How to SERVE YOUR OWN REAL CASK ALE at HOME!! (With Kegs!)
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- čas přidán 27. 06. 2024
- Ever since coming back form my honeymoon in England and Scotland, I've missed real cask ale, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and build a system for myself! In this video, I show you how to assemble a real cask ale serving setup and how to hook it up to both a regular corny keg and how to use it with the closest thing to a cask the homebrewer can get!
BREWING A CASK ALE TO SERVE ON THIS SYSTEM : • Brewing a Classic Engl...
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PARTS NEEDED:
Hand Pump Beer Engine (Optional, look for used on ebay): www.ukbrewing.com/Angram_Beer...
Check Valve: www.ukbrewing.com/Check_Valve...
Cask Breather: www.ukbrewing.com/Cask_Breath...
Platform (Optional): www.ukbrewing.com/Platform_fo...
1 Gallon Mini Keg (Optional): www.northernbrewer.com/produc...
Lid for Mini Keg: www.northernbrewer.com/produc...
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CLAWHAMMER SUPPLY SYSTEM: www.clawhammersupply.com/?aff=11
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MERCH STORE: theapartmentbrewer.creator-sp...
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SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: / theapartmentbrewer
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FIND ALL MY RECOMMENDED HOMEBREWING EQUIPMENT ON MY AMAZON STORE: www.amazon.com/shop/theapartm...
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NORTHERN BREWER: www.northernbrewer.com/?...
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MOREBEER: www.morebeer.com/index?a_aid=a...
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MY CAMERA: amzn.to/3fxboAQ
MY MICROPHONE: amzn.to/3n9R4wD
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0:00 Intro and welcome
1:09 What is real cask ale and why is it a thing?
4:35 How to solve the oxidation and batch size problems
7:13 Building the beer engine and cask system
13:00 System overview
15:08 Pouring a real cask ale!!
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Full disclosure, most of the links on this page are affiliate links. This means if you buy through them I make a small percentage from the sale at no additional cost to you. All money earned through the channel goes back into the videos and brews you see on my channel. As always, don't just take my word for it, do your research before you decide to buy.
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Music provided by Epidemic Sound: share.epidemicsound.com/0go1wp
#realale #beer #homebrew #cask #keg #howto #brewing #homebrewing #clawhammersupply #graintoglass #BIAB #allgrain #beer #engine - Jak na to + styl
Thanks for the shoutout! Its great to see a home beer engine setup over there in the states, the beer looked great and I can tell by your reaction it tasted good too 😁🍻👍🏻
I'm glad you put that video out! Quite literally the best resource for this sort of thing and I can say your setup works perfectly. I'm glad to spread the love for cask over here!
You can do very well using a 2 (or bigger) gallon accordion-like water jug and a Valterra RP800 hand pump (like what you see in some RV’s)! That’s about $50 worth of specialty equipment to get you rocking, and the camp jug has the added benefit of being self-purging - you draw from the top and the bag compresses as you drain it. Only an ounce or so per pour, but that’s hardly a problem when you’re just serving yourself and a couple friends, and it gives an awesome hand-pull like experience. I’ve used it to scratch the cask itch between visits to England.
Thats a great alternative, thanks for sharing!
Perfectly explained as usual. Really made me smile! Dudes Brews is the perfect liaison here in the UK. Another excellent channel. Being East Kent born and bred, I grew up (in terms of drinking beer) on cask in the late 70s and it's still my favourite way of drinking, mainly with my fellow home brewers from EKAB - East Kent Amateur Brewers. I'm glad our time-honoured way of serving living beer has an enthusiast over the pond. Mind you most drinkers here would demand a top up to that short measure!
I knew you'd appreciate this one!
You're interest in traditional ales is encouraging mate. It's something special but it remains aloof from modern beer enthusiasts due to it's natural carbonation and the perception of drinking "warm" beer. keep it up sir, I've been devouring your videos, they've been really useful as a new brewer myself.
