Summit Cask

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Enjoy Summit beer? Then head over to Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis and sample some Great Northern Porter and ESB on cask. What the hell is cask, you say? Cask is the process of storing the beer in the container it will be served from, as the fermentation continues throughout the serving process. Also called "real ale," the resulting drink is a much fuller and often smoother beer, served at a balmy 52 degrees. Beeradvocate.com compares cask ales to "a whole food experience" while the bigger American breweries produce the Wonder Bread of beers:

We suggest “real ale,” which is essentially ale that is still alive and evolving with its continuing fermentation processes. High in vitamin B (from yeast), real ale is not filtered or pasteurized. It contains no artificial additives or preservatives, and it's as close to a whole food experience as you can find in beer. We're talking some old-school beer in the raw!

I for one am pleased as punch that in the last few years Summit has really expanded their beer lines and tried some new, experimental things, like producing cask ales. But if you're going to wait to visit Town Hall in a few days, think again. Once tapped, and the beer is exposed to oxygen, it needs to be drank within a few days. It's pretty amazing--the beer you start to drink is not necessarily the beer you finish! So really, Town Hall and Summit need you to help drink their beer this weekend.

Town Hall Brewery is located at 1430 Washington Avenue (Seven Corners area) in Minneapolis.