Has anyone here cask conditioned ale before?

[amcclai7]

I found a really interesting article about it that says all you essentially need is a corny keg, and a cellar temp room. You'll have to scroll down a bit to get to the part where it talks about the actual process.
http://byo.com/stories/item/594-enjoy-the-real-thing-cask-conditioned-ale

Has anybody actually tried this? I was in England this Spring and let me tell you there is nothing better than Fuller's London Pride on cask. The problem is, so few bars in America keep casks running. It is a rare treat for me and I would love to attempt it at home.

Any thoughts or experiences you would like to share?

 

[alane1]

I haven't tried it myself but this is on my Christmas wish list, http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/kegging/beer-engines/homebrew-cask-kit-base.html

 

[laughingboysbrew]

A 'cask' is nothing more than a vessel in which you serve beer out of during a secondary fermentation. For homebrewers, it's much like a 'bottle' of beer...just bigger. Corny key will work, as well as a 5gal pin. If you carbonate via secondary fermentation alone (NOT force carbonation with CO2 tank), you're most of the way there. If you're serious, get a copy of Cellarmanship by Patrick O'Neill.

I wrote a good post on this yesterday. The key is timing, temperature and adequate priming (sugar/yeast).
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=116431

**I'm drinking a chocolate stout out of a cask as I write this. Agree...nothing better. delicious.

 

[dyqik]

It's easy enough to do, if you have the appropriate temperature environment. There are a couple of cheap and easy methods, and then the expensive method of buying a pin or firkin cask setup, and a cask breather/CO2 system. The biggest issue is turnover - if you don't prevent air getting into the vessel somehow, the beer will spoil before you finish it. For solid vessels, some kind of cask breather setup (could be a real one, or a CO2 regulator set really low) is necessary if you aren't going to drink all of the beer within a few days of tapping.

The polypins (cubitainers) from Northern Brewer etc. are a really cheap option for trying this. Plus you can split a batch between 1 gallon polybags, or between a 2.5 gal bag and bottles, so you can compare the results. The polypins collapse as you serve, so you don't have to let air in or replace the liquid with CO2.

If you have kegs already, then just naturally carbonate in the keg, and then either gravity serve with the keg on its side or upside down from the gas in port, or serve with the lowest CO2 pressure that will get beer out of the keg - that's not quite the same, but it's close - 3-5 psi suffices on my kegorator, and that's really not a large excess of carbonation for the style.

I'm still working adapting my Speidel fermenter barrel into a pressure barrel for serving - this is just a vertical cask with a plastic tap near the bottom. I had a pressure leak I think on the first go, but I also got a keg setup at the same time, so I haven't worked further on it.

Oh, and if you are trying to brew English styles, there's a thread on using WLP002/WY1968, which is the Fullers yeast, to optimize the fruitiness and taste for their beers.

 

[amcclai7]

The polypins (cubitainers) from Northern Brewer etc. are a really cheap option for trying this. Plus you can split a batch between 1 gallon polybags, or between a 2.5 gal bag and bottles, so you can compare the results. The polypins collapse as you serve, so you don't have to let air in or replace the liquid with CO2.
QUOTE]

Have you done this? This seems like a really cheap and hassle-free way to make some cask beer. I would like to know if the results you had were good. Also, how does the bag deal with the developing C02? I know there wont be much carbonation with this style but i would be worried about exploding/leaking bags.

 

[amcclai7]

Also I'm assuming you would be buying the bags with a spout already in them. Would there be anyway to attach a sparkler to the spout in order to create that wonderful cask style head?

 

[amcclai7]

Nevermind. I found a great article about it here http://homebrewacademy.com/polypins-cask-ale

Thanks for the idea!

 

[caskman]

I make mainly cask conditioned beer. I have a beer engine which was the most expensive part. I use a corny keg. Flip it upside down. The gas inflow is my outflow and the down tube which I bend into the upper corner instead of the center is my air vent. I open ferment for about 3 days. Then put in a 6 gal glass carbon and drop the temp to 45F for a couple days or longer if I don't get around to it. I add gelatin and a little bit of corn sugar. 1/4 cup usually. Put it in the cask. Put a quick push of CO2 to seal the lid since I flip the keg upside down. I sit the keg at about 30 degree angle at 52-55F in the fridge. Tap it in a week. I open the original outflow port which is now the air vent. i leave it open until the beer is gone. Works like a champ!

