Dispense
Cask, hand-pulled
Beer that completes fermentation in the cask and is drawn by hand pump without added gas, served at cellar temperature.
Also known as handpump, beer engine, real ale.
Cask beer is a live product with a working life of a few days once tapped. That is the tradition’s cost as well as its virtue: well-kept cask is exceptional, and badly kept cask is genuinely unpleasant.
What it does to the beer
- The beer carbonates itself through secondary fermentation in the cask, producing a soft, fine condition rather than the sharp prickle of forced carbonation.
- No gas drives the beer; a beer engine draws it mechanically, so nothing is added on the way to the glass.
- Serving at cellar temperature keeps aromatics volatile, which is the whole point for beers built on subtle malt and hop character.
- A sparkler fitted to the swan neck knocks CO₂ out of solution and produces a dense creamy head — standard in northern England, generally omitted in the south, and a genuine matter of preference.
How it is served
| Container | cask |
|---|---|
| Gas | None — drawn by hand with a beer engine |
| Temperature | 11–13°C |
| Carbonation | 0.8–2 vol CO₂ — volumes of CO₂ |
Temperatures are ranges with reasons, not targets. Cellar temperature in a British pub is a band that varies with the beer and the weather, and a degree either way is not a fault.
Styles served this way
- Best bitter
A step up from ordinary bitter in strength and depth, with more malt body while staying firmly sessionable.
- British golden ale
A modern British cask style: pale, crisp and citrus-hopped, developed to win drinkers back from lager.
- Dark mild
A low-strength dark British ale, gently sweet and nutty, built for drinking in quantity after physical work.
- English brown ale
A malt-led brown ale with hazelnut and caramel character, moderate strength and a dry, clean finish.
- English IPA
The original IPA: a strong, firmly bitter English pale ale with earthy, floral hop character and a dry, mineral finish.
- English pale ale
The bottled British pale ale tradition: biscuity malt, earthy and floral English hops, and a firm, dry, mineral finish.
- English porter
The original dark British beer: chocolate and light coffee over a nutty malt base, restrained rather than aggressive.
- Low-alcohol bitter
A genuinely fermented British ale brewed at very low strength, keeping cask character without dealcoholisation.
- Oatmeal stout
A stout brewed with oats for a silky, full mouthfeel, balancing roast against smoothness rather than sweetness.
- Old ale
A matured English strong ale with dried fruit, treacle and often a trace of oxidative or wild character from age.
- Ordinary bitter
The everyday British cask ale: low in strength, gently bitter, and built to be drunk in pints over a whole evening.
- Scottish ale
Malt-forward Scottish ales with caramel depth and very restrained hopping, traditionally graded by shilling price.
Questions
What does a sparkler do?
It is a perforated nozzle on the end of the swan neck that forces beer through small holes under pressure, knocking dissolved CO₂ out of solution. The result is a dense creamy head and a smoother, less gassy body — at the cost of some aroma driven off in the process. Northern English practice generally uses one; southern practice generally does not.
Other ways to serve beer
- Bottle conditioned — Beer refermented in the bottle with added yeast and sugar, producing natural carbonation and excellent ageing potential.
- Bottle, filtered — Filtered, force-carbonated bottled beer — bright and consistent, but less resilient with age.
- Cask, gravity-dispensed — Cask beer poured straight from the tap under gravity, with nothing between the cask and the glass.
- Keg, CO₂ dispense — Filtered or unfiltered beer force-carbonated and dispensed under CO₂ pressure — the standard modern draught format.
- Nitrogen dispense — Dispense with a nitrogen-CO₂ blend through a restrictor plate, giving a dense creamy head and a notably softer palate.
- Tank beer — Unpasteurised beer delivered fresh to venue tanks — the Czech format that shows a pale lager at its best.
Compare dispense methods directly on the comparison index, or read how packaging affects freshness.
Last reviewed 2026-08-15.