Wedding Beer

[Joeyriles]

Hello,

I am looking to brew a celebration beer for two weddings happening next summer. I have a home dispensing system (kegerator) and am fairly proficient at force-carbonating.
Now, I can't transport my kegerator easily and I would like to invest in a hand-pull so that I can dispense cask beer instead of keg beer. I think it adds something to a British bitter that kegging and force-carbing sort of takes away.


Here are my conundrums:

1) I would like to get a Firkin but I understand there are legal barriers to this (Kegwatch springs to mind.)

2) I really despise flat and lifeless beer. It needn't be fizzy but it must have life to it. This is why I need a hand pump rather than just a tap. How do I go about procuring one of these on the cheap and how on earth do I attach it? I have used one before which seemed to have a 'spear' of sorts.

3) Both weddings are a significant distance from my brewery (kitchen). I usually rack as bright as I can get but I worry about the sediment becoming a problem, especially as I will likely only have a few hours of settled-cask time which could prove problematic.


Suggestions welcome! I don't know if this could become a business model for people who are having their reception in venues that don't require a licence but I thought I'd see what the outlay would be or if I'm making promises I can't keep.

 

[Brightonnik]

For all of those perhaps speak to an events management company and see if they would hire them out? Also local breweries they may be able to help with all of which you mention.

 

[Joeyriles]

Sort of like a gypsy-brewing mentality (before anyone calls me Joe Marler I am referencing Mikkeller.)
It's not a bad idea but I worry that there wouldn't be much in it for them.

 

[Spoon]

Nothing to stop you dispensing with a beer engine from a corny keg, just let all the pressure out of the barrel first via the PRV. You can't by definition get bright cask beer, it's natural carbonated in the pub cellar whilst it also settles out.

The good old fashioned pressure barrel. Downside of that is it screams 'homebrew' in a bad way (John Bull kits from boots and oxidised beer).

There's bag in a box dispensers, but they don't do pressure so you're limited to flat-ish beer.

But.......

IME Average Joe doesn't give two hoots about cask Vs keg let alone the intricacies of a hybrid serving from a keg via a beer engine. I'd just get a party tap and mini co2 (or even just an air pump if it's being drunk quickly), the beer will at least then be bright and consistent, the absolute last thing you want is to be saying "well it's good beer, but it's full of yeast today so tastes off and will give you all wind/trots/gout".

 

[Ale]

In my thread on finings someone commented about breweries using finings as they have less time to settle. Its a few down the list from this one.

 

[Bigjas]

I have a beer engine (hand pull pump) I use at home with my pressure barrels. I have a pressure release valve between the barrel and pump and it works just great. One night it dispensed 30 pints at a party. I had to keep topping up with co2 but this was easy to monitor as I have a pressure guage fitted.

As for transporting the beer, I don't know how clear it would be if you transported it on the big day? So can't help on that one I'm afraid.

 

[Joeyriles]

This is all really helpful, guys. Thank you.
Is there a cheapish scource to get a beer engine from?

 

[Hoddy]

This is all really helpful, guys. Thank you.
Is there a cheapish scource to get a beer engine from?

Flea bay should be able to get you an engine between now and next year.

Other idea would be to just rack off the whole lot as bright beer just before wedding.

Hey it's all gonna get drunk in 24hrs. And that way it does away with any sediment issues.


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[Bigjas]

This is all really helpful, guys. Thank you.
Is there a cheapish scource to get a beer engine from?

I got mine second hand from eBay, cost me £90, but it's a decent one made by angram. You could always sell it on after the wedding without losing value on it.

 

[Joeyriles]

These guys sound pretty good. Is there a cheaper place to get shivs?

 

[Hoddy]

Do you still want some beer engines and cask stuff?

Look here at the SIBA classifieds.

http://classifieds.siba.co.uk/awpcp-3/show-ad/?id=5591

http://classifieds.siba.co.uk/awpcp-3/show-ad/?id=5595

http://classifieds.siba.co.uk/awpcp-3/show-ad/?id=5608


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[Joeyriles]

Great stuff! Thank you for linking me to that. I'll keep an eye on it.

 

[Joeyriles]

I've gone for an even more 'traditional' idea: I might just do a secondary in the keg and tap it with a traditional...tap.

This makes it less straightforward to transport but I'll be going to the wedding venue about two days before the ceremony so that should give it plenty of time to settle.

The real question is: Firkin or Pin? I can only brew a maximum of 25 litres in one go...