Last month, I wrote about how a nitro beer differs from a regular beer. I have had a few people ask me since then about the differences between how beer is packaged and served in other ways. Some of these are open to interpretation, and even to individual brewery quality standards, but I will give you some general guidelines.

Draught, Draft or On Tap.
This is all the same the same thing. It is a keg that has been carbonated and is being pressurized by carbon dioxide and fed through a line to a faucet that pours it into your glass. At some point, the beer is cooled before it reaches your glass. It is important to use a quality system and keep the lines and faucets clean to make sure the quality of the beer shines through. The best part about beer served this way is the fact that you can enjoy it with the glassware that the brewer intended.

Cask.
Cask beer is not force carbonated, but sealed for a period of time to allow the carbon dioxide that would usually leave the fermenter to dissolve into the beer, allowing the beer to become naturally carbonated. It is served from that container at cellar temperature, about 50 degrees, from a hand pump. This hand pump pushes air into the keg to replace the beer that leaves the keg. This means that the beer is only good for a short period of time, as air is about 30 percent oxygen. Brewers usually go out of their way to keep their beer away from oxygen. You will often see bars advertise Cask Nights. They don’t advertise Cask Weeks for a reason. Ever have a beer from a keg in college off of one of those pony hand pumps after a day or two? That’s why.

Bottle.
A bottle, up until recently, was the sole vessel of choice for craft beer. The only option was how to seal it. There were caps, and then there were caps specifically meant to seal out oxygen to allow a beer to cellar for longer periods of time. Some brewers sealed their bottles with corks, others with caps on top of the corks, and still others with cages on top of the corks. Brown bottles were thought to filter out more sunlight, while green and clear glass were thought to allow in light, which would spoil the beer. Personally, I like glass for beers I am going to hang on to for a special occasion, like lambics and stouts. For all others I prefer….

Cans.
Cans might just be the perfect beer-delivery mechanism. Pool and spa owners will agree they never have to worry about broken glass. Cans are infinitely recyclable. They are super lightweight and portable. Cleaning up after an event is a lot easier. Some of the best beer – and best non-beer beverages, for that matter – come in cans. They let no light in. You can get some nitro beer in cans. Cans come in different sizes from 12 ounces to 64 ounces. Cans, when sealed properly, seal better than bottles. A little known fact is that Wachusett Brewery, right here in Massachusetts, is known for having one of the best canning lines in the business.

Cheers!