Anyone rocking a Firkin?

[cyberbackpacker]

If you measure beer in gallons and you don’t think 40 gallons is alot of beer - you might be a homebrewer.

Another Freudian slip there perhaps bwbible?!? 40 gallons or 40 pints?!?

But considering my bitters and milds are typically less than 4.2%, a 19.25ounce pint a day is moderate consumption!

 

[bwible]

Another Freudian slip there perhaps bwbible?!? 40 gallons or 40 pints?!?

But considering my bitters and milds are typically less than 4.2%, a 19.25ounce pint a day is moderate consumption!

That wasn’t aimed at you, it’s a fun saying I used to have in my script, ala Jeff Foxworthy. This kind of thing comes up often.

And I’m drinking just as much or more. No judgement.

 

[rmr9]

I like the creativity in finding ways to do cask ale with cronies - where there’s a will there’s a way! With the shorter shelf life it can be tough to work through that much real ale. I have a handful of 20oz imperial pint glasses that I’ll have a couple of in a nice evening. It’s still only 2 beers.....right?

 

[rmr9]

Ah autocorrect...cornies not cronies. I mean I guess cronies and works too eh?

 

[Jako]

You certainly can hook it up to beer engine or hand pump, but there is a cool factor in setting your cask out on its little stand at a party and then pounding the tap in with a mallet and letting everyone come up and serve themselves with the gravity fed tap. It feels authentic and old school for folks and adds fun to the event.

wish i had friends most are Morman. I try not to drink in front of them for respect. maybe one day someone will move in and i will have lots to share.

 

[Jako]

I like the creativity in finding ways to do cask ale with cronies - where there’s a will there’s a way! With the shorter shelf life it can be tough to work through that much real ale. I have a handful of 20oz imperial pint glasses that I’ll have a couple of in a nice evening. It’s still only 2 beers.....right?

we only count beers by how many containers not the amount.

 

[grampamark]

wish i had friends most are Morman. I try not to drink in front of them for respect. maybe one day someone will move in and i will have lots to share.

There are quite a few Mormons in this part of the world. The standing joke is: Q: How do you keep a Mormon from drinking all the beer at your party? A: Invite another Mormon.

 

[Jako]

There are quite a few Mormons in this part of the world. The standing joke is: Q: How do you keep a Mormon from drinking all the beer at your party? A: Invite another Mormon.

I have seen it first hand. good laugh.

 

[Pappers_]

wish i had friends most are Morman. I try not to drink in front of them for respect. maybe one day someone will move in and i will have lots to share.

Any homebrew clubs in your neck-of-the-woods?

 

[Jako]

Any homebrew clubs in your neck-of-the-woods?

i think we have a few but that's in Salt lake city about an hour away from my place.

 

[Twinkeelfool]

Beer engines here in Australia are astronomically expensive and not easy to find. Occasionally I’ll borrow the brew clubs engine and use my 5 litre keg to do a mild or bitter. I keep it sub 3.5% and grab some Stilton. It’s a great Sunday afternoon.

I also cheat and have a nitro setup. Not the same at all but a lot less fuss and I enjoy it as well.

Some great ideas here!

 

[cmac62]

I was thinking of getting a 2.5 gal corny because it would fit on the hump in my keezer, and this sounds like a great use for that. What the heck is a beer engine anyway. I have heard this term but have no idea what it does. Thanks

 

[rmr9]

A beer engine is basically a hand powered pump that draws beer from a cask. It’s the traditional way cask ale is served in the UK.

 

[rmr9]

A beer engine is basically a hand powered pump that draws beer from a cask. It’s the traditional way cask ale is served in the UK. View attachment 719143

A pic of my setup from the porter I brewed a few months back. Please forgive the suspect craftsmanship on the cabinet build!

 

[cmac62]

A pic of my setup from the porter I brewed a few months back. Please forgive the suspect craftsmanship on the cabinet build!

It looks good to me. LOL.

 

[Twinkeelfool]

They also transform the beers that go through them. Much more malt and hop character in my opinion.

 

[Jako]

i had a thought on my way to work today.

what if you use nitro to push the keg at a low psi? it would be a lot like mead being served off a keg.

oh and also a floating dip tube would also work as well this way using the gas post or w/e isn't needed.

