New Local Beer Served in Old Style

Liam Flynn’s Ale House started serving a new beer in an old world style Monday.

The Irish pub received a one-off cask-conditioned batch of Red Cent Amber Ale from the Abell-based Public Works Ale. What makes the cask different is that it is hand-pumped the way beer was traditionally served in pubs across the Atlantic.

"Cask experience is a little different, not that it's any better or any worse, it's just sort of different because of the natural yeast and the filtering, it's an overly pleasant experience," said Liam Flynn, the ale house's owner. 

Patrick Beille, owner of Public Works Ale, said the major differences in a cask beer, as opposed to a standard keg, are that the brew isn't filtered or carbonated.

"We get this beer directly from the fermenter, and we just added a bag of hops in it and we closed that, which means you have to have a special tap to serve this beer," Beille said.

He described the cask amber ale as a clean beer that's easy to drink with a reasonable bitterness.

"It's really a beer for pleasure. It's not an extreme beer. It's something that you drink everyday, and maybe more than one," Beille said. "That's the spirit of [the beer]."

Flynn wanted to ask Public Works Ale since they started if he could have a first-cask because they are hard to get in Baltimore. Because of his pub's proximity to the brewery and the fact the ale house is a top seller of Red Cent, Flynn's wish was fulfilled.

"Our clientele, I try and move a lot of the better styles in here, and they appreciate it," Flynn said. "Because we're the biggest sellers of Red Cent so far, it's a new beer I'm sure it will take off, and since we’re not that big of an operation a bigger place will probably out sell us, but I know we'll always have it on tap."

Public Works Ale began producing beer at the old Canada Dry bottling building last spring and also produces the Knuckle-Buster IPA and Fair Shake APA.