Real ale fans are just like trainspotters, only drunk   –  Christopher Howse

What’s real ale? Here’s a view from The Stables.

Real Ale is the popular name given to traditionally brewed beer and was first coined by the Campaign for Real Ales (CAMRA) in the early 1970’s. These beers may also be called cask beers or cask conditioned ales.

The main difference between real ale and mass produced or keg beer is that real ale is a natural living product that will continue to mature in the cask that it is served from thanks to a process known as secondary fermentation, The beer is not pasteurised and no carbon dioxide is added to the beer for serving. It is this process that makes real ale unique and develops the wonderful tastes and aromas that processed beers don’t posses.

As a living product real ale has a shorter shelf life than mass produced keg beers and must be carefully cared for and stored at the correct temperature – between 10-14 degrees according to the independent Cask Marque inspectors who passed The Stables with flying colours!

Real ale has seen a huge resurgence in recent years with more than 700 breweries in the UK producing a massive variety of real ales, the most since before the First World War and more than four times the amount since CAMRA launched their campaign in the early 1970’s.

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