Cask Conditioning Homebrew

[RedIrocZ-28]

Bob, I do see your points and I do agree with some of them.

Here is what I google'd to show the relationship between Cask beer, CAMRA, etc. Its far too long to type out a reasonable response to your post using this article.
Cask ale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But in direct response to the topic: "Cask means container. The word comes from the Spanish cáscara which means tree bark, in the sense that the bark surrounds and holds the tree in the way that a cask surrounds and holds the beer. The Histories of Herodotus, written in 424 BC, refers to “casks of palm-wood filled with wine” being moved by boat to Babylon, though clay vessels would also have been used. Stout wooden barrels held together with an iron hoop were developed by the north European Celts during the Iron Age for storing goods. But whether the “cask” was made of clay, palm-wood or oak, whether it was a barrel, a pot or a storage jar, all had one thing in common: they all contained unfiltered, unpasteurised beer."

:shrug:

Also: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cask

 

[Coffeeaddictnova]

"Cask means container. The word comes from the Spanish cáscara which means tree bark, in the sense that the bark surrounds and holds the tree in the way that a cask surrounds and holds the beer.

Cool information. The Spanish terms "corteza del árbol" or "cáscara del árbol" refer to "tree bark".

 

[DubbelDach]

Did an IPA last summer and put it in a pin. HBTer jaysus got the pin for use at his wedding (Troeg's filled it for him), and it was sitting unused. He got it from UKbrewing.com Here's the first pour and the pin on my bar:

We primed with 1/2 cup of corn sugar and let it condition in my basement (60F) for a few weeks. We were expecting a little more carbonation that it actually had.

We had about 20 people over and kicked it in about 3 hours. It was about 6% and dryhopped with Cascade. With a long pour, it bubbled up a bit. Great flavor, I just wish I had an engine to hit it with some bubbles on the way out. Might look into that RV pump...

The pin in action again a few weeks ago...

 

[Philsc]

Sorry to get side tracked by the words, but I am a bit of a logophile.

In my search on online etymology Online Etymology Dictionary for 'cask', one of the last entries on the page was 'keg' from old Norse 'kaggi', which they translated as 'keg/cask'. I'm sure they made their kegs out of wood back then.

But whether the “cask” was made of clay, palm-wood or oak, whether it was a barrel, a pot or a storage jar, all had one thing in common: they all contained unfiltered, unpasteurised beer."

That's why I'm getting into this game, to drink live beer.

$30 for a beer engine. That's great.

 

[Robbajoe]

instead of priming can you just keg a little early? say when the gravity is ~1.015?

 

[BeerGuy1000]

Hey Dubbel were did you find that cask at, I've been looking for one to cask condition my beers in?

 

[Bob]

I don't know where he got his, but Paul at UK Brewing is The Source for this stuff:

http://ukbrewing.com/

 

[critch]

these guys will be a cheap source of casks in the stateshttp://www.plastickegsamerica.com/v1/products_pin.html

i cask condition about 90% of the beer i produce(61776 uk gallons in the last year!) i use these casks along with others (steel and the eco plastic cask made by global polymer solutions) you can either rack when fully fermented or rack with about 5% still to go to provide the conditioning(i use the latter method). plastic casks of america do pins(4.5uk gallons) or firkins(9uk gallons)

 

[BeerGuy1000]

Thoughs are pretty nice, but it says you have to order a minimum of 5 kegs from them I don't want that many.

 

[BioBeing]

They also say they are not suitable for home brewing.

As an update - I did try the 1 gallon plastic polypins, and they worked OK. I was always afraid they were going to overcarb though, so I'd let some gas out, and then the beer ended up flat.

I currently have a 5 gallon SS pin which I'm trying for the first time this week...

 

[BeerGuy1000]

Well i know were I can find some firkins northern brewer just started selling them so thats were im going to get some http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/stainless-steel-firkin.html

 

[Vance71975]

How does one go about it? The wiki doesn't say, and a quick search didn't turn up any threads.

I have a bitter (this one) that is tasting very yummy at 4 days in the primary (gravity is currently 1.016). I'd like to serve it direct from a cask - but what do I need? A cask (where can I get a 5 gal cask?). A cellar at 55F (or a fridge I guess)? At what point do I put it in the cask, and how long does it stay there for before it is ready to drink?

Anyone done this?

Cheers!

It is my understanding that if you put a beer in a keg and use Priming Sugar or DME to prime the keg as apposed to CO2 pressure and serve it ONLY under the pressure that the priming sugar makes, that it is technically considered cask conditioned, Same with Bottle conditioned beers, as long as no artificial CO2 Source is used it is technically "Cask Conditioned". I could be wrong, that is just the jest i have got from the books i have read that cover cask conditioning.

 

[racin_ny]

HERE is some information I found a while ago on how to use a corny keg as a cask.

 

[critch]

They also say they are not suitable for home brewing.
.

of course they are, i know many uk home brewers who use them. i myself used one for years

theyre more suited to gentle home use than commercial, in the uk he sells plain brown ones one at a time......

not much use to you i know, but interesting how the speil differs, one side of the pond to another.....