Not all beer styles are carbonated to the same degree. Beers such as cask ales are only lightly carbonated, as beer was ages ago. Wooden casks in the old days could stand only so much pressure. It doesn’t hurt that British ale tastes great this way, never mind the fact that a highly carbonated beer served at cellar temperature would be asking for trouble. Because we like ’em c-c-c-cold and because the carbonation adds to the crisp, refreshing quality, American industrial-style beers are highly carbonated.