How to kill cask?
No, I am not going to go on about the UK’s government (little “g”) latest budget and its disastrous impact on pubs in the old country, and by extension, its disastrous impact on real ale in the old country.
That is a subject for weightier writers than myself to cover.
But I would like to rant about point out that it doesn’t seem to matter which of the major political parties you vote for in Britain; they are both in the same habit of taxing their cultural institutions to death.
“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” (Townsend)
You just don’t know who the true villains are, unlike … erm … er … yeah.
But you didn’t come here for that kind of journalism, you are here for the more shallow, anecdotal stuff.
So let’s get started shall we?
This week’s tale takes us back to Wild East, the ongoing transformations of their excellent cask Standard Deviation stout, and the Cask Whisperer’s efforts to attempt to speed up those transformations.
For those folks who missed last week’s installment, or didn’t manage to get all the way to the end, I will bring you up to date.
For the extended holiday season, Wild East are featuring some exotic special casks on their beer engine, enhanced with seasonally-appropriate ingredients.
When I dropped by a week ago, they were pouring a blueberry pancake edition of their stout which was very tasty indeed; mostly roasty stout with a sweet/sour hint of blueberry and, thankfully, not much in the way of pancake.
We were near the top of the pin, but it was expected to kick, and be replaced by a Dog’s Nose variant sometime during last week.
Yep, I had never heard of a Dog’s Nose either.
But apparently it is an invention of the Victorians and was popular with chimney sweeps and Charles Dickens.
That is good enough for me!
Stout or porter, gin, sugar and a sniff of nutmeg.
Not much wrong with that.
After the ferry and a hike over Fort Greene, I strolled into Wild East shortly after midday on Saturday, and we got to work immediately.
A glance at the cask board showed the blueberry pancake was still on.
Robin was pouring my first pint from the handpump before I had even sat down (am I that predictable?), and estimated that maybe there were eight or more pints in the pin.
I was going to need some help if I wanted to see the Dog’s Nose on this visit.
Never mind.
If anything, the blueberry pancake was tasting even better as it got towards the end of the cask; more roast, more subtle blueberry, and even less pancake.
It was looking great too.
A deep intense black with a tight creamy head.
Definitely worth the repeat trip to Gowanus.
My second pint was exactly the same, but the third pour was a little less opaque black, and a little more murky brown, with a head that struggled to foam.
It was also a little sweeter, with notes of raspberry instead of blueberry, and is that pancake I am tasting?
Not bad, just different.
Robin checked the pin again and determined there were maybe two more pours out of it.
Another customer took a pint, one more had a smaller pour, and Robin fetched the new pin and proceeded to change over the beers.
Always fun to watch, and the good folks at Wild East have it down to an artform.
Unhook, flush lines, tap new pin (no drama), pull through, pour beer.
It took longer to get up on the stepladder and find the letters to change the listing on the cask beer slate.
So how was the Dog’s Nose?
A deep intense black with a tight creamy head.
“Meet the new beer, same as the old beer” (Whisperer)
It may have looked it, but it wasn’t the same at all.
Where the blueberry pancake had a faintly sweet fruity nose, the Dog’s Nose is all about the botanicals.
I was getting ginger (my imagination maybe?) and nutmeg along with the expected juniper.
The fragrance was quite intense, but the taste was surprisingly subtle, with the superb base roastiness putting the gin in its place.
Apparently the gin is a non-alcoholic variant, giving all the botanical notes without adding to the beer’s 6% abv.
But you wouldn’t know it, as the Standard Deviation always hits way above its stated strength; it is a full-bodied beastie.
And because of that, and the fact that I was already on my fourth pint, I made it my last of the day, and wandered back over Fort Greene to Brooklyn Navy Yard where my trusty ferry was waiting to take me back home.
If past performance is any indication, you may expect to be seeing the Dog’s Nose on the Wild East beer engine for much of the upcoming week.
Unless the chimney sweeps get there first.
Scorecard w/e 12/2/25
In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following casks:
- Wild East Standard Deviation Stout: Blueberry Pancake @ Wild East Brewing
- Wild East Standard Deviation Stout: Dog’s Nose @ Wild East Brewing
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
- 1/9/26: RIF-RAF Rhode Island’s Finest Real Ale Festival (session 1) @ The Guild Pawtucket RI
- 1/10/26: RIF-RAF Rhode Island’s Finest Real Ale Festival (session 2) @ The Guild Pawtucket RI
- Save the dates! The 2026 edition of NERAX will be from March 25th to 28th next year. Tickets will be available in early 2006.
Upcoming Random NYC Casks
- 12/10/25: National Lager Day – Eckhart will tap a cask of their Czech Amber Lager at the taproom at 4pm.
- This Friday is the first Friday of the month; be on the lookout for a cask tapping at Brouwerij Lane.
NYC Cask Venues
Known Operational/Active Beer Engines
- Jones Wood Foundry (x2)
- Fifth Hammer
- Wild East
- The Shakespeare (x3)
- Drop-off Service
- Rough Draft
Occasional Pins (worth a follow on Instagram)
- Strong Rope
- KCBC
- Tørst
- Blind Tiger Ale House
- Threes Brewing
- Brouwerij Lane (First Friday Firkins)
- The Owl Farm
Cask Venues Reachable from NYC by MTA or NJ Transit Train in Under two Hours
Metro-North Hudson Line
- Draught Industries, Beacon NY (one handpump, Old Glenham beer range).
- Coopers, Beacon NY (one handpump, Old Glenham beer range).
- Happy Valley Arcade Bar, Beacon NY (one handpump, Old Glenham beer range).
Metro-North Harlem Line
- The Ambleside Pub, Mt. Kisco NY (four handpumps, Old Glenham beer range).
Metro-North New Haven Line
- Marlowe Artisanal Ales, Mamaroneck NY (one handpump, Marlowe beer range).
- Nod Hill Brewing, Ridgefield CT (two handpumps, Nod Hill beer range).
NJ Transit NJCL Line
- Triumph Restaurant and Brewery, Red Bank NJ (one handpump, Triumph beer range).
- Little Dog Brewing, Bradley Beach NJ (one handpump, Little Dog beer range).
This Post Has One Comment
Hi Nigel, have you Strong Rope will have two cask events this month to kick off our 10 year anniversary season: Thursday, December 18 5:30pm at City Swiggers, a dry-hopped Pub Ale, and Sunday December 21 3-7pm a Winter Spiced Pub Ale at Whisk & Whiskey in Gowanus/Park Slope.
The big caskiversary party will be Saturday Feb 7 at our Red Hook Taproom.