It’s Going Down For Real

The beer is alive. No, really, it is. And, it’s being held by its master in a cellar beneath the The Beer Shoppe, in downtown Yakima, Washington. While sitting at the wooden bar with a fresh pour of cask ale, I met the owner of the shoppe, Jeff Clemmons and the shoppe’s British Cellar Master, Tony Mitchelhill, someone who has an unyielding passion for cask ale. I realized I was in for a treat, and an impromptu lesson on cask ale makings.
Cask conditioned ale (aka real ale or cask ale) is a traditional process to produce and dispense beer that is rarely found in the United States, but very common, and extremely cherished, in the United Kingdom. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is a UK based consumer organization that describes real ale as a natural product brewed using traditional ingredients and left to mature in the cask (container).

From the cask it is also served in the pub through a process called secondary fermentation. Once the casks arrive at The Beer Shoppe from the brewer, they are placed in a temperature controlled beer cellar in the basement.  In the United States, standard beers (keg beers) are either sterile-filtered or pasteurized, but cask ale is simply ‘racked’ (poured) into the cask in its natural state from the primary fermenter at the brewery. The cask ale is then stored in the cellar, which is maintained at a temperature of 52-53º F until it is judged to have matured and settled properly. This judgment is the responsibility of the Cellar Master (Tony) and requires experience, knowledge, diligence and respect for tradition. It is this process which makes cask ale unique amongst beers.

The Beer Shoppe’s cellar, a large walk-in cold room, was built by Tony himself. It is based on the best practices and equipment from the UK pub industry. It has been essential to locate and work with local breweries that can produce cask ale to his standards. The cask ale inventory and timeline is tightly controlled while quality is monitored by Tony who is supported by bar staff. The nearest cellar of this kind is in Seattle, making it so special to our area.

The cask ale itself, which is naturally carbonated by the action of live yeast (it’s alive), is served at the cool cellar temperature, optimizing flavor perception. This was a surprise to me as I’m more accustomed to beer being much colder. 

Three different cask ales are continuously available providing a choice of styles that frequently include authentic British Milds and Bitters in addition to Brown Ales, Pale Ales, IPA’s, Stouts, Porters and occasionally more esoteric styles. On my visit, cask ales from Machine House Brewery, Snipes Mountain, and North Sound Brewing Company were available. Tony’s commitment to this deeply rooted process has created a whole new beer experience right here in Yakima.

The Beer Shoppe opened in 2006 and has an assortment of hard to find bottled and canned beers, both domestic and international. Jeff saw the need to bring craft beer to Yakima, even before the local craft beer excitement started. He has access to an extensive selection of draft beers that he rotates to offer customers a chance to try new and unique beers. Some brewers even drive their kegs to the shoppe to be included. When you walk into the shoppe, It appears at first to be a library of beer, so many colors, sizes, rows until you get to the back, where an expansive wooden bar invites you to grab a beer, settle in and cozy up by the fire. The history of the space reveals itself through the hard wood floors and an ornate ceiling. Grab a cask ale or beer, pull up a comfy chair, play a board game, meet a friend and enjoy pint or two.  

Beer is certainly alive in Yakima, in more ways than one!

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