cask condtioned... with a little help.

[HItransplant]

I recently came upon a corny keg for borrow.. for an undefined timeline ...

Im excited reading about all the guys doing cask conditioned because,

A) I love the taste of cask beer, and
B) I think I can rig up a beer engine system cheaper than a draft system.


Here is my question:

In some of the posts, Ive noticed people talking about not being able to drain the keg without that push from the co2

then I found this: http://www.kegcowboy.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=243

and I was wondering if it would provide the extra little umph needed to clear the keg without force carbing the beer.. seems like if you put a small gauge between the co2 dispenser and the ball lock, you could just bleed a little co2 (maybe 1 or 2 psi) in to keep the O2 out, and to help empty the keg.

Thoughts?

Has anyone used one of these doo-hickeys?

Can you really force carb a 5 gal keg with one 16gram co2 cartridge?

 

[KillerKellers]

Lots of people use those, and they work pretty good for dispensing at a party or whatever. I would not try to use that to carb beer. If you really do not want to buy a co2 tank/regulator, then I would get that for dispensing and then naturally carb your keg like one big beer bottle.

 

[HItransplant]

Lots of people use those, and they work pretty good for dispensing at a party or whatever. I would not try to use that to carb beer. If you really do not want to buy a co2 tank/regulator, then I would get that for dispensing and then naturally carb your keg like one big beer bottle.

yeah, thats exactly what I was thinking.. then I would have cask conditioned with a little assist... assisted cask conditioned ale .

Im also wondering if it would help with the whole oxidation issue that appears to be a problem with cask conditioning-- to keep that head space o2 free.

 

[KillerKellers]

yeah, thats exactly what I was thinking.. then I would have cask conditioned with a little assist... assisted cask conditioned ale .

Im also wondering if it would help with the whole oxidation issue that appears to be a problem with cask conditioning-- to keep that head space o2 free.

Well, part of the reason a cask ale tastes the way it does is because of the oxygen. Technically, in a purist sense, cask ales do not use CO2 period. What you are talking about is what many people do already. I've naturally carbonated kegs before and dispensed with CO2. Works fine, but there is a little bit of sediment on the first pour.

Your process will be a little different. Do like you normally would for bottling, with boiling the sugar and cooling it. Add that to the keg, then rack beer on top of it. Then add co2 and purge the oxygen. Then pressurize and make SURE you have no leaks (critical). Then let it sit like you would with bottles for a couple of weeks. Chill the keg, and dispense.