Revelation hosts third edition of Firkin Fest
Revelation Craft Brewing in Rehoboth Beach was the scene for beer drinkers from all over Delaware to come for the brewery’s third Firkin Fest March 26, an event that encouraged breweries to come up with creative cask beers.
In beer terms, a firkin is a type of cask, usually holding between 10 and 12 gallons, that serves what is referred to as “real ale,” beer that is carbonated naturally, not through adding carbon dioxide. Typically in beer brewing, carbon dioxide is added throughout the fermentation process and when the beer is kegged, which produces the foamy head when the beer is poured.
To tap the cask beer, the cask was laid down horizontally – wood supports help keep casks on the tables – and a wooden stopper was placed at the top of the firkin. The brewers took the taps and used mallets to hammer them into the firkin, and service was open.
Revelation founder Patrick Staggs said, “We have a lot of fun with this. This is a pretty cool chance for breweries around the state to come down, and they do their own casks. Some do traditional ales or lagers; others are going to do something fun with it to give their own spin on it. This is a pretty neat event for our guests to come and not only have beers from other breweries, but have crazy, fun takes on different styles.”
There was lots of creativity on display.
For instance, Revelation took its New Zealand pale ale – which uses New Zealand hops, hence the name – and mixed in peach puree to add peach flavor to a traditional pale ale. Midnight Oil Brewing Company in Newark brought its Orion double IPA but added blood orange peel. Blue Earl Brewing of Smyrna blended its Nut Sauce Peanut Butter Stout and berry sour together to make a concoction that could best be described as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a glass.
Dogfish Head brought along a classic from its repertoire, Aprihop, where the cask style allows the apricot flavors of the base beer to shine.
Dogfish brewing ambassador and pub brewer Bryan Selders said, “We’ve done this event in the past, and when Patrick asked us to come to the event, we were all over it. I love cask beer, and we hadn’t brewed a cask beer in some time.”
It wouldn’t be a Delaware beer festival without colorful names for individual beers. The winner on this count was Autumn Arch Beer Project from Newark, whose concoctions were named Did You Touch My Drum Set, a nod to the movie “Step Brothers,” and Yippee Ki-Yay Motherfirkin, a tribute to the “Die Hard” films.
The event was sold out; Staggs said a portion of the event proceeds would go to the Delaware Brewers Guild, a nonprofit organization that supports craft brewers in Delaware.