This was an awesome walk through! Really made it look attainable for the home brewer, great vid Steve!
Thanks Trent! Thats the idea!
So glad for your success man!
I've seen one hombrewer here In Aus with a beer engine in his KITCHEN lol!
So dang cool! Great job and thanks for the detailed explanation. For sure the coolest way to serve beer I have ever seen! Can't wait to try this myself someday. THANKS!
In the UK we all went mad for this during lockdown as we couldn't go to the pub. You can put it all in a 5 gal corny and set it to 2psi and you're good for the duration. I've just cleaned mine all up and brewed a Marstons Bitter clone. Just need it to clear up (LA3)... might put some gelatine in there to speed it up.
Seen the cask breather you used which is nice. I've got mine on one of the kegland inline mini regulator.
Excellent! Glad to hear about the other options!
made me happy seeing you enjoy your own cask beer in your basement
Sir. You had me at "CASK ALE"
Side note - thanks for turning me on to the NB 1 gallon mini kegs!
I'm in America and had no idea about cask ale and beer engines before 2021. I found out about beer pumps randomly on youtube in 2021 and fell in love with the idea. I first found and built the DIY version, using an RV-style water pump, a demand valve, and built a little stand to place inside a mini-fridge. I then pulled the beer from a wine bag bought off of Amazon. This worked well, but it took about 20 pumps just to fill one pint. Once I found a good used Angram pump off Ebay, I bought that, built a beer cabinet to house the fridge and the pump and it's been heaven ever since. I finally found a better bag, using a Wolverine Tuff 2.5/10L bag with attached drain spout that uses the exact same size OD tube as the demand valve. This bag is more heavy-duty than a throw-away wine bag and I don't have to use the wine tap adapter anymore. I even built a coolant system to keep the beer in the engine colder (engine has an in/out system for this built in) overnight by using a plastic fridge water container and putting a simple pump inside. I end up having to refill this thing with ice everyday since the process is enough to warm the water, but it's worth the hassle to have cask-style ale with a Northern sparker.
That's awesome! I've heard plenty of advocates for the RV water pump build but the tuff bag is another great bit of ingenuity!
Try straight out of the oak barrel , kept cool by wet sacks . At the Mounted Rifleman , Teynham in Kent , England, Bob the landlord would select clean sleeves , place them on a tray , walk down into the cellar and walk back up to the bar with full glasses of the best kept beer in England . RIP Bob and the Mounted Rifleman.
This sounds incredible! I wish I could have an experience like that!
Great video! Thank you for your real ale advocacy!
Glad to support it!
I was just rewatching my favorite videos about cask ale and demand valves etc! Great timing that this video was posted.
Great timing indeed!
Very cool! You have a great love and passion for the hobby.
Glad you appreciate it, I try to pass that on to others as much as I can!
I have just been to a beer festival here in London, the GBBF, and it had over 650 cask ales on tap. Your head would have exploded!
Sounds like a thing I need to go to!
Awesome vid…I’ve been so curious about that cask !!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video - I love cask ale! Just took delivery of a Pint365 engine from the UK, and am excited to put it to work in my basement bar.
Very nice!!!
Looks like you nailed it mate. The only problem with cask ales is that they are soooo easy to drink and you end up sinking loads of them. All hale the ale !!! Nice one. Oh and Wales drink cask ale by the river load too…..lol 😊
What's Wales please mate?
@@BigStiffWilly The 4th part of the United Kingdom mate. England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. 🙂
I assume they meant "The Welsh"
Haha so I have to be careful when I refer to all real ale consuming nations in that region under one umbrella - can't say UK because the Irish and Scots get upset, and definitely can't say England and British Isles because everyone gets upset lol. But yeah, I rolled Wales up in there with the rest of the UK haha
@@TheApartmentBrewer Mate, you absolutely can be called The UK (United Kingdom) as this includes all 4 countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Or Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Don’t care what the rest say, The UK is perfectly acceptable….glad to see you drinking your beer like a good un. They go down a lot quicker like that - take care !!!! Lol.
