Editing Beer tap (section)

===Cask beer tap===
[[Image:GravityTap.gif|thumb|left|Gravity cask tap]]

Beers brewed and served by traditional methods, typically [[cask ale]], do not use artificial gas. Taps for cask beer are simple on-off valves that are hammered into the end of the cask (see [[keystone (cask)|keystone]] for details). When beer is served directly from the cask ("by gravity"), as at [[beer festival]]s and some pubs, it simply flows out of the tap and into the glass. When the cask is stored in the cellar and served from the bar, as in most pubs, the beer line is screwed onto the tap and the beer is pulled through it by a [[beer engine]]. The taps used are the same, and in beer-line setups the first pint is often poured from the cask as for "gravity", for tasting, before the line is connected. Cask beer taps can be brass (now discouraged for fear of lead contamination), stainless steel, plastic, and wood.

====Tall fount====
[[File:Aitken founts 1.jpg|thumb|Aitken founts]]
In [[Scotland]], cask ale was traditionally served through a tall fount (pronounced "font").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edinburgh.camra.org.uk/dl.php?id=194090 |title=POV Magazine |date=2012 |website=www.edinburghcamra.org.uk|pages= 10–11 |access-date=2019-07-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/aug/01/top-10-craft-beer-pubs-in-edinburgh|title=Top 10 craft beer pubs in Edinburgh|author=Tony Naylor|work=The Guardian|date=August 2014 |access-date=28 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="heritagepubs1">{{cite web|url=https://pubheritage.camra.org.uk/|title=Home - Pub Heritage Site|website=pubheritage.camra.org.uk}}</ref> These appear similar to keg taps (indeed, many Scottish pubs serve keg beer through adapted tall founts) rendered from brass but the beer was drawn from the barrel via air pressure generated by a water engine rather than by a pressurised artificial gas. Some pubs still dispense cask beer using this method (although the water engine will invariably have been replaced by an electric compressor) but is increasingly rare due to the perception that [[Beer engine|hand-pumps]] are the correct means by which to serve real ale, and to the potential for confusion with keg ale, which is regarded as inferior by many beer drinkers.<ref>O'Neill, Patrick (2005) Cellarmanship, CAMRA Publications pp.68–69</ref> The Aitken fount variety is still in use in several [[Edinburgh]] pubs but there were other designs.<ref name="heritagepubs1"/>