 

[thewurzel]

Making cask conditioned ale can be pretty easy.

like every one has said before you can use a corny and condition it in the corny and then open it up to the air and draw through a hand pump.

If you cant afford or get a beer engine then you can make your own for pretty cheep.
Brew your own how to build a beer engine

One of the ways that cask conditioned ale can be done, is to force ferment a small amount to final gravity by keeping it in a warm place. so that you know the final gravity. then when the beer is fermented down to 2 points above final gravity it is then racked off to the cask with the addition of finnings where it is allowed to secondary in the cask. this is a traditional English method.

the easier method for us home brewers is to let it ferment out in the primary, then transfer to the cask or corny adding enough sugar or DME to bring the gravity back up by 2 points. (+0.002)

I have used a corny before I got my Cask to do this. I just kept it right way up and just used my beer engine to pull it out of the cask with a quick disconnect on the gas in which is opened up to the air. this method the first pull will just be full of more sediment.

 

[racin_ny]

I have two casks on all the time. I built my own double pull beer engine keezer. You can make your casks last a long time by allowing a small measured amount of oxygen into the casks and then use a propane regulator to allow a very low pressure blanket of co2 on the casks. All my info is in the link in my signature. Good Luck!

 

[MikeFallopian]

I use two methods which can produce mouthfeel, flavour and condition similar to cask with the bonus of the beer remaining fresh for a significant length of time:

1. Prime a cornelius keg to carbonate and condition the beer, then use external CO2 at a low PSI to dispense only, and not to carbonate.

2. Use a pressure barrel. I'm not sure if you can get these in the States, but they are 5-gallon plastic barrels that serve from gravity. You prime them, then when the pressure starts to run low you can top them up using CO2 bulbs or another form of CO2 injection. I haven't used a PolyPin before, but I imagine that they may produce similar results.

 

[amcclai7]

I use two methods which can produce mouthfeel, flavour and condition similar to cask with the bonus of the beer remaining fresh for a significant length of time:

1. Prime a cornelius keg to carbonate and condition the beer, then use external CO2 at a low PSI to dispense only, and not to carbonate.

2. Use a pressure barrel. I'm not sure if you can get these in the States, but they are 5-gallon plastic barrels that serve from gravity. You prime them, then when the pressure starts to run low you can top them up using CO2 bulbs or another form of CO2 injection. I haven't used a PolyPin before, but I imagine that they may produce similar results.

Option 1 would be the easiest to pull off given my current situation. How low of a PSI are you talking? i.e., What should the gauge read? Also, How would I go about rigging up a sparkler and where would I get one? I've had cask in the us that wasn't dispensed through a sparkler and that really kills some of the effect IMO.

 

[MikeFallopian]

Option 1 would be the easiest to pull off given my current situation. How low of a PSI are you talking? i.e., What should the gauge read? Also, How would I go about rigging up a sparkler and where would I get one? I've had cask in the us that wasn't dispensed through a sparkler and that really kills some of the effect IMO.

I usually set it at about 2psi. In fact, I don't always use pressure to dispense - it often has enough pressure from priming and sealing the keg to get me halfway through, when I'll put the gas on as the flow slows down. Not sure about the sparkler as I get enough foam and a thick mouthfeel from my method; I attach a tap directly to the corny, so I'm not sure of the effect longer lines will have. Sparklers are quite regional things anyway, predominantly in Northern England but they are also used in traditional pubs in South Wales.

 

[laughingboysbrew]

The sparkler is an attachment on a beer engine. Angram makes the best and UKBrewing.com sources new/used ones in the US. If you are dispensing via gravity or beer engine (pull) you want ZERO additional pressure in the cask. A cask breather (aspirator valve) can help ensure that CO2 going in only 'replaces' beer as it comes out... and doesn't pressurize any more than atmosphere. (set regulator to no more than 1-2psi)

 

[racin_ny]

A cask breather (aspirator valve) can help ensure that CO2 going in only 'replaces' beer as it comes out... and doesn't pressurize any more than atmosphere. (set regulator to no more than 1-2psi)

You can setup a new propane regulator for this and only have inches of water instead pof psi. Details in my sig