Beer Barrels

It is likely that the barrel of ironbound wooden staves used to hold beer during its secondary fermentation originated with the “beer pails” of the Vikings. A barrel is a thirty-six-gallon cask made from metal by machines or out of white oak by a tight cooper, a craftsman who specializes in making casks that will hold liquid. Stainless steel and aluminum barrels first came into use in the United States in the 1930s, almost completely replacing oak casks by the 1970s.

Although lighter and more efficient in production of a uniform brew suitable for the mass market, metal barrels do not impart the flavor that cask conditioning does. To compensate, commercial brewers use additives to imitate the natural carbonation and unique body imparted by oak. The success of “traditional method” microbreweries has encouraged a return to oak-cask fermentation both commercially and by home brewers. Cask-conditioned beers are called real ales.