5 reasons to take home Draught beer this summer
As a brewery, we are of course obsessed with the classic pint and nothing beats enjoying it in a traditional pub. However the Brewery Shop offers draught cask and keg beer so you can take home that pub-quality beer. You may be wondering, I have been enjoying your bottled beer for a number of years so why should I start taking draught beer instead? Of course we love our bottled beer still and some of our range is only available in bottles anyway (RipSnorter, Hop Garden Gold) but here are some of the top reasons why we think you should give draught a go this summer.
1. Beer as it's meant to be drunk in the comfort of your own home
Straight in with the TOP reason - it tastes the best. Cask ales are live, natural products which are given depth of flavour and condition from light secondary fermentation whilst in the cellar and then by being poured through the pub handpull. Bottled ale has added carbonation to preserve the beer and extend it's life but does mean the end flavour is slightly different.
Draught beer only has a limited lifetime but if you know you are going to drink it within a couple of days then it's well worth giving it a go.
2. Half the price of your pub pint!
With prices ranging from £1.85 to £2.45 per pint for takeaway consumption (dependent on how much you order!) that's significantly cheaper than your local. You can take home beer in 3.5, 5.5 or 9 pint PET bottles, 20 or 40 pint beer boxes (called mini-pins and poly-pins) or a 72 pint firkin for cask ale to suit plenty of different events.
3. You'll look like a beer
aficionado at your BBQ or Party!
If you turn up at a party with a mini-pin of fresh beer under your arm, your friends will have nothing but respect for you. If you're putting together plans for your BIG day then get in touch with the brewery shop who can talk you through your options including how to set up a firkin of beer.
You can pre-order poly & mini-pins of our draught beer online but PET bottles are ordered in-store as they don't take long to pour.
4. It's easier than you think to set up
Understandably there's a little trepidation when we suggest it to new customers in the shop for their weekend event but it couldn't be easier to set up a mini-pin or firkin. Once you've decided whether you want Bright (ready to drink now, lasts 3 days) or Sedimented (leave to settle for 2 days, lasts up to a week once open / 3 weeks if unopened) beer setting up is pretty straight forward. Take a look at our Head Brewer, Miles' Guide to choosing your Draught Beer.
Mini and poly-pins have a tap so can just be poured, firkins are sealed so when ready just need to have the tap whacked in. Here's our 60 second guide to how you do this:
5. Better for the environment
Being based in a Grade 2 listed farmhouse means that we don't have space for a bottling plant here on site. That means that for our bottled ales and lagers the beer is brewed here and then transported off-site to be bottled. Our current initiative with the Hop Garden is to produce beer which goes from Field to Firkin in a Furlong so the more draught we are able to sell, the better it is for our customers and for our carbon footprint.
All of our takeaway bottles as well as the mini and poly-pin boxes are recyclable at kerbsite whilst the inner bags of the beer boxes can be recycled at special recycling points - listed here. Keep your eyes peeled on exciting developments on takeaway containers coming very soon!
Due to legal requirements for fresh products, we have to put all PET bottles in a plastic bag before they leave the shop. Beer is also affected by something called 'Light-strike' where acids in the beer react with sulfur compounds in UV rays, giving beer a sulfuric taste and/or smell. We are more than happy to put the beer in your own bag though if you let us know before we pour it!