Cask Equipment

Hi all,

Went to Birreria on the rooftop of Eataly last weekend and was really impressed with the setup. I noticed they only served their house beers via hand pump. I was assuming they chose to carbonate this way due to lack of space for a brite tank possibly?
Regardless, the beers (although expensive at $10/pint) were quite good but felt more like a softly carbonated "regular" kegged beer at a lower than normal cask beer temperature.

My question is two-part:
1) does anyone know how they are actually kegging their beer? Can a hand pump be used on a standard sanke?

2) What all equipment is needed to have cask conditioned beers? is their a difference other than size between a pin and firkin cask? Is it as simple as a keg connected to the engine or is Co2 still needed?

Thanks in advance

1) I've been there but don't know how they're kegging the beer. I would assume based on the massive amount of firkins around the restaurant they are using the firkins. That would be the most likely assumption, however they could be just props but I didn't get that impression. They were strewn about in various stages of production from empty to full. I was tapping on the ones near my table that were bunged up to see if they were props, and they seemed to be full.

2) I am just about complete getting a cask setup at my house. You'll need a pin (5.4 US gal) or a Firkin (10.8 US gal). You can use the old hoff stevens kegs also. You'll need a hand pump or a RV water faucet. If you want a hand pump keep an eye on ebay. I bought mine off a guy in the UK. Even with the ridiculous shipping it was cheaper than buying one in the states. I will be using a cask breather made from a propane low pressure regulator unless I have a party then I'll just do it in the traditional manner with the cask pulling O2 in when the beer is pulled off the tap. So you don't need CO2 but unless you'll drink the 5.4 gal pin fast enough you'll want CO2. I'm about to order my keystone and shive bungs along with a cask widge setup. Once I get those items my setup will be complete. I'll just be left to build a small insulated cabinet that will double as a fermentation chamber and cask serving system.