Otter Brewery has launched a new beer category — Fresh Ale — that, it says, bridges the gap between craft beer, cask ale, and lager.
Fresh Ale is brewed in exactly the same way as Otter’s other cask beers, but rather than being filled into a cask, the beer is gently carbonated before being racked into a keg.
It is dispensed slightly cooler than traditional cask ale, but not as cold as keg. A light carbonation allows the beer to remain true to its cask ale equivalent in taste and body, says the brewer. As the beer has been filtered, the ale remains in perfect condition for weeks rather than days.
“Our Fresh Ale concept arrives at a time when customers are searching out drinks that are flavoursome, gently carbonated, and slightly cooler than traditional cask ale,” said Otter Brewery, managing director, Patrick McCaig.
“Our first beer in this category, Amber Fresh, has been developed to help both revive and energise the ale sector (including cask), giving drinkers of all ages the confidence of quality when making their bar call. All too often a pint of cask ale can be disappointing, and often this is largely due to the lack of throughput, resulting from too many beers on the bar. Fresh Ale comes with a guarantee of flavour and condition.”
He added: “Amber Fresh can be found at the ‘cask ale end of the bar’ — we’re not trying to disguise a cask ale as ‘craft’, we’re presenting a beer that will stand the test of time with a modernist approach to the branding.
“We have created a contemporary new font that gives Amber Fresh its own identity, along with specially designed glasses that clearly identify the fresh nature of the drink.”
The Volunteer pub, in Ottery St Mary, has been trialling Amber Fresh. Publican Mike Down said: “Amber Fresh is a breath of fresh air in the category. Since we have introduced it we have had significant interest from both ale and lager drinkers, and initial reaction from both camps has been extremely positive.
“From a publican’s perspective, the additional ‘shelf life’ of the product is exactly what is needed, especially in the run-up to the traditionally quieter months at the beginning of the year.”
