cask conditioned and non-pasteurized beers in MD/DC/VA

snipped-for-privacy@att.net (andy) wrote in news:15b4e5ed.0312091834.498c3dc0 @posting.google.com:

In DC, RFD typically has something on cask.

Strictly in terms of non-pasteurized beer, I'm pretty sure nearly all kegged beer is not pasteurized.

Thanks, Dan and Expletive. I have seen posts that go both ways on whether domestic kegs are pasteurized or not, and also with imported bottled beers, so I wanted to try to get as accurate an idea as possible which ones were the "good" ones. I've decided that life is too short to drink any more flavorless beer.

Andy

snipped-for-privacy@att.net (andy) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

As for non-pasteurized (didn't read that part at first), there's hundreds of them. Any bottle-conditioned brew will be unpasteurized, and the yeasts will continue doing yummy things over time. Lots of incredible brews out here, is a glorious place to live beer-wise. For great IPAs, Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and Victory Hop Devil are great. Dominion (in VA) makes good brews. In particular, I'm in love with the New River Pale Ale.

Loads of good stuff. Suggest hitting ratebeer.com. Here's a link for highly-rated East Coast beers though, if you're just getting into trying different stuff, you might want to be a bit wary of the top of the list. Very strong stuff up there, can be a bit intimidating.

I have seen posts that go both ways on

Well, posts might go both ways, but *in general* US domestic megabrew in kegs ISN'T pasteurized (in the UK, it's different, with "keg" beer and "real ale") BUT it is so heavily filtered that it's really not much of a selling point.

and also with imported > bottled beers,

Hmmm...many (most?) bottle conditioned beers (esp. from the UK) will say so on the label, so it's safe to assume the other imports (German & Czech lagers, etc) aren't . (I'd say you'd have to make an exception for Belgians in this case but the label will often give you a hint, too.)

so I wanted to try to get as accurate an idea as

"Good Beer" (fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view) isn't as easy as just drinking non-pasteurized beers. You'll drink a lot of very dull US draft beer AND miss out on some really great bottled beers, as well.

Thanks a lot for your help, guys. This clears things up a lot.

Andy