Cask-Conditioned Ale at Hollister Brewing

Hollister Brewing Company (Camino Real Marketplace, 968-2810) has come a long way from its merely promising initial days when its menu oddly offered “Liquid Produce from the Farmers Market” instead of a soup o’ the day. Now the food is better, the menu more direct, and the beer hop-a-licious. Just recently, they’ve gotten even better by putting some of their bodacious brews on cask, or hand pump, as it’s often called, as the beer isn’t fed carbon dioxide but is naturally carbonated and therefore less fizzy than “normal” beer. But it’s alive (!) with yeast and goodness and will be coming in varieties such as Coffee Imperial Stout, Double IPA, Imperial Amber Ale, The J, and on St. Patrick’s Day a new Irish Dry Stout.