Portable Cask Serving Station Build

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DubbelDach

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Inspired by the exploits of Schlenkerla and BioBeing, and my love of cask-conditioned/real ale, I built a Portable Cask Serving Station (PCSS)! Quickly, to the pics...

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Started with purchasing 3 one-gallon cubitainers (polypins) from Northern Brewer with spigots. Added a length of 3/8" beer line, and the "cask" was ready. I figure that when I do 5 gallon batches, I can pull 1 gallon off and keg the rest.

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12 quart Igloo Ice Cube. This is the perfect size to hold a 1 gallon cube with room for Igloo ice blankets around the sides.

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The pop-up top is cool, because I drilled a hole for the beer line to run up to the pump, but my making my tower removable, I can close the top when I am on the move.

The Tower:

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The tower is three sections of 4" PVC. The lower tower looks like it's for rainspout applications, as it's rectangular on one end, round on the other. I attached brackets to the inside with 3/8" machine screws and then attached the brackets to the cooler with 1/2" machine screws. Definitely measured, as I didn't want the screws protruding too far.

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The Valterra RV pump is connected to a 4" end cap.

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The pump and cap then fits snuggly into a 4" coupling. All three of these PVC parts are very sturdy and fit very snug. I thought I would have to glue it all together, but I think I can just let it as is to facilitate cleaning and easy removal of the tower for travel.

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Finished product:

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Going to test it this weekend with beer filled off a tap. I don't have anything conditioned yet. So we're just going to fill it and serve. In the filling process, I believe some of the carbonation will drop out, and I really just want to test the pump, determine if I need to build a sparkler, and really just give 'er a test drive.

Will post more pics after the weekend!
 
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Video of it in action on Saturday... We pulled a growler of jaysus' brown ale and then just poured it into the polypin. Just wanted to test everything out. The pump leaks a little bit right where the handle goes into the body. I heard that about these pumps. It's not real bad, but might try to see what I can do there...

 
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The pump leaks a little bit right where the handle goes into the body. I heard that about these pumps. It's not real bad, but might try to see what I can do there...

Mine did the same thing, except it literally shot liquid out of the side of the pump from the handle. I returned it, waiting for a replacement from Amazon.

I also called Valterra, the manufacturer of the pump, and I think they are going to send me a new one. Evidently, this is a very common issue with these pumps, and they are trying to fix the issue.

Great setup, by the way. I am about to build the exact same setup, so this will be very helpful.
 
Me filling the cube from a growler, lol:

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One concern is that it needs a sturdier/heavier base... It wants to tilt forward when pumping. Not sure what to do there... I want to keep the portability of it.

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NEXT step is to condition something in the cube... I made a 5g batch of Irish Red on Saturday, so that's the leading candidate. May end up pulling 1g into a pin, then serving the other 4 on draught.
 
One concern is that it needs a sturdier/heavier base... It wants to tilt forward when pumping. Not sure what to do there... I want to keep the portability of it.

I think that's why I'm going to go with a rectangular cooler instead of a cube, more stability when pumping.
 
I think that's why I'm going to go with a rectangular cooler instead of a cube, more stability when pumping.

You know... rectangular, but build it so that the long end sticks out forward... maybe embed a drip tray in the top? Hmmmm.... (yeah, my drip tray is a towel, lol)
 
Very Nice!!!! So the plastic cube remains sealed and collapses as beer is pumped out? Is there a dip tub in the cube or do you position it where the spigot is on the bottom?

And for a quick fix, what about a small bungee cord from the handle to the table to give some tension when pumping to keep it from tipping forward?
 
Very Nice!!!! So the plastic cube remains sealed and collapses as beer is pumped out? Is there a dip tub in the cube or do you position it where the spigot is on the bottom?

Yes, sealed and the spigot is on the bottom... Need to experiment a little bit on exactly what angle to set it at so that yeast stays in the cube, but most of the beer pumps out. Maybe build a small base for it. On Saturday, I had to reseat the cube and we got another cup or two out.
 
Just racked a gallon of Irish Red to a polypin. This will be my first attempt at conditioning in the pin. According to my calculations, I added 0.3 ounces of DME. I want 1.4 volumes of carbonation, for 1 gallon of beer, conditioning at 59F.

I sealed it in a plastic storage bin in case of leaks... Will check it each day and hopefully by this weekend or next, I'll be ready to try it out.

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Down in the 58F basement, the pin did not carbonate.... Have had it upstairs (70F) for a week and it's now puffed out. Will probably tap this on Wednesday night - cask-conditioned Irish Red handpumped on St. Patrick's Eve. Will post pics!
 
Served this last night:

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First cup or two were carbed just right, subsequent cups were completely flat. Heading here to beg for help, lol....

One of the first pulls... After this, it was only a few large bubbles, nothing that would indicate the 1.4 volumes I was shooting for.

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Casked up some ciders a few weeks back and primed them... Tapped the Apple Bottom last night at our homebrew club meeting:



I was incredibly happy with it... The carbonation was on, and it held in the PCSS. I had problems before with beer not priming well and going flat. But the cider kept a nice carbonation and foamed up a nice temporary head when pumped.



I think my carbonation problems from before stemmed from not chilling the beer in the fridge after priming it. For this cider, I did 0.3 oz of DME in 1 gallon of cider at 58F. Should have primed to 1.4 volumes. For the Irish Red above, I just threw an ice blanket on it and served. For the cider, I threw it in the fridge for 2 weeks and the pin shrunk as the CO2 actually went into solution. That's the key, I think.

I have another cider and a British Mild primed and in the fridge now. More pics/info when I serve those...
 
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