Name the casks.

And the winners are…

This is only the first 12, and the remaining 8 will be shown at the next cask filling. It’s a long story, and I’ll tell it when I release the next Notch cask beer series in about 3 weeks. Writing on a cone shape in a circle pattern proved harder than I thought. My mechanical drawing teacher would not be pleased, and, my photographs were short on artistic flair (or focus), but I had casks to clean and rack. Here are the first 12, and you can look to the comments below for the origins. Two are my own, which is the limit of my creativity and why this contest started in the first place. Overall, great suggestions! Thanks!

Original Post:

I have 20 new casks that just shipped over from England last week, and they will be filled tomorrow with a brand new beer, a British influenced Dark Mild. This is the first of my one-off cask series that should see Boston area pubs around May 1. More news on that soon, but first up is naming these casks. Really. Each physical cask will have a name. Each cask already has a serial number, a color band, and an embossed Notch logo, but it is somewhat of a silly tradition by some brewers to give names to these casks. I never have done this, and I’ve been brewing cask beer since 1993. The cask in the following photo has been my own personal cask since the mid-90’s, and it is still without a name, but it carries the scars of many breweries. Michael Jackson even drank from it.

So, I’m starting a new tradition, both personal and for Notch, and giving names to these funny looking containers forged from British steel. And YOU are helping me, and we start today. Simply enter the suggested cask names in the comment section on this blog post, and consider it considered. It can be a theme for all 20, or just one name. Or maybe a family of names, or 20 nonsensical names. Anything goes here, the more creative the better. I reserve all rights to slightly modify the names to claim as my own, or to ignore as I see fit. If you do merit a selection, there will be rewards. Beer most likely – not sure of the details yet. But this is for fun, and you will not get rich, maybe not even drunk, off the prize package. I would suggest a few beers while you ponder names for these 10.8 gallon stainless steel vessels used in the production of cask-conditioned ale.

Have fun kids.

And here’s a little history on cask ale in New England.