So glad you are highlighting cask, it really is the best. Merlin will be pleased you are showing off his top notch shirt.
It really is the best! I'm glad!
Excellent idea
Great episode! You're right about how it's difficult to accurately describe the experience. First time I had one (a cask version of a local IPA) I was told it was going to be "warm and flat", but it was so good, I didn't miss the carbonation or the cold. Glad you covered this, been telling people how old school English styles should be the new trend!
I really cannot wait to use this more, I blew through the cask so fast it wasnt even funny
I’ve been researching beer engines for a while now. I’m so close to pulling the trigger!!
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it!
What a beautiful pour. I actually caught myself saying 'ohh wow!' when I saw it.
This is definitely something I'll be doing at some point.
The visual aspect of a cask pour with a sparkler is huge!!
good job - we alao have now MICROPUBS - probably same where you are, independent drinking houses - where all the beers ales porters stouts lagers are chosen by independent owner - they are not tied to big industrial brewers - each has its own character - many started around Thanet area UK - but have spread across country now - like a pub but all have their own unique design style and beer range - some are quite eclectic
Looks awesome!!!! Never had a cask ale but sounds like I’d love it, cheers 🍻
Dude! You gotta try it!!
Now that takes some dedication to set it up at your home. Good job in setting that up. Cheers.
It certainly takes up some space but oh its so worth it!
Very cool! Thanks for the video and information!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Glad it worked out and loved the genuine reaction at 17:23... cant wait to the the grain to glass
Cheers
Seriously thats why its all worth it haha
"immerse the tip" giggidy ... cool project. saving this one as a future project.
Definitely a fun one to play around with!
Awesome project and glad you made it successfully. One of your best videos. But I’m not making that! I’ll live vicariously through you instead! Lol.
I'm glad you enjoyed it so much, you'll be seeing it make an appearance with more traditional english styles!
I am off to the pub right now after watching your excellent video.
Excellent!
That Chimay showed up in your hands like Magic. I want my beer to just show like that too ! lol
Beer magic - the best kind!
I woke up to this at 4:00
Dude, that is soooo freaking cool!!!!!!
😎👍🏻👍🏻🍺🍺
You need a man cave with a bar!
I'm pumped haha, its a great addition to things, just wish I could finish the basement and actually have a man cave lol
Looks Tasty! BTW, Congrats on your 1st round winners in NHC. I'll see you on the battlefield in June for Scottish/Irish. Best of Luck .. Cheers!
Thanks very much! Best of luck to you too!
I have been thinking of setting something like this up too. The rv water hand pump to make the beer engine and keep the beer in hot cube bags available from kegland so it won't need to breathe and can hold 20 liters.
Great content again Steve 🍻
That sounds like a great setup!
I used to tap the barrels and if you got it wrong you got soaked in beer
You only get one try right!
I believe that a firkin holds 40 ltr. The next size of cask down is known as a pin and holds 20 Ltr. The next size up from a firkin is a kilderkin and holds 80 Ltrs.
Try drawing a pint without the sparkler, that plastic thing on the end of the spout. The primary function of this device is to form a head, northern uk folk prefer their pint with a well formed head. Southerners, like me, prefer a pint to be liquid rather than air, therefore pour without the sparkler. Also, the publican gets more pints from a cask using a sparkler, but that’s another story. I’d be interested to hear of your thoughts between a pint with and one without the sparkler. I have found that the sparkler detracts from the hop profile, somehow decreasing flavour. If I were a class beer I’d strongly object to being squeezed through a myriad of tiny holes into the glass, wouldn’t you? Also, keep the pipe run as short as you can, cask ale doesn’t like being pulled over too long a distant.
And finally, a plastic water container, like those used for camping, are a good option when using a beer engine, as it collapses as the beer is drawn off. The one down side is that they are not a pressure container and will balloon in the early stages.
I hope you have enjoyed using your (now not so new) beer engine.
