Over the past 10 years or so, there has been a remarkable increase of cask-conditioned ale (and lager) available in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area. Much has been good, but some not so much. That's a post for another time, but not today, because when a restaurant, for the first time, decides to serve cask-conditioned ale, and decides to serve it correctly, it should be an occasion to be celebrated.
Such will be the case this Wednesday, 30 March at Public House No. 7 Tap Room & English Pub, in the 7 Corners area of Falls Church, Virginia. At 7pm, General Manager Patrick Blakely will tap a fresh firkin of Loose Cannon Hop3 IPA, especially prepared for him, with locally-grown hops, by the Heavy Seas Brewing Company of Baltimore, Maryland. And that will be the first pour from the pub's first-ever firkin.
A firkin is a 10.8 gallon cask, containing real ale — beer so fresh, it's still fermenting when tapped. Loose Cannon, at 7.25% alcohol-by-volume, is a heavily hopped pale ale. The brewery states that it employs a triple hopping process to impart the ale with an aromatic, fruity aroma, rather than merely a tannic finish.
I'll be on hand, as well as the local representative for the brewery, to answer questions about the beer, the brewery, and the process of cask-conditioning.
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- UPDATE: Photos from the tapping: here.
- Caveat lector: As a representative for Select Wines, Inc. —a wine and beer wholesaler in northern Virgina— I sell the beers of Heavy Seas.
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