Many beer drinkers find it hard to pronounce and write draft or draught beer. If you check the Wikipedia website, you will understand that both terms describe the same type of beer.
However, we have still found some differences between draft and draught beer. Even though their similarities are more populous, there are some distinct differences that you need to know.
Draft and draught beers are there to give you an essence of originality. They come from barrels or kegs that have to get pasteurization and fermentation at the same brewery.
It’s hardly ever possible to find draft and draught beers been different and give you other results. Their taste is similar, provided that they come from the same variety and share identical beer hops and crops inside the mixture.
At this point, it would be better to have some more information about each beer and give you all the raw truth.
Draft Beer Comes from the American English Tradition
You can, most of the time, see draft beer in bars anywhere in America and South Africa, and these places have adopted the American English way of writing.
Draft means the same as draught, as dictionaries dictate, and it is about the beer you get out of a barrel or a keg.
That distinction has to do with the embattling that is not done inside a glass bottle. Most draft beer means the bartender uses a dispenser to get the beer out of the keg and serve it to the customers.
Draught Beer Is a British English Variant
When being in Britain, we act as Britons do, and this is the mother nation of beer creation in Europe.
Saxons were the first to inhabit England after the Celts, bringing their beer production tradition with them when they passed the Channel Islands.
Draught means the beer is enclosed in barrels and gets served to the customers directly from them. Without the presence of a glass bottle, this beer is fresher than any other.
Lately, we have seen some more CO2 getting in the draught beer, giving it extra taste and aromas.
Both Beers Have the Same Pasteurization Times
It’s true that all beers, draft, and draught share the same pasteurization times. That is important if you want your beer to be non-contaminated with bacteria and other agents that could cause harm to people consuming beer.
Today most governments ask brewers to declare the quantities of draft and draught beer they produce. That is to control the pasteurization methods and ensure that the beer is good for public health.
There are strict guidelines for pasteurization methods and times for draft and draught beer. They are almost identical, and they remain the best possible practice to enjoy a safe final product with lots of taste, flavors, and aromas!
Draft and Draught Beers Get Served in Kegs
One of the common features of both draft and draught beers is that they are kept in kegs. Bartenders and restaurant owners opt for draft or draught beers since they are cheaper to buy from the breweries.
Even though supermarkets are keener on bottled beers, kegs are the main tip for restaurants and bars. Draft and draught beers usually need some dispenser to get available for serving.
Also, most of the owners have an extra carbonization process to enhance the beer, but we will talk about it in a later chapter.
Draught Beer Could Be Still Fermented in Wooden Barrels
There are still some places where draught beer gets fermented in wooden barrels. Monasteries and small-scale breweries in western Europe and the British islands are the ones to ferment beer the old-fashioned way.
Real beer drinkers can easily know the fermentation quality. Wooden barrels are adjacent to the draught beer.
It’s not rare to say that in some places, draught beer automatically refers to a type of beer that has a longer and more profound fermentation period.
But above all, wooden barrels remain the most impressive link between them and remind people that when they ask for draught beer, they get the freshest and most explicit beverage of all time.
Draft and Draught Beer Has Many Varieties of Beer Hops
Beer hops are another thing for draft and draught beers. You can be sure that draft and draught beer include a wider variety of beer hops.
That could be their main point of similarity since they refer to beers with more complexity. Both draft and draught beers are made with natural spring water and beer hops planted on nearby farms.
Even though cereals and crops used for beer creation are almost identical, the presence of beer hops makes draft and draught beer a different experience. You can say a draft beer is superior simply by checking the number and quality of beer hops used in the mix.
The same applies to draught European beer.
They Can Have External Carbonization to Enhance their Taste
Even though it’s not necessary most draft and draught beers can accept external carbonization before serving. That is why a dispenser is on top of the bar countertop.
This carbonization process makes the beer more profound and enhances all the tastes and flavors. The addition of gas CO2 can happen anywhere, and the draft or draught beer becomes fuller with a richer foam.
All restaurant and bar owners prefer to carbonize their draft and draught beers to give their customers the best possible beer quality.
Final Words
As we have realized in this short article, draft and draught beer are the same when it comes to their basics. However, they have some slight differences when we consume beer in America or Britain.
Draft and draught beers are famous in the cold market. They are used to serve customers in bars and restaurants.
At the same time, they preserve beer a lot better and help to maintain the fermentation time to the lowest possible degree. Customers remain satisfied, and the beer story repeats for one more time as many people enjoy it.
