Beer tip: Malted Barley

High Street, Westerly

You haven't really tasted beer until you've enjoyed a cask-conditioned ale. Unlike with your typical draft beer, carbon dioxide is not used to draw the beer from the cask, or keg. For the uninitiated, this produces what might be mistaken for a flat beer. But don't be fooled. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, cask beers are as fresh as you'll get, and you'll be able to pick up the flavors of the malt and the hops like never before. The bad news: they're hard to find in this part of the country. The good news: Malted Barley taps a cask every Wednesday night, which usually lasts through Sunday. On a recent visit, I tried Rapscallion Premier, an American blonde ale from a small brewery in West Concord, Mass., that I've never heard of. The message is clear: Malted takes their beer seriously. And if you do, too, then get over there on a Wednesday night.

- TIM COTTER