In the UK, and around the world, cask conditioned beer is seen as a British phenomenon and yet, there are pubs around the world like The Dandelion, Philadelphia U.S. that offer cask beer, In this three-part series David Jesudason investigates the type of customer who drinks in these pubs. Are they locals or British people who live abroad? What kind of experiences are they looking for? Are they wanting to recreate a slice of home or is it because of a genuine love of British beer? David looks into the practicalities of serving British beer abroad and whether the beer and the pub experience can be considered as ‘good’ as it is in the UK.
Old Speckled Hen isn’t as old as you may think. Although its original brewer, Morland, can trace its history back to 1711, the ale marketed by Greene King like it’s an artefact from a simpler, bucolic past was actually first made in Abingdon in 1979 and named after an old battered featherlight saloon used by workers as a run-around – nicknamed ‘Owld Speckl’d Un’ – in the Oxfordshire market town’s MG factory.
Like the wooden-framed car, the beer is pretty reliable, unfashionable and totally unique to Britain. It’s a bitter that’s easy to take for granted as it’s not tricky to find but can often be overlooked for flashier, newer ‘models’. But in one bar in Philadelphia, USA it’s desired like a modern supercar and its drinkers just can’t get enough of it or any similarly British-style hand-pulled beer.
It’s a big surprise because the Dandelion sounds like an unremarkable place. The multi-storied venue is part of a restaurant group that also includes French, Japanese and Italian outlets and its customer base are part of the city’s financial district, which doesn’t appear like it could contain discerning real ale enthusiasts supping bitters under the shadow of the city’s skyscrapers. But its management’s love and commitment to cask marks it out as really quite special and ensures that pints are popular despite fetching up to $12 (£9.65).
“If we’re able to get something British on,” Mark Crookston, general manager tells me. “Those are the beers that are guests are going to go after the most. It comes over on a boat. We taste it before we hook it up and serve it to our guests.
“It’s authentic – and that’s what people go for.”
Cask being shipped from the UK has its problems though, Crookston tells me. Some of the beer is spoiled by the time the boat gets to Philadelphia – a website I look at estimates that the voyage could take 22 days – and import issues (Brexit, Covid) has meant he hasn’t had a shipment for three years. In fact, even before this trade disruption the Dandelion wouldn’t get any beer in the summer months because it was too hot for the ale to survive and would have to wait for late October/early November for a big shipment to see them through its busy winter months.
So despite the clamour for British beer – London Pride is also a favourite tipple – the Dandelion has to look nearer to home and serve cask beer made by local breweries, which means a heavy rotation of IPAs despite the overwhelming customer preference for bitters.
“We have a core base of local breweries,” Crookston says. “That we’ve been getting [cask] from for the last decade. And they know what they are doing. They were brewing it before we came along [as a business] and the only challenge was that we do a lot more [cask] than anyone else.”
Crookston believes that because his punters are used to gassed IPAs they don’t do as well on cask and has noticed more of a popularity – particularly in colder months – for hand-pulled stouts and porters.
“In the cellar,” he says. “We have a separate walk-in cooler specifically for our cask ales that’s a temperature of between 50F-55F (10C-12.8C). The standard draft beer a the Dandelion is served at 32F (0C).”
The Dandelion is a high-volume venue with Saturdays particularly busy with 800-1,000 customers being served between brunch and dinner.
There’s no wastage of cask beer even though they have six lines on at once, but despite this its business model hasn’t been replicated by its rivals in the City of Brotherly Love. The Dandelion is an outlier but the novelty of cask beer doesn’t put off their customers.
“Anyone that walks into one of the rooms,” Crookston says. “And sees the engine handles on the bar, their mind starts wondering ‘What is that?’ and then the conversation starts.
“We offer half pints. Even if they’re not sure they then may order a half. The interest of being in a different environment and offering something different is enough for us to move a decent amount of product. We offer customers a great variety of cask. If other bars in our city have cask then they usually have only one on at one time.”
The environment is certainly different. It’s quite rare to find such British-style luxury without it lapsing into colonial chic but what the Dandelion offers is a country-club setting in a busy urban district. To replicate this kind of British style, which is resplendent with oak panelling, without it feeling cheap or tacky is incredible and it doesn’t feel like home from home because this kind of decor isn’t like a traditional local pub. At least not the ones I’m used to in south London.
It’s interesting because Philadelphia in the summer months can be very humid and sticky contrasting with our country’s variable warmer season – it makes me wonder if these plump cushioned seats and wood-burning fireplaces that we crave when it’s cold are a good idea in a place like Philly. The customers don’t seem bothered though and still love the countryside-style comfort in the heat – but it does affect their preference when it comes to drinking cask ale.
“The direction in the warmer months is for a cold refreshing beer,” Crookston says. “Rather than something that isn’t room temperature. Then we go with the flow and if we feel the demand is slowing down then we maybe will go down to two [hand pumps] serving cask.
“We might then have an ale, a porter or whatever we can get on IPA.”
You would then think with the heat in those months that his customers are ardent Anglophiles to be eating shepherd’s pie or bangers and mash while drinking cask in hot weather, but Crookston laughs at the suggestion.
“I don’t think Philadelphia is,” he says. “I’ve not encountered that. They like hearty, warming dishes and are excited to see what [beer] we offer.”
Perhaps the killer reason why the Dandelion’s cask works is because the staff are trained expertly in how to handle the beer, explain it to the customers and work the cellar so the beer is always at its freshest. Another way Dandelion fostered interest in cask was to hold special events during Philly Beer Week, which runs in the summer, and they had a lot of success with cheese and beer pairing sessions.
And, now, the management tries to be as authentic as possible by including a “British” cheese-board, which Crookston admits sometimes doesn’t have cheeses imported from here but includes cheddars, blue and soft cheeses. They even do a Welsh rarebit which is hugely sought after by the cask drinkers.
This enthusiasm – and demand – for cask leads me to ponder if a huge opportunity is being missed and a large outlet like Dandelion could be working with a small brewery to brew its own beer. I imagine it would be the perfect match of UK/US with fresh hops and a nice bitter tone – they could even call it The Special Relationship. However, the thought doesn’t seem to have crossed Crookston’s mind.
“It’s something we could potentially do,” he says as if I’ve caught him on the backfoot. “Whatever that’s being prepared for us is run-off or whatever they have they can use. Maybe it’s naturally prepared or maybe they add some citrus, herbs or coffee. But I’m not sure there’s enough demand where something can be solely made for us.”
To round things off I ask Crookston what his favourite beer is and I’m shocked to discover he’s never visited us and had a “real” cask beer served in this country. He’s keen to come to Britain but his successful business shows that a knowledge of cask can be obtained many miles from this island. You just have to have enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. In fact,
“Our basic description for someone enquiring about cask ale,” he concludes. “Who doesn’t have any knowledge at all is we tell them it’s a traditional style of serving an ale, there’s additional fermentation within the vessel, the cask, the firkin.
“We say it’s something that’s constantly changing and served at a slightly warmer temperature and that as a drinker will really allow you to capture more of the flavour.”
I’m reminded of the MG’s Owld Speckl’d Un’ run-around car and how it might be slow paced but, like cask at the Dandelion, it allows you to capture the flavour of the finer things in life. In fact, cask beer at the Dandelion actually puts a stop to any outdated views we may still hold of America being a quick, brash – superficial even – country because the Dandelion’s love of cask beer shows that they cherish the slower, more reliable things in life. And if cask can be super popular in a business district of a major US city then it can be a cause for celebration anywhere in the world.
David Jesudason
David Jesudason
David Jesudason
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