After much anticipation, I finally feasted at Back Forty. While I won’t be providing a review of this Greenmarket-inspired spot, I did want to point out something my beer-lovin’ taste buds had apparently been missing. Literally standing out from the rest of the beers on tap was an extra special beer…um, I mean, Extra Special Bitter…from Blue Point. I asked the bartender why this beer stood alone, and he explained it was a cask ale, meaning it was unpasteurized and “live.” A sucker for new experiences, I ordered one up and was rewarded with full-bodied flavor and a pleasant mouthfeel.

Since that transformative pint a few days ago, I cannot get cask ales out of my mind. I began thinking about the benefits of other unpasteurized products like the probiotic nature of yogurt and wondered if beer could have similar benefits. Some quick Google research yielded that drinking beer like this could actually save the world. In fact, CAMRA, the UK-based Campaign for Real Ale claims just that. CAMRA’s Chief Executive states on their website:

We’re all becoming more environmentally conscious and drinking a local real ale in a pub is one way of making a small but significant contribution to save the World and promote local economies in a food and drink market dominated by global companies. Draught real ale means no wasted beer cans or bottles and if you choose a locally brewed beer, you’ll help reduce unnecessary beer miles.

The article further describes the social and environmental returns as mentioned above, a few of which I highlight here:

• local economy-based job creation,
• reduced carbon footprint due to fewer “beer miles,”
• reduced packaging waste resulting from reusable casks (which last up to 20 years!)
• reduced energy usage since the beer is not served at unnatural “superchilled” temperatures and require no electricity for handpulled serving

According to Chris O’Brien, self-proclaimed beer activist and author of Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World, these benefits fall under a sustainability model called “bioregionalism.” I haven’t read the book, but his article in The Guardian gives a nice overview of how microbreweries are leading the way in locally-driven sustainable business. If you want to break it down further, I would say it’s about “Drink Local, Act Global.”

And on that note, I think I will join the festivities of Blue Point’s upcoming Cask Ale Festival (see my Good Events calendar in the sidebar for more info on this January event). Who knows? I may be inspired to craft a few brews of my own…

Saving the world never tasted so good.