Baltimore Beer Week is no more (at least for 2019).

There's sad news out of Baltimore, Maryland, where humans live.

Baltimore Beer Week will not be held this year. If it had been, this would have been its 11th iteration.

The pro bono efforts of its organizers, particularly of Joe Gold and Dominic Cantalupo —and of all the breweries, businesses, pubs, and volunteers who contributed for a decade— are to be commended, appreciated, and profoundly thanked. Maybe not the O.G. city-wide beer week (that honor belongs to Philly Beer Week of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) but, yet, for those ten years, it was a premier beer destination for, and of, the U.S. east coast. Baltimore Beer Week will be fondly remembered and forlornly missed.

As the organizers state, the festival may have been a victim of its own success. The very number of breweries in Baltimore, and of all of Maryland —and more broadly noting, the numbers throughout America now— vs. the smaller numbers of even a decade ago might negate the purpose of such a gathering or at least create too much 'noise' to make it viable.

That being said, success does not obviate celebration but engenders delight in its observance. One hopes for the future resuscitation of Baltimore Beer Week.

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Cask Ale Week 2016, but “only in pubs, only in Britain.”

Cask-conditioned 'real ale' appears to be an endangered afterthought in a lot of the United States. And even when it does appear, it's often not as truly 'cask-conditioned,' but merely as uncarbonated beer in a cask with cocoa-puffs and dingleberries tossed in, or other ephemera, willy-nilly.

Of course, that's a generalization, but only because it often is the reality.

In the United Kingdom, however, that is not so. There, Cask Ale Week begins today, an eleven-day week, "celebrating Britain's national drink," continuing through 2 October, but "only in Britain, only in pubs."

To learn more:

• Go to the website: caskaleweek.co.uk
• Read the Cask Report, produced annually since 2007, a summary of the cask ale market in the U.K.
• The Great American Beer Festival, since its initial iteration in 1982, has NEVER recognized cask-conditioned ale as a category. The Great British Beer Festival, first held in 1977, ONLY judges beers in cask-conditioned form.

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Chesapeake Real Ale Festival 2014

Baltimore Beer Week 2014 began last Friday, 10 October. It ends this Sunday, 19 October. (Yes, that's a ten day week.)

Before it all ends, the Pratt Street Ale House and the Baltimore chapter of the Society for the Preservation for Beer from the Wood (SPBW) present the 11th annual Chesapeake Real Ale Festival, this Saturday, at the brewpub, in downtown Baltimore, Maryland.

Festival host brewer, Steve Jones, of Oliver Brewing.

There will be at least forty-one casks of real ale (and one 'real' lager) at the festival. And, what is 'real ale'?

Also known as cask-conditioned ale, 'real ale' is beer brewed from traditional ingredients; matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed; served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide; presented unfiltered, yet 'bright' not cloudy; served at cool 'cellar' temperature, approximately 50 - 56 °F, at which point the subtleties of flavor become prominent. It's the beauty of beer at its freshest.

The festival takes place both inside and out the Pratt Street Alehouse. Outside, no problem. The weather forecast for Saturday is for good autumn weather. Or, as some might say, good cask ale weather. And, the festival is a bargain. For one admittance fee, a festival go-er can drink unlimitedly (within the bounds of supply and good and decorum), without the nuisance of purchasing drink tickets. Food, however, is not included, but can be purchased off the pub's menu, in the dining rooms or at the bar.

Here's the line-up of casks: some TBDs (to be determined), some MIAs, and, as always, some yet-to-be-named guest beers.

Brewery	Location	Beer	Cask Additions	Alcohol %
Blue Mountain	Afton, Virginia	Double Oat IPA	Centennial hops	8.4
Breckenridge	Colorado	Oatmeal Stout	Salted caramel and coffee beans	4.9
Brewers Alley	Frederick, Maryland	IPA	...	5.8
The Brewer's Art	Baltimore, Maryland	Proletary Brown Ale	...	5.3
The Brewer's Art	Baltimore, Maryland	Apres Saison	Citra hops	5.3
DC Brau	Washington, D.C.	Stone of Arborath Scotch ale	Gin-soaked oak chips, rosemary, thyme	8
DuClaw	Baltimore, Maryland	Neon Gypsy IPA	Simcoe, Amarillo, Chinook hops	6.5
Evolution	Salisbury, Maryland	Lot 3 IPA	? hops	6.8
Flying Dog	Frederick, Maryland	The Fear Imperial Pumpkin Ale	vanilla	9.0
Flying Dog	Frederick, Maryland	The Truth Imperial IPA	...	8.7
Flying Fish	New Jersey	Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA	Citra hops	8
Flying Fish	New Jersey	Red Fish Amber Ale	Simcoe hops	7
Frey's	Mount Airy, Maryland	Pussy Pilot Parade Black Rye IPA	...	5.9
Full Tilt	Baltimore, Maryland	Hop Harbor IPA	Mosaic hops	8.3
Gordon-Biersch	Baltimore, Maryland	Heather Mel Scotch Ale (aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels)		7.5
Harpoon	Massachusetts	IPA	El Dorado hops	...
Heavy Seas	Baltimore, Maryland	Plank III (Wood-aged tripel)	...	8.5
Jailbreak	Laurel, Maryland	The Carrot Cake Conspiracy (Amber Ale, with roasted carrots and spices)	...	6
Milkhouse Farm Brewery	Mt. Airy, Maryland	IPA	...	6
Monacacy	Frederick, Maryland	Riot Rye Amber Ale	...	6.2
New Belgium	Colorado	1554 (Black Lager)	Fuggles hops	5.6
Oliver Brewing	Baltimore, Maryland	Bizarre Gardening Accident (Anglo-American Brown Ale)	...	...
Oliver Brewing	Baltimore, Maryland	The Black Code #2 Black IPA	...	7
Oliver Brewing	Baltimore, Maryland	ESB	...	6
Oliver Brewing	Baltimore, Maryland	Modern Life is Rubbish Porter	...	5.9
Oliver Brewing	Baltimore, Maryland	My Monkeys Gone Sour (Oak-aged, soured barleywine)	...	10.5
Oliver Brewing	Baltimore, Maryland	Pink Torpedo Raspberry Saison	...	...
Oliver Brewing	Baltimore, Maryland	There's A Fine Line Between Stupid And Clever (Smoked Black 'Pseudo' Lager)	...	...
Pub Dog Brewing	Westminster, Maryland	Imperial Dog IPA	...	6.5
Pub Dog Brewing	Westminster, Maryland	Pumpkin Ale	...	6.66
Oskar Blues	Colorado/North Carolina	Dales Pale Ale	mangos	6.5
Oskar Blues	Colorado/North Carolina	Old Chub Scotch Ale	coffee, vanilla	8
Real Ale Revival	Cambridge, Maryland	Nanticoke Nectar IPA	Citra, Cascade hops	6.0
Sly Fox	Pennsylvania	Chester County Bitter	...	4.5
Sly Fox	Pennsylvania	Hop Project #05256	#05256 hops	6.1
Terrapin	Georgia	Midnight Monk Black IPA	...	9.8
Union Craft	Baltimore, Maryland	Hampden on Rye Ale	coriander	5.9
Weyerbacher	Pennsylvania	Last Chance IPA	Simcoe hops	5.9
Weyerbacher	Pennsylvania	Last Chance IPA	Centennial hops	5.9
Yards	Pennsylvania	Presidents Peculiar Bitter Ale	...	5
Yards	Pennsylvania	Brawler English Mild	French Aramis Hops	4.2

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