Greg Nagel of OCBeerBlog.com is bringing back a Cask Beer Festival to Southern California. Join him on March 22 and try up to 50 different beers!
As Anaheim tries to grow back its spirited beer and wine roots from the 1800’s, the city is doing everything possible to attract artisanal alcohol producers back into the region. When local historic Anaheim home owner and Great-Taste Beer guy Greg Nagel decided to host an all cask beer festival, his neighborhood seemed like the perfect place to plant his roots.
“Pre-prohibition, Anaheim was a big wine and beer town, where locals could grab a pint and chill in the brewery-owned park” says Nagel. Back then, beer was served in wooden casks of various size. The most common, a 10 gallon cask called a firkin, was set up in almost every watering hole in town. Bartenders would handpump the beer into mugs for a dingy coin.
Modern craft brewers still use this aged technique of creating cask beer; many offering a special cask night with a one of a kind beer. The beauty of a cask is it’s a one-time serving vessel, a blank canvas. Not only is the beer smoother from finishing fermentation in the vessel, special ingredients can be added to a base beer for extra fun. Coffee, tea, spices, peppers, fruit and hops make a common add-on to casks. “Once they’re done, they’re done”, says Greg.
Firkfest takes place on March 22, 2014 from noon-4pm. 30 socal craft breweries are supplying up to 50 casks for the event. Brewery response has been huge, the number of breweries had to capped due to park space. Many of the brewers that made the casks will be on hand to mingle with guests and sample each others wares.
Food vendors from the much awaited Anaheim Packing House will be selling food for the event. The Kroft, Adya, Wheat and Sons and Ecco will be giving fest goers a preview of the culinary spectrum to come in the historic building.
Tickets are availabe via Brown Paper Tickets at http://bit.ly/firkfest for $50. Price includes unlimited pours and a custom take-home glass.
Check out the event HERE
