales also arrived for NERAX, which is a subsidiary of Campaign for Real Ale, a national group. 

“Real ale is, by definition, any beer that has been partially fermented in its serving vessel and served directly from that container,” said Bradley S. Smisloff, assistant brewer at Cambridge Brewing Company. 

There is no force-carbonation or CO2 used to serve the beer, he said. It is either served via an English beer engine, which is essentially a hand pump, or gravity feed.  The carbonation is a result of a small fermentation that the brewer causes to occur in the cask. 

"Cask is an often-misunderstood term," Smisloff said.  "The cask can be aluminum, stainless steel, or even plastic. Very rarely is wood used, though one beer this year at NERAX did arrive in a wooden cask."

A few of the English breweries represented at NERAX were Fuller’s, Young’s and Adnams.  Local breweries included Cambridge Brewing Company, John Harvard’s, Boston Beer Works and Watch City, to name a few.  Several of the brewers were present throughout the week to assist with setup, serving, and answering questions.

Once the beer is brewed and put into the cask it is the cellarman’s job to manage the conditioning and serving, Wilson said. 

“We work closely with the brewers at this stage” he said.  He demonstrated tools used with the casks and explained that the perfect serving temperature is between 52 and 56 degrees Fahrenheit.

Fining, or clearing the beer is the first of the cellarman’s task, said Wilson.  Typically, Isinglass, an organic agent, is added to the beer to make it clear.

"There is a real art to conditioning beer," he said. "Some people have a problem with Isinglass since it is made from the swim bladders of Sturgeon. If the brewery doesn’t have fininings or doesn’t normally use fininings we will fine the beer for them. I don’t like to drink cloudy beer and I don’t want to drink fininings either." 

Once the beer is clear the cellarman prepares to serve the beer by placing the cask in a location where it won’t be disturbed and will be kept cool, Wilson said. 

“The standard way of putting up a cask in England is the three-pin system, and chocks are one of the simplest methods,” he said. 

The keg is positioned on the chocks and its side so that no part touches the floor or shelf, he said.  At NERAX, a copper “saddle” is then positioned on the cask and recirculated with glycol to maintain the desired temperature.

Once the beer has had anywhere from 5 hours to 3 days to settle and chill it is ready to serve, Wilson said.

"Gravity feed and the English beer engine are the normal ways to get the beer out of the cask," said Smisloff.  “The neat thing about real ale is that the flavor of the beer changes from not only day-to-day, but also hour-to-hour, as ambient air is replacing the beer drawn out and reacting with the beer in the cask."

Ian Parker-Renga, an attendee, said, “I think it is cool to bring people together where it is not a politically charged environment.  I was impressed with the diversity of people around me."

The VFW hall was packed from Wednesday to Saturday.

Teardown will require another few days and the Dilboy VFW Post will return to normal.  NERAX has been held at the post for several years and intends to return next year as well.