Serving beer

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Serving cask ale

A “beer engine” or handpump is used to siphon the beer upstairs. The beer engine is a half-pint (sometimes a 1/4 pint), airtight piston chamber; pulling down on the handle raises the piston which drags up a half pint of beer. When a cask is first tapped into the beer engine, or after the lines have been washed through, the pump needs to be pulled several times to clear the lines of air or water. The line will continue to hold beer, which will tend to go stale overnight, so the first beer pulled through will be bad beer, and this will be simply thrown away. Most pubs will pull through at least a pint of beer on each beer engine before they open, while others will wait for the first order of beer on that pump before pulling through. Experienced barstaff will serve a pint with two long, smooth, slow pulls of the pump handle, plus a short third just to make sure the glass is full.

If you peek over the bar at the spout from which the beer emerges you may notice a small flip tap and a short spout; this is normal. If you notice the spout is quite long with a hairpin curve this is a swan-neck which is designed to force the beer into the glass, agitating it so that a head is created and some flavour is reduced.

In some pubs a small device or cap is fitted to the end of the spout rather like a sprinkler at the end of a hose pipe. The device is known as a "sparkler". Like the sprinkler at the end of a hose, this can be twisted to regulate the flow of the beer. When the sparkler is tight, the beer is severely agitated resulting in a large head but a significant loss of flavour and mouthfeel. This is most common in the North of England. Many drinkers in the North prefer their beer this way; it is softer and creamier with less bitterness. Drinkers in the South tend to prefer their beer with a touch more bitterness, and a slightly harder mouthfeel.

Those seeking authentic real ale should be aware that some pubs will disguise a keg beer by having some form of imitation pump handle on the bar. If the bar staff have merely turned on a tap, or are just resting their hand on a very small handle with no pump action, then this is a keg beer. Exceptions are some pubs in the North which use electric pumps or the few remaining pubs in Scotland that use traditional air-pressure founts^[1] on cask ale. Asking the staff will usually clarify this.