I guess it's time to let the Mrs know that we need to make space for a beer engine now :p thanks for the video! Epic!
Makes for a good fathers day or birthday present!
Great video, I am finishing up a beer engine/kegerator build right now! I have a dark mild in the queue, hope to have it brewed in the next month or so.
Perfect beer for it!
The pseudo method works great for sure.
What the traditional setup also does is it forms a yeast cake in the corner of the cask near the outlet (if stillage is used). So when you use the engine it draws the beer over the yeast cake increasing the flavor even more.
Well done for setting up your own system, cask ale is the best beer in the world!
There probably are subtle flavor differences, cheers!
love this
Thansk Emmet!
I love cask style beers, if you ever come to Austin Tx, I know an awesome spot.
Noted! Its a place I'd like to go sometime
Always entertaining videos...
I may well be wrong, however the sparkler looks like its on tight...it is adjustable to allow you to alter the pour for the type of beer and how its acting....cask ale is likely to change how the sparkler is adjusted throughout its life...can be excitable if very fresh...I suggest to experiment with it at least 1 turn away from tight for how you like your pour...
With a swan neck (which is what you have) keep the sparkler at the bottom of the glass during pour..
Sparkler on or off is personal preference
Never knew that was a thing! I will have to try it out!
@TheApartmentBrewer also different sparkler styles are available...Hole size and number...if you do a thick hazy and it becomes difficult to pull, check the holes in the sparkler aren't blocked 😉
Nothing like pulling a beer through the engine at home 🍻 Hazy IPA/Pales on cask are now really popular in the U.K. and I’ve done a few DDH pales served this way and they are bloody delicious.
I am dying to try it with a hazy pale ale or something like that!
I have a similar setup but made the cask breather element using a $14 propane regulator from Menards. Basically a carb cap into some line then into the regulator then some line out and a gas disconnect. It's compact and knocks whatever pressure is coming in from the CO2 tank down to 1/2 PSI, just enough to break the vacuum when pulling pints and top off the head space. It's compact enough to just go right into the keg fridge when I'm doing a cask beer.
Thats awesome!
Excellent video glad to see these styles get a little love. I do enjoy the ipa and neipa styles but in my opinion they are over done. There are so many excellent styles that get pushed to the back traditional English ales being one of them. I really enjoy these styles because the abv is usually lower and there for can have an extra pint or 2. Keep up the excellent work and education. I have been wanting one of these mini kegs for a bit but the kegland oxbar kegs have caught my eye also and seem like a good fit for this application.
Half of it is the experience of pulling a pint! But it truly does wonders for the beer. Cheers!
Where I live in Oregon, we have an English style pub located not far from me. They produce cask conditioned ales that are on par with what is served in England.
Away days brewing? Porter brewing?
Three Legged Crane in Oakridge, OR.
@@seansevey6072 check out Porter brewing in Bend. Deschutes has a beer engine too and has one off cask ales.
Looks like I need to make a trip out to Oregon!
Video length - 21:12. Nice
Really agree that the English way of serving beer is superior to the American way. I say replicating their cellar temps gets you most of the way towards their character
A local pub has a couple of beers on cask, I’ve only just just had a chance to try them. It makes me want to go back more than any other beer. I’m a little tempted to set one up at home now.
It makes a massive difference!
If possible I recommend to attach cooling lines to the pump/cylinder. It make the beer last longer and you don't have to remember to drain the device after every session.
Definitely would be a good upgrade!
great stuff.. now I need to find an affordable beer engine
I think there are a few options out there! Used is a good option but some folks have put together some really cool alternative pump builds
Great video my friend. Now i have yet another project. Lol. I thought Cask ale was in the cask and "Oaked".
Sometimes you can add wood to it but not necessary!
With regards to the check valve. If you buy a beer engine made for homebrew such as pint365, you don't need a check valve.
Good piece of info to add!!
