Advice about Kegging beer in 9 gallon casks

[Trom-man76]

Hi
Some advice much appreciated please

If putting beer in 9 gallon casks do you then keep the cask initially after casking with priming sugar at 18 oC for 7 days to allow the beer to carb up before chilling and storing at 12 oC ? And is it correct that the beer shelf life in the cask is 6 weeks and is that the time from production or the time it is stored at 12 oC?

Many thanks for your advice

 

[Dutto]

Presuming that you are referring to stainless steel casks and not wooden ones then ...

I've only ever used 25 and 10 litre plastic PB's and 10 litre Growlers, however I have some Mild that has been in a PB for over six months now and it still tastes fine so I think the "six weeks" storage time is not correct.

Having said that, I make sure that everything is sanitised up the yin-yang before I transfer a brew into storage and in most instances I wait up to a month before even tasting it.

With my 10 litre Growlers I sugar-carbonate half of them and use CO2 to carbonate the others. I also use CO2 to maintain pressure on the PB's rather than just letting air into the PB when the pressure drops.

With wooden casks, in days of yore a barrel could start to taste of vinegar after a matter of days rather than weeks if the beer wasn't consumed; especially if it was kept in a warm cellar. This is one of the reasons why (when not in war-time) most of the older beer recipes had a higher ABV than many of those on offer today.

Hope this helps.

 

[stz]

Just to clarify .. You want to rack 9g cask? You aren't kegging anything?

You can store casks at whatever temperature for whatever length of time you want? The length of time to develop adequate condition for service which is primarily what people care about is influenced by temperature, PG vs FG, yeast count and your interpretation of adequate which is dependent upon style, abv, there are many variables. Ideally you need to do what works for your product and business model. Having a heated conditioning room is relatively 'fancy' and rare, especially as you'll rack cold beer.

Storing things at 18C for a week costs time, space and energy, also ties up rolling stock. I don't prime unless I have to because it is an additional step and sugar isn't free. Tbh I try to rack almost fast cask because publicans appreciate it. Shelf life? This is a measure of the brewers faith and experience unless you do accelerated shelf life trials. Surely at home it is whatever you want it to be. Commercially? The same, but how do you prove it and show due diligence? Beer doesn't really go off, it just becomes unpalatable to so many customers that it is too much effort to sell. You can't just use blanket statements like 6 weeks (very short, don't expect distribution).

 

[simon12]

You can pretty much treat it like a large bottle but you want the carbonation level lower, also remember it takes alot longer for the temp of 9 gallons to change. If unopened it can last along time and depends on the beer style but once opened you have a very limited time before it tastes bad.

 

[Trom-man76]

Thanks for the advice. I am kegging in 9 gallon firkins and am priming with 400grms brewing sugar dissolved in one litre of water - does this seem ok ? Do not won't to over prime and blow out the shives and keystones from these plastic casks!

First kegs being filled this weekend.

Am just starting out and only doing four 9 gallon casks per week, so very small nano brewery.

Very exciting but also worried I will cock it up. Don't want my first cask to be s**t as only bottled before as a home brewer

All the next
Any help always welcome

 

[Trom-man76]

Should have been all the best

 

[simon12]

400g sounds way to much off the top of my head 150-200g should be plenty.

 

[terrym]

Best advice you will get is from @simon12 cos he's done it.
So note what he has said about priming rates and shelf life once the cask is tapped and beer is being served from it, although this may not be your concern if you are selling on to others.

 

[simon12]

To be honest I have never done it I casked beer 1 gravity point from final instead of priming and didn't always get it right.

 

[Trom-man76]

Thanks simon12 will go with 150grms

 

[MmmBeer]

If you can, it helps to give the cask a quick blast of CO2 before priming to purge the oxygen out. Its also common to add isinglass finings with your primings. And the obvious, clean and sanitise the bejeesus out of it.