Casking - lots of questions!

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timbowden

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HI Folks,
been brewing for a while now and have a yearning to put my beer into casks rather than king kegs for party transporting and more of a real ale experience!! I prefer flatter beer like Adnams and find kegged beer a bit too carbonated!
I am contemplating buying some of the plastic pins from CypherCo but have a few questions!
1. Do you fill casks directly from the FV? if so do you then add finings?
2. Can finings be left in the cask (say two months) and then be reactivated?
3. Do you prime casks?
4. how easy is a cask breather to use and does it just put a layer of co2 above the beer without carbonating it therefore making it last longer?
5. do you have to drink the beer within a certain timescale due to pressure build up in the cask?
6. How full do you fill casks?
7. Is casking only best for rapid consumption of beer or can it be used as everyday drinking ( cask breather again i presume?)?

my plan is to have a few pins maturing and when needed transport to a party, set up and tap - leaving it to settle again for a few hours (hence the finings question).
Got 10 gallons of Big Kenny in the FV's and wanted to get a pin and king keg filled from it!

tim

tim
 
timbowden said:
I am contemplating buying some of the plastic pins from CypherCo but have a few questions!
1. Do you fill casks directly from the FV? if so do you then add finings?

Yes.

2. Can finings be left in the cask (say two months) and then be reactivated?

The finings should make the beer bright within 24 hours. Keep the cask cool (~12degc) and they should keep working. Heat will cause them to not work anymore. However, if you use a good flocculant yeast, it should stay together assuming you're not lobbing or kicking the casks around.

3. Do you prime casks?

If you want. Commercial breweries will crash cool and then cask beer before it finishes fermenting, allowing the yeast to keep fermenting in the cask so you don't need priming sugar.

For homebrewers, it's often easier to let teh beer finish fermenting and then add priming sugar.
4. how easy is a cask breather to use and does it just put a layer of co2 above the beer without carbonating it therefore making it last longer?

They're easy to use. The beer will last longer as it's not exposed to air but it will eventually lose condition.

5. do you have to drink the beer within a certain timescale due to pressure build up in the cask?

You drink it before it goes off. Every beer is slightly different in it's timescale. Pressure buildup isn't a problem as you vent the cask before you use it. I recommend CAMRA's Cellerman's guide to learn about the art of looking after cask beer.

6. How full do you fill casks?

About 10mm from the top of the shivehole will do you.

7. Is casking only best for rapid consumption of beer or can it be used as everyday drinking ( cask breather again i presume?)?

They can be used for everyday drinking, it just depends how much you drink. With a cask breather, it could last a few weeks. Best to drink it within a week though.

my plan is to have a few pins maturing and when needed transport to a party, set up and tap - leaving it to settle again for a few hours (hence the finings question).
Got 10 gallons of Big Kenny in the FV's and wanted to get a pin and king keg filled from it!

Sounds like a good idea. I do it for parties, but i would bother for everyday drinking. However I'm going to experiment with cask conditioning in cornies soon.
 
thanks for the info james :thumb:

2. Can finings be left in the cask (say two months) and then be reactivated?


The finings should make the beer bright within 24 hours. Keep the cask cool (~12degc) and they should keep working. Heat will cause them to not work anymore. However, if you use a good flocculant yeast, it should stay together assuming you're not lobbing or kicking the casks around.

So if i keep the cask in my cellar and transport to a party then any disturbance should settle out as the finings are still live?

Quote:
3. Do you prime casks?


If you want. Commercial breweries will crash cool and then cask beer before it finishes fermenting, allowing the yeast to keep fermenting in the cask so you don't need priming sugar.

For homebrewers, it's often easier to let teh beer finish fermenting and then add priming sugar.

Is the priming rate the same as when i keg to a king keg ( 1/2 teaspoon per pint?)

tim
 
timbowden said:
So if i keep the cask in my cellar and transport to a party then any disturbance should settle out as the finings are still live?

It should be fine, yes (pardon the pun).

Is the priming rate the same as when i keg to a king keg ( 1/2 teaspoon per pint?)

Pretty much. Use about 2oz of household sugar for a pin.
 
Sound a good way to go for some purposes ;)
Have you a price on those barrels ?
Would it be possible to transfer any left over beer to bottles, possibly with a small amount of priming. Mind you when I take beer anywhere there's not usually any left, perhaps I don't take enough. :D :lol: :?
One of my tactics for party's is to use a cornie and leave the lid off, using a rag bung to secure the end of a pipe from a beer engine.
People do seem to "like to pull there own". :eek: :lol:
S
 


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