A new book aims to provide the definitive guide to cask beer, the unique format of a live draught brew that, at its best and freshest, delivers a subtlety and complexity of flavour in session ales of modest strength unmatchable in any other way.

Award-winning writer and BEER contributor Des de Moor is hard at work on Cask Beer: The real story of Britain’s unique beer culture for publication next summer by CAMRA Books.

Des said: “Despite all the attention from beer enthusiasts over many decades, cask remains a much-misunderstood format.”

He plans to put that right with a comprehensive work for the general reader covering how cask evolved, how it’s made and served today and what exactly makes it so different and special. He’ll also look at the challenges facing the format, such as quality, price and competition from a dazzling range of flavourful beers in cask and bottle.

“As a brewer recently told me, cask is the ultimate craft beer. Its peculiarities should be celebrated as the hallmarks of a product just as particular and artisanal as a Belgian lambic or a one-off hazy pale ale, and just as relevant to today’s more discerning market,” said Des.

For more about the project, see https://desdemoor.co.uk/my-new-book-explores-the-pleasures-and-secrets-of-cask-beer/