Cask Conditioned Ale

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joefalck
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Cask Conditioned Ale

Having ideas here while watching the Blackhawks Joke of a power play....
Thinking it might be a nice complement to the barrel aging program to maybe start a cask conditioned/real ale program. I know Northern Brewer has kits., a cask and portable engine can be had for a few hundred. I'm thinking it might be nice to feature at the quarterly events, it'll be another draw for folks who are in to that sort of thing. I know it doesn't keep well after being tapped but we could definitely drain a cask at an event, it also has a much quicker turnover as opposed to waiting months to years for a barrel to mature proper, so newer and less patient members that are interested in barreling could enjoy the fruits of their labor quicker we could have the cellar master/master of wood get something together and in a cask for each quarterly event. I don't really know, just drinking out loud...also, to be clear, I'm not interested in taking the lead on this, while I enjoy it I have no interest in brewing it, just proposing an idea, thinking of ways to enrich the club and attract more folks.

JamesLewis
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I think that is a good idea.

I think that is a good idea.

josh s
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Thats a great idea i was

Thats a great idea i was literally just thinking the same thing i just got done watching the beer hunter movie and was thinking about doing this eventually.

joefalck
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After minimal poking around

After minimal poking around the internet, Northern Brewer seems really high for the casks themselves, but probably the best option for getting the splines and all that. Found these, 10 gal. Firkins for around $110ish

http://www.geemacher.com/pricing.php
http://conical-fermenter.com/One-Half-Barrel-Stainless-Steel-Keg-K1/21.html

josh s
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I was searching around and

I was searching around and will probly end up doing this meathod.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ea3ZeUoQGEo

Jamie
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So in to this idea

So in to this idea

josh s
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Anyone wanna parter up to

Anyone wanna parter up to build this before the next party.  Ill donate a keg.

Jamie
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I could help with this next

I could help with this next weekend. I also have a batch of pale ale just racked to secondary if we need something to serve

Jamie
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I could help with this next

I could help with this next weekend. I also have a batch of pale ale just racked to secondary if we need something to serve

Pete
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This is so cool.  The

This is so cool.  The portable beer engine he built is also pretty awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWDgQqD38iA

"Give a man a beer, and he will waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and he will waste a lifetime!" Bill Owen

kengetty
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I concur...great idea.  Think

I concur...great idea.  Think this should be brought up and talked about at our Board & Exec. Retreat coming up.

David
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Love it. I've wanted to do

Love it. I've wanted to do more real ales. I'm in.

Jeff W
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I'm in for this, too!  Great

I'm in for this, too!  Great idea!  (I'm not in for getting on ready before Cerveza, but after that.)

Jamie
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If not for Cerveza, this

If not for Cerveza, this would be a cool thing to debut at the BrewLaLa, Josh if you're interested in aiming for that

joefalck
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http://byo.com/porter/item

http://byo.com/porter/item/346-build-a-beer-engine-projects

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BGM2XG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp...

 

It it appears we could have a pretty legit beer engine for ~$50 fitted with the sparkler cap and with the box stained or otherwise decorated I think that it's something we could be proud to serve beer from.   I feel like the keg serving solution could be a good short term solution but if this is a program we'd like to turn in to a regular feature at the parties, I think the club could spring for a firkin or two from one of the dealers in the links I previously posted. As I understand it the Pin and the Firkin have a large bulge in the belly to collect trub and the hops from dry hopping, this seems like a pretty important feature and given the durability of a stainless keg if the club bought one or two it should last forever. Cellarmanship is a pretty involved craft, bringing the beer into perfect condition right when you intend it to be drank, which could be managed by a single person like our Master of Wood, or we could use an online reservation system like for the brew bays (and like I proposed for the lager fridge)
I like the idea of an online reservation system, a Firkin is about 11 gallons, so if we got two firkins, that would allow 2 groups of 2 people each to have beer in casks at a time, we could lay some ground rules so no one person dominates and signs up for all the firkins all the time, Also, it appears that a cask breather can be purchased for about $30 which fills the headspace in the cask with CO2 instead of air, extending the life of the beer considerably.

joefalck
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So just to lay out some

So just to lay out some prices:

$50ish DIY beer engine noted above

$119 Firkin http://conical-fermenter.com/One-Half-Barrel-Stainless-Steel-Keg-K1/21.html

$14 CO2 cask breather http://www.homebrewing.com/equipment/cask-co2-breather.php

Plus miscellaneous beer line, etc.

So for about $200 and a little DIY we can have a full set up for a single firkin, and for about $300 we could get a 2 firkin program up and running. I think the educational aspects of learning cellarmanship, the potential for general club enrichment, and potential use as a selling point of the club having a cask conditioned real ale program can justify those costs and at $119, that's still reasonable enough for people to buy their own cask if they get really into it and feel they don't have enough access to the club firkins.

Another idea, just getting a cask breather and the DIY engine and serving out of one of the small 5 gallon barrels, I don't know if that's possible or reasonable.