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Real Ale
I just listened to a James Spencer podcast on real ale and cask conditioning. I know this is primarily an English practice so I thought I might ask Brewchez if he might post what he knows about the subject to help shed some light on the practice for the rest of us. What can you share about the practice? Have you before, or do you currently cask condition? I know that most of us as homebrewers create real ale when if we bottle condition our beers but know little else on the subject. Thought this might be a good subject to touch on as I would like to see the articles section of this site expanded on but am just learning the basics myself and would like to gain some more knowledge before submitting something.
I probably know about as much as you do at this point. I love cask conditioned ales, but I don't have a cask set up at home yet. I have been looking for the ideal setup at home, but haven't gotten there yet.
(I think Wild has a set up with a homemade beer engine)
I basically view real ale as naturally carbonated beer. You can do it by bottling before your terminal gavity is reached (tough to gauge), Krausening at bottling (moderately tough) or add fresh wort (easiest).
I bottled up some Pale once using fresh wort instead of corn sugar, and it came out great. The carbonation was a little low, but it was fine.
True cask conditioned ale though would be a great achievement at home, essentially just carbonated by closing up the vessel towards the end of the ferment, then chilling and serving from the same vessel. Doesn't sound hard, but you really need to be set up to let the cask finish out in the same place you plan to serve it from. Once I build a dedicated bar, I may give this all a try with a corny keg and a beer engine.
Yeah, I've brewed Real Ales for home use and festivals. Basically it's a keg conditioned beer that is served without the use of external CO2. My nesvt beer (Roggen) will be done in this style. It's a tasty treat and I highly recommend it.
Wild
If you want to use true casks and other traditional things for real ale, you can get them here.
http://www.ukbrewing.com/
Casks cost a pretty penny. The 10 gallon "firkins" are cheaper than the 5 gallon "pins." I would use a 
(gasp) cask breather if you want to keep the beer for over 3 days.
The reason for the gasp is that CAMRA deplores cask breathers as "extraneous CO2" although cask breathers don't force the beer out. Cask breathers are for preservation purposes only.
Just use a vented spile and invite the friends over for a long tasting!
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