Dean’s Save the Cask?

Dean’s, a pub on the fringe of New York’s Soho neighborhood, opened earlier this year boasting a modern British menu, and even British wines. And despite several local breweries making excellent British-style ale and a recent uptick in imports of British beer (e.g., Theakston and Black Sheep), Guinness has been one of the most talked-about things for this British-inspired pub.

That’s Guinness. The iconic beer from Ireland.

The dark, easy-drinking Irish Stout is all over their Instagram account and even makes its way onto the food menu with Guinness bread and a shot of Guinness topped with an oyster (which I love, by the way).

I know. Guinness has been having a moment the last few years. It’s not just places like Dean’s that are riding the wave. But there’s something about British spots doing it that seems particularly jarring, blurring the lines between British and Irish culture.

Sure, even back in England, Guinness is popular at the pub. However, it should go without saying that Guinness is not the best beer to represent British heritage. Further, there’s a unique British beer culture that can be way more rewarding than Guinness. I am, of course, talking about hand-pumped, cask-conditioned beer.

Admittedly, cask beer fell out of fashion in England, which was not immune to the international dominance of bland adjunct lagers in the latter part of the last century. The subsequent craft beer movement didn’t help.

But as hopheads from England’s craft beer boom age into tempered boomers, they’re realizing how unique and special cask beer is. Accordingly, numbers for cask ale are up in its homeland, including a notable bump up with Gen Z, according to the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA). In addition to craft brands, legacy brews like Boddington’s and Bass are once again flowing at pubs, offering more versatile pale and amber alternatives to Guinness.

Yet, in New York, there are just two English-style pubs (the Jones Wood Foundry and The Shakespeare) that are capitalizing on the spectacle of a hand-pulled pint, cascading as it settles on a bar. That’s a shame.

Places like Dean’s, with glowing reviews and social media attention, have a real opportunity to celebrate true British pub culture with cask ale. Maybe they’ll give it a thought as they settle in.