What Is Really In Your Draft Beer Dispenser
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Defined Tag: Draft Beer Dispenser.

Do you really know what kind of beer is in your draft beer dispenser? Beer fans worldwide cannot seem to reach a consensus on what constitutes real draft beer. They cannot even agree on how to spell it. The terms draft and draught are used interchangeably. Beer connoisseurs have formed into small political groups to advance their particular meaning of the term draft beer. It may help to learn more about brewing and dispensing draft beers.

Dictionaries cite draft beer as beer dispensed from, or available to be drawn from, a cask or barrel. Another source states it is beer drawn from a keg. A third source defines it as the act of drawing (such as from a cask). It can also mean the portion of draft beer dispensed from a cask. The official references seem to agree on what constitutes the dispensing of draft beer. Why can't beer lovers agree?

The origin of the word draft is found in the act of carrying a glass of beer dispensed from a keg to the customer. Even after mechanical beer dispensers were invented, the term draft remained synonymous with the serving of beer. Whether the keg was tapped manually or the beer was dispensed mechanically, the resulting drink was referred to as draft beer. There was really no need to question the method used for dispensing draft beer.

The introduction of artificial carbonation led revolutionized the beer dispensing industry. Pressurized containers replaced their wooden keg cousins. By the late 1900s, draft beer was almost universally associated with pressurized dispensers. The disagreements over what constitutes properly dispensed draft beer arose in different countries.

In the United Kingdom, draft beer nearly always means pasteurized beer. American draft beer is dispensed in an unpasteurized state and must requires refrigeration. Other interpretations of draft ales say that it must be dispensed filtered from a pressurized container. Broader interpretations require that draft lagers only be dispensed from a keg, and not from a can, bottle, or cask. Marketing campaigns by major brewers have agitated the draft beer debate by claiming that beer dispensed into cans and bottles is also draft.

There is a lot of energy wasted on what defines properly dispensed draft beer. Beer purists can't even decide on the correct spelling. Perhaps these arguments could be solved if the antagonists would simply get together, pull several frosty mugs of ale from a draft beer dispenser, and stop talking for a while.