Organic honey ale is a cask-conditioned rarity

April 18, 2007: Casks of Bee’s Organic Ale are being rolled out of the brewery as Arkell’s delivers its award-winning organic ale, for the first time, in cask-conditioned form to pubs.

Ten Arkell’s pubs have taken delivery of Bee’s Organic cask-conditioned ale (4.5% ABV), created by Arkell's head brewer Don Bracher in October 2001.

He said: “There’s no difference in how organic beer is brewed — we still use the same natural ingredients, but they are all grown organically and are therefore more traditional. The ingredients for our Bee’s Organic Ale are much the same as they would have been hundreds of years ago.”

Bee’s Organic Ale is brewed using organic honey, barley and and locally- grown First Goldings hops.

Arkell’s supplied its award-winning Bee’s Organic Ale in casks ale for the first time last year as a limited edition for a special country fair near Cirencester, and it proved so popular that the brewery decided to add the beer to its regular roster of seasonal ales.

Before going ahead with the cask ale last year, the brewery had to apply for further Soil Association approval before it could be supplied with organic certification.

Nick Arkell, sales director at Arkell’s, said: “Few breweries sell organic ale in casks, so we are offering a taste of real ale which isn’t readily available.

"We were delighted with the vote of approval we received from our customers last year when we produced our first Bee’s Organic in casks. They tell us they enjoy it mainly because it tastes good, but also because it’s organic, which means the ingredients are carefully sourced.”

Arkell’s Bee’s Organic will now take its rightful place on the brewery’s regular ‘specials’ list, which means that while it won’t be a regular beer, it will be brewed from time to time during the year, to give customers a wider variety.

Organically grown malted barley, hops and, unusually, organically produced honey give this golden premium ale a light, fresh taste — with the organic honey providing a delightful and surprising flavour.