 

[Jako]

A pic of my setup from the porter I brewed a few months back. Please forgive the suspect craftsmanship on the cabinet build!

i see a few screws in the edge looks like its made to last 10/10

 

[rmr9]

They also transform the beers that go through them. Much more malt and hop character in my opinion.

I agree, it really brings out the malt character and sort of softens the edges in my opinion

 

[rmr9]

i had a thought on my way to work today.

what if you use nitro to push the keg at a low psi? it would be a lot like mead being served off a keg.

oh and also a floating dip tube would also work as well this way using the gas post or w/e isn't needed.

My understanding is that serving beers on nitro originally came about to mimic the features of cask conditioned ales - it’s not exactly the same but it’s pretty close so you could definitely do that

 

[Jako]

My understanding is that serving beers on nitro originally came about to mimic the features of cask conditioned ales - it’s not exactly the same but it’s pretty close so you could definitely do that

Very interesting. Is a stout style tap required or just pushing the beer at low PSI all thats needed?

 

[Twinkeelfool]

You need a stout nozzle. I use disposable nitro bottles and a nukatap with an interchangeable stout nozzle. I can use the same tap with normal beers and then when I keg a bitter or stout, screw in the stout nozzle. I carb with cO2 as normal then switch to nitro to serve. It’s not as good as a beer engine imho but it’s a lot easier and the beer is in a keg in the fridge so it will last a lot longer

 

[oskee]

I mistakenly purchased a used firkin via eBay last year. The listing described it as a "used 10 gallon keg" and there was only one left of the 5 they had received, price was $40ish so was hard to pass up. It wasn't until I got there that I realized it was a used firkin from Karbach when I saw the bung hole. Probably will never rack any beer into it and it'll be turned into some decorative piece in the house as Karbach was a brewery I enjoyed when I was in Houston many years ago.

 

[rmr9]

Heck if you’ve got one why not give it a go? Once the world returns to normal brew a nice 10.8 gallon batch and have a nice party!

 

[Jako]

You need a stout nozzle. I use disposable nitro bottles and a nukatap with an interchangeable stout nozzle. I can use the same tap with normal beers and then when I keg a bitter or stout, screw in the stout nozzle. I carb with cO2 as normal then switch to nitro to serve. It’s not as good as a beer engine imho but it’s a lot easier and the beer is in a keg in the fridge so it will last a lot longer

do you use a nitro regulator? i had no idea disposable nitro bottles existed

 

[Jako]

I mistakenly purchased a used firkin via eBay last year. The listing described it as a "used 10 gallon keg" and there was only one left of the 5 they had received, price was $40ish so was hard to pass up. It wasn't until I got there that I realized it was a used firkin from Karbach when I saw the bung hole. Probably will never rack any beer into it and it'll be turned into some decorative piece in the house as Karbach was a brewery I enjoyed when I was in Houston many years ago.

that's a neat idea.

 

[crazyjake19]

Awesome information. Are you located in the UK?

Sorry for the delay, I'm in the US not UK.

 

[Twinkeelfool]

do you use a nitro regulator? i had no idea disposable nitro bottles existed

Yes sorry, when I bought the bottles I hit the regulator as well. It’s fairly cheap to setup. I did it to see if I liked it, planning to just rent a full sized nitrogen bottle if I liked it. But just using the disposable bottles is working fine. I do a nitro batch every 3rd batch so it lasts fine.

 

[oskee]

You can rent a nitrogen tank? I figured like CO2 you had to do a tank trade in or get it filled.

Why not just get beer gas (nitro/CO2 mix)? my understanding is that you can use a CO2 tank and CO2 regulator. Now that I have some extra tanks, I might have to try beer gas to dispense. Recall refill wasn't that much more than CO2.

 

[Twinkeelfool]

You can rent a nitrogen tank? I figured like CO2 you had to do a tank trade in or get it filled.

Why not just get beer gas (nitro/CO2 mix)? my understanding is that you can use a CO2 tank and CO2 regulator. Now that I have some extra tanks, I might have to try beer gas to dispense. Recall refill wasn't that much more than CO2.

In Australia the only size nitro/Co2 to rent it seems is a full size one. Many years worth of gas and it’s quite expensive. The way I do it is pretty cheap and easy to do. If all I drank was nitro beers, it would be worth it, but how I do it is easy for me.