About the Chesapeake Bay Branch of SPBW
Officers
President: Jim Harvison
Vice Presidents: Joe Gold and Dominic Cantalupo
Treasurer: Pat McDougall
Secretary: Paul Milligan
Sargeant of Ales: Steve Marsh
Origins of SPBW
Wooden casks are quite rare these days, but in 1963, when several disgruntled beer drinkers gathered at a pub in London to discuss the founding of a society dedicated to the simple pleasure of enjoying cask-conditioned real ale, wooden barrels were still in use.
Rapidly, metal casks replaced wooden barrels, but the SPBW was, and is, more concerned with the contents rather than the container. However, the original name has been retained for the sake of tradition.
Today
Cask-conditioned real ale is the norm in Britain. America’s micro-beer renaissance has allowed brewers in America to experiment with this most prized way to dispense real ale. We have formed (the first American branch of) the oldest consumer-based group interested in stimulating the brewing of, increasing the awareness of, and encouraging the drinking of traditional draught beer.
Our Branch meets once a month at a chosen pub in the Baltimore/Washington region to enjoy the simple pleasure that is cask-conditioned real ale.
