Cask Ales in the USA.

I will perhaps repeat myself here and there, but I just read an article in the Spring 2026 edition of CAMRA's BEER magazine about how 'cool' cask ale is becoming in the USA. I'll write a wee bit about my experiences with ale from the USA, I have written around beers and bars in the USA a few times before, for example regarding the beer writer Michael Jackson (blog), and a friend's bar in Florida, the Brown Dog (blog). The article is called USALE and written by Ruvani de Silva.*

The image above is from Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago (website), which I visited towards the end of the last millennium whilst in Chicago delivering a paper to an academic conference; I had some time off thankfully. 😁 Anyway, I visited this brewpub in what seemed like a middle of nowhere industrial estate. I had had some advice from someone I knew who used to live close by before she moved to England, and her boyfriend, who really was the person I knew, and he had been to Chicago too. Since I visited, Goose Island has grown and been taken over by Anheuser-Busch since 2011: more in the Michael Jackson blog.

At Goose Island I had the choice of quite a number of different British style ales, Stout and Porter, traditional and Extra Strong Bitters, and an IPA/APA or two too, and served from traditional handpull beer engines. So good to see their cask ale variations, and not just at pubs and bars, but at cask ale festivals too. The image above is from the New England Real Ale Exhibition (NERAX), which is in its 25th year, indeed, it was just recently held, 25-28 March 2026 (website). It is also great to see that ales are served in British sized pints at the festival, in 20 fluid ounce glasses, and with other variations, half pints and less. 😕

Ruvani discusses bars and breweries from the East, bars like Jones Wood Foundry, 401 East 76th Street, New York, NY 10021, above (website), to the West, brewpubs like Steeplejack Brewing Company, 2400 NE Broadway, Portland, OR 97232 (website), and down South, Acopon Brewing Company, 211 West Mercer Street, Dripping Springs, TX 78620, image below (website). Jones Wood was established 15 years ago by Englishman Jason Hicks, who has lived in the USA for 30 years, and is an authentic British style bar. His cellar manager Ryan Leonard goes along with the 'cool' assessment of cask ale, stating that the number of women and younger drinkers has definitely increased over the last five to ten years.*

Anna Buxton, Head Brewer at Steeplejack Brewing, agrees that Millennials and Gen Z drinkers are turning to cask ales from stronger 'craft' beers, saying that "historically, a Portland cask ale customer was a middle aged cask enthusiast, drastically different from the new customer I'm seeing, who more consistently is late 20s and early 30s." *

This image of Acopon Brewing Company's brewpub is with thanks to the Destination Dripping Springs website, showing a rather more laid back Texas establishment. 😁 Dave Niemeyer and John McIntosh, the founders, chose to brew British style ales as they are easier for new beer drinkers, but appeal to craft beer drinkers too. John says that "people are very appreciative of the more nuanced flavours, are less bloated than when drinking carbonated beers" and like that more session strength ale "allows them to enjoy a few, not just one or two high-strength IPAs." *   

So a growth in cask-conditioned ales is happening over the other side of the North Atlantic, good to have such excellent news from the "cool" cask ale drinkers of the USA, cheers folks! 🍺