Draught beer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Draft beer)

Beer Portal

</div>

Draught beer (also called draft beer or tap beer) is any beer served from or conditioned in a cask or pressurized keg and then transferred to smaller containers."<ref>[1] </ref> It includes cask ale, keg beer and bottled and canned beer, especially those that are cold-filtered or use nitrogen widgets. This use is controversial among more conservative beer drinkers.<ref>[2]</ref>

1 Meaning
2 Unpasteurised
3 Draught-flow
4 Smooth flow
5 References
6 See also

[edit] Meaning

Originally, beer was pulled from casks with a hand pump. The word "draught" comes from the verb "to draw", meaning "to pull", and thus means beer that is drawn from a barrel. This is still widespread for real ale. In modern commercial beer dispense, the metal keg barrel is pressurized with carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas. Pressure in the keg drives the beer to the dispensing tap, or faucet.

The pressure of the CO₂ in the keg maintains the dissolved CO₂ in the beer and varies depending on the amount of carbon dioxide the brewer crafted into the beer and the keg storage temperature. Occasionally, the gas is blended with nitrogen (N₂) gas, allowing the keg to be pressurized above the ideal set point for 100% CO₂. Nitrogen is used because it is 80 times less soluble in water than CO₂ (it is much more difficult to 'nitrogenate' than to 'carbonate').

[edit] Unpasteurised

Draught beer is usually unpasteurised and thus suffers no loss of taste due to heating. It should be consumed quickly after being "tapped", and is generally truer to the flavours of the ingredients -- pasteurisation exposes the beer to heat and changes the taste profile. Draught beer should be kept refrigerated between 2°C (35°F) and 4°C (40°F). Above 6°C (44°F), a beer may become wild, turn sour and cloudy in a day or two. Below 6°C (44°F), a keg of draft beer should last 20-30 days before it loses its fresh brewery taste and aroma.

[edit] Draught-flow

The words "draft" and "draught" have become marketing terms to describe unpasteurised canned or bottled beers, implying that they taste and appear as beers from a keg or cask. Two examples are Miller Genuine Draft, which is a cold-filtered lager, and Guinness stout in patented "Draught-flow" cans and bottles. Guinness is an example of beers that use widgets to simulate the turbulence caused when draught beer is forced or pulled through a sparkler draught faucet, also known as a swan neck.

[edit] Smooth flow

Smooth flow, or cream flow or just smooth, refers to beers pressurised with nitrogen, either from a can or bottle with a widget, or from a pressurised keg.