Cask Conditioning. Eric Kraus twitter: lbbrewery homebrewtalk: laughingboysbrew

Transcription

1 Cask Conditioning Eric Kraus twitter: lbbrewery homebrewtalk: laughingboysbrew

2 topics definition, history, terminology, myths fermentation conditioning priming conditioning venting serving more resources

3 definition CAMRA (CAMpaign for Real Ale): a natural product brewed using traditional ingredients and left to mature in the cask (container) from which it is served in the pub through a process called secondary fermentation. Oxford English Dictionary Real Ale : name for draught (or bottled) beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide

4 history casks date back to 400 BC, transporting wine/beer. clay was most popular, followed by wooden barrel (by 17th century bottles were common) today casks are more of a tradition than a necessity (with modern refrigeration, CO2, pasteurization: preservation and distribution possible) cask condition wasn't a choice as much as it was the "way it was" because there was no means of preservation with the lack of these technologies, our modern "three-tier" distribution system wasn't viable for transporting/storing beer back then almost all european pubs were brew pubs in which the beer was brewed on premises and matured/conditioned in their cellar

5 terminology serving mechanisms condition: the level of carbonation that resides within beer bung (keystone/shive) gravity tap cask widge venting: process of brining beer condition to that of equilibrium with atmospheric pressure/temperature cask (pin: 5gal, firkin: 10gal) finings additions used to help clarify spile (soft / hard) cask breather (aspirator valve): valve that allows only atmospheric pressure CO2 (prolongs beer life w/o add excess headpressure)

6 myths cask beer is flat properly conditioned cask beer has just over 1.0 vols of carbonation cask beer is warm cellars are naturally at F, therefore much cooler than room temperature just prime in keg with sugar and use CO2 to dispense goofy might as well force carb with bottled CO2 beer left in contact with CO2 head pressure over longer period of time will become more carbonated At a constant temperature/pressure only a certain amount of CO2 will ever be absorbed in the beer

7 fermentation not much difference in fermentation other than ensuring there is adequate yeast available for secondary (critical) some beer will be ready for cask racking in as little as 3-5 days. secondary fermentation: three strategies depending on priming technique 1. ferment out to FG, add more sugar (like bottling) 2. rack to cask while not yet fully attenuated (1 Plato = 0.6 vols) so 2-4 above FG is = vols 3. krausening: add active fermenting beer to cask yeast: managing yeast quantity is essential too much, won't fall out and beer will be cloudy/yeasty not enough, won t carbonate the beer, will be flat (nothing can be done to fix) age beer entirely in secondary (if sits too long in primary, risk all your yeast drop out) cold crashing isn t commonly practiced finings are used as well as cellar temp

8 racking/priming/fining sanitation cover your bung hole racking to cask is much like bottling (no bucket required) sugar, finings, adjuncts, etc get added directly into the cask use cheese cloth bag for hops, adjuncts so they don t clog use similar amount of surgar as bottle priming slightly less sugar because less headspace (means more head pressure), also lower target condition (vols) example: I use 2-3oz dextrose boiled in 1 cup of water / 5gals finings: isinglass is a collagen from fish bladder used for clearing yeast (isinglass: + charge, yeast: - charge) *isinglass works best 2 nd or 3 rd time, and works best on rising temperature Take your cask for a walk

9 conditioning conditioning is managing the level of carbonation in the beer at cellar temperature (13 C or 54 F) (at atmospheric pressure), a pint of beer will hold just over a pint of CO2 (~1.1 vols) three things determine condition temperature, head pressure, time Forced carbonation in kegging is similar but is only head pressure which is why a substantial amount of pressure and time is required

10 conditioning flow

11 venting venting is the process of releasing head pressure, soft spile used based on three principles of conditioning (temp, pressure, time), releasing head pressure will cause the beer to release any extra CO2 to remain in equilibrium equilibrium takes a couple days make sure shive/spile is not clogged, remove twice/day cellarman determines beer is conditioned appropriately by activity/taste once conditioned, hard spile is used to prevent air in/co2 out should plan for minimum 2 days to vent and drop bright

12 example maturation schedule (my process after racking) 1 day at yeast temp to kick off secondary fermentation 3-4 days secondary at 50 F (this will over-carbonate the beer vs gas in headspace insurance) remix finings, increase temp 1-2 days to drop bright 54 F (this will release any extra CO2 to equal vols) tap 2-3 days venting 2 checks per day once proper condition is achieved. Hard spile / connect to aspirator valve If using aspirator valve, cask life = 3 weeks. If spile, cask life = 3 days

13 tapping no evidence that tapping at certain time has adv/disadv overly active beer (warm with lots of head pressure) could be messy cool first, cover with towel tap for gravity pour cask widge for upright serving

14 cask serving gravity pour beer engine (hand pump)

15 cask serving hard spile will need to be removed during serving as you draw beer off, you will draw in oxygen into the cask typically, oxygen is seen as bad, but in cask beers, it actually helps mature the beer maturation is a bell curve (under oxygenated, matured, over oxygenated) with an aspirator valve, beer does not mature with each glass

16 additional resources Cellarmanship ONeill/dp/ CAMRA Campaign for Real Ale