Spoiler Alert: Magnolia's Dave McLean Reveals Name of Cask Beer He's Brewing for Public House

By John Birdsall, SFoodie Editor Tue., Apr. 6 2010 at 4:45 PM

Categories: Beer, Events

Jbrookston/Flickr

Dave McLean.

We tipped you earlier to tomorrow's public tapping ― and naming ― of the house brew at Public House. It's a cask-conditioned beer from Magnolia's Dave McLean, who just finished revealing the name to us (sorry Traci). Ready? It's Billy Sunday Bitter.

It's a pale copper English-style bitter ("a style which, actually, isn't very bitter," McLean says), made from heirloom Maris Otter malt (hey beer geeks: you're welcome). We'll let McLean take it from there:

It's moderately hopped (24 "bitterness units", in a bit of a nod to a number that's meaningful to the ballpark and Giants fans), with two English-originated varieties: Goldings and Challenger.... The marriage of all of those ingredients gives the beer a really evocative English feel, enhanced by the fact that it is served cask conditioned at cellar temperature. It's really a proper bitter, like one might find at any good pub in the U.K.

This is the first time McLean has made a signature beer for someone else, and the first McLean brew served exclusively cask conditioned, the brewmaster says. "I'm a huge proponent of cask-conditioned beer when produced, handled, and served correctly. It can be one of the most sublime beer drinking experiences out there, even if it often gets overlooked these days in the sea of big and assertive beers." But does it pair well with pigs in blankets?

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