But Worthington is seven miles from Ince, likely too far for Barker to have travelled there unless he did so intermittently. On a final note and as a dire warning not to let the great American tradition of pretending they invented something great and therefore know all about it, creep into cask ale writing, I recently read a treatise online vehemently demonising the sparkler. The writer’s credentials? He was an American who cited his visit to “the great Yorkshire city of Burton Upon Trent” as inspiration for his tirade against the sparkler……’Nuff said. Musings over.

In fact its use well precedes that date. The sparkler was invented and patented in the early 1880s by George Barker. He advertised the device for sale in 1885 and identified himself as from the “Crown Hotel, Ince, near Wigan”. A sparkler is a little plastic device that sits on the end of the pump and has lots of little holes, to create tiny little gas bubbles as your pint is dispensed. You end up with a creamy head that takes ages to settle. I tend to side with the north. When I make real ale at home, I usually use a sparkler. I do like a creamy head and smooth body. And a cascading beer is something to behold. However, I haven’t formed an opinion in terms of actual taste differences between the two pouring methods. I intend to conduct scientific experiments on my walk. Stay tuned. The first advertisement I saw left off the “l” in Hotel, or the upload to Google Books did that. I thought that “Ince” must also be a misprint, or an imperfect uploading again. But no, Ince is a real place nearish to Manchester, Ince-in-Makerfield. (About 17 miles).Attach the engine to the cask or barrel. Make sure the tap is in the closed position. Pump the handle of the beer engine until you feel resistance. This means that the pressure has built up enough to start dispensing beer. Open the tap and allow the beer to flow into your glass. When you're finished, close the tap and release the pressure on the beer engine by depressing the handle. What Are The Benefits? The sparkler was referred to parenthetically in a 1949 brewing journal article by J.W. Scott, “From Cask to Consumer”. Initially, I thought it was a post-1945 invention, or perhaps an expedient to make thin, wartime beer more attractive in the glass. You don’t read much today about “the sparkler – is it good or bad?”, but oceans of ink and bandwidth were sacrificed in the past to a cause that seems delphic to non-initiates. Tyson, your date of first internet use (wow! congratulations! you’ve got street cred, bro!) doesn’t do anything to change this fact: assuming that your readers know exactly what you’re talking about is not widely considered a practice of good writing — not in blogs, not in newspapers, not anywhere. I gather from your comment that you’re not a writer by profession, so I do understand your confusion there.

The English pub culture, with all its distinct regions and football schisms, generally shares an undivided adoration for real ale. However, there is one point in which the country vehemently disagrees: to sparkler or not to sparkler. The sparkler is the King in the North, while in the south (meaning, anywhere but the north), it is considered terrible for beer. It's important to clean your engine after each use to prevent bacteria from growing. Start by disconnecting the beer engine from the cask or barrel. Remove the tap and disassemble the parts. Clean all of the parts with water and a cleaning solution. Caustic solution of 2 to 3% would be suitable to clean a beer engine and it's lines.Soak and Rinse the parts well. Allow them to air dry. Reassemble the beer engine and connect it to the cask or barrel. Where Can I buy One? Perhaps the south’s primary gripe with the sparkler is that it produces a finger or two of head, which replaced another ounce or two of beer. The sparkler, it’s argued, results in a short pour.I cannot find any trace of a Crown Hotel at Ince. But there was one – and is – at 106 Wigan Road, New Springs, near the canal. Ince was a kind of suburb of Wigan, itself some miles from Manchester. The beer engine was invented in the early 19th century and has been used in pubs ever since. It gives the beer a distinct texture and feel from modern-day dispensing systems you see today. We're going to talk about this fascinating piece of equipment. So let's go. What is a Beer Engine Device? The engine is a hand-operated pump that is used to draw beer from a cask or keg. Dispensing real ale. It is also known as a beer “handpump”, and is a common sight in British pubs. With a few bars using them today in the states. Once you have selected the perfect beer engine for your needs, be sure to clean and maintain it on a regular basis to ensure that your beer always tastes its best. Summary

It’s often argued by the no sparkler corner that perfectly conditioned beer needs no sparkler. Probably true but as with most things in life, true perfection is well nigh impossible to achieve on a regular basis. There are so many variables from brewer to cellar man that the perfectly conditioned pint is not always achievable no matter how good the craftsman. It would make sense then to get a little help wherever we can. There is some dispute about the benefits of a sparkler. There is an argument that the sparkler can reduce the flavour and aroma, especially of the hops, in some beers. [6] The counter argument is that the sparkler takes away harshness. [7] Pump clips can be made of various materials. For beers that are brewed regularly by the big breweries, high quality plastic, metal or ceramic pump clips are used. Smaller breweries would use a printed plastic pump clip and for one-off beers laminated paper is used. There are variations on the material used, and the gaudiness or tastefulness of the decoration depending on how much the brewery wants to market their beers at the point of sale. Novelty pump clips have also been made of wood, slate and compact discs. Some even incorporate electronic flashing lights. Older pump clips were made of enamel.A pump clip is usually attached to the handle giving the name and sometimes the brewery, beer type and alcoholic strength of the beer being served through that handpump.

Breweries may state whether or not a sparkler is preferred when serving their beers. Generally, breweries in northern England serve their beers with a sparkler attached and breweries in the south without, but this is by no means definitive. [ citation needed] Pump clips [ edit ] A George Gale HSB pump clip What if we told you that there was a device that could help you pour beer from traditional cask-conditioned ales? Pouring the perfect beer every time. And all you had to do was follow a few simple steps with a hand pump? The Beer Engine is just that device, and this guide will show you how to use it like a pro. Whether it's mounted to the bar top or used with a clamp on. In addition to the name of the beer served through the pump, they may give other details such as the brewer's name and alcoholic strength of the beer and serve as advertising.Cask ale of course has no CO2 added at the brewery or pub, so, as it pours fairly flat, the sparkler enlivened pints that looked unattractive. For some reason the south has never minded flat pints, it may be palate-related, it may be the desire to have a brimful glass. New Springs is only two miles from the centre of Ince. You see its Crown Hotel pictured, a handsome house that looks old enough to have been the locale where Barker did his field work.