Been looking into setting up a hand pump for a while now. if only America introduced cask ales as a part of our beer culture, I wouldn't have to travel halfway across the world for a pint. I'll just have to do it myself
Tristen, see my comment on my much less expensive cask-like setup. It’s super close to the real thing and I use it to scratch the cask itch at home.
Lol every Brewer has the same shelves. I hang my hoses on them too.
Haha very true!
If you want some good Cask Ale and are up near the Acadia area in Maine, the brewery I work at has a Pub in Ellsworth called Airline Brew Co. The guy that owns the brewery/pub is from England
Oh nice! I'll have to check it out next time I'm there!
I loved this solution of smaller kegs to still have this at home with air. But you're still spending a lot of time brewing such a small batch.. Unless of course you brew enough to fill a regular keg and also a smaller beer engine keg..
I would really love to try a dry irish stout, to both have it on nitro and in a beer engine with oxygen.
Thats what I did - one small 1 gallon "cask" for real ale and the other 4 gallon going into the corny keg with cask breather
Did you happen to make it to NERAX in Boston?
I'm moving in🤪🍺
You can set up a cot next to the furnace
As an ex cellarman in the uk cask ales are definitely 4 days it the most and then you are losing quality. Its definitely more satisfying just looking after cask ales over than the generic plug in and play ales if i was ever off for a couple of weeks i would come imto mayhem with customers screaming at me to go sort the real ales out because people dont seem to take pride in cellar work any more. Ive aleays said the most important parts of a pub are goods inwards and outwards ie clean well run cellar and sparkling porcelain and good plumbing in the bogs (toilets)
I appreciate the experience shared!
What's the comparison like for beer served from the engine vs a pluto gun with the keg at low pressure? Say 1.5 volumes (~7psi). The purpose of the question is to enquire if the important factor is the carbonation level or the dispensing method.
Never used a pluto gun so I can't tell you. That being said, any higher pressure is going to result in a glass full of foam
You can't beat Yorkshire ale on cask.
5 gal in 2 weeks, that only 4 beers a day.... no problem for me, casks here i come lol
Dont forget the tilt on the first half of the pint and the nozzle never goes into the beer as you are pullibg a pint so slowly lower and straigten your glass as you go
Sorry to disagree, he is serving with a sparkler, which should be maintained just below the head formed witht he first pulls, so yes lowering the glass as it fills but in the beer although not at the bottom of the glass and keeping the glass straight. The angled glass is for a pour without the sparkler...
I don't know the etiquette particularly well haha so I'm doing my best based on watching a few folks serve pints in the UK, but good to know the differences!
I would love a setup like this but don’t have the space. I wonder if most of this effect could be accomplished by a special thread-in sparkler faucet for Intertap/Nukatap pattern taps. Similar to how there are stout/nitro inserts. Maybe that plus low carbonation and serving pressure would get the effect? I guess it depends on whether the sparkler is doing the heavy lifting here, or whether there’s specific magic to the hand pumping and/or atmospheric air ingress in the cylinder.
Historically sparklers were only popular with cask ale drinkers in the north of England where they like a soft foamy top in the glass. In the south cask ale was served straight from the cask at room temperature without a foamy head or flat. I would say that it’s the way that English ale is brewed is more important than how it is served, though I agree it adds something extra.
Perhaps a little bit of both? I used a stout faucet on an irish stout with CO2 a year or so ago and it was OK, but not quite the same. Same story with nitro. The interesting thing about cask though is that the beer evolves and changes flavors week to week and its a little different each time though - I'd argue thats really the magic.
With the one gallon keg are you using a floating dip tube to prevent sucking up sediment?
Can't fit the float ball in so unfortunately no, but it seems that the yeast flocculated out enough.
Did you happen to notice any difference between the 1 gallon "cask" or the 4 gallons that were hooked up to the breather?
Not much, I'll have to pay more attention next time
How much brewing experience do you feel someone needs before doing this kind of setup and brew? I'm not brewing yet, but definitely want to go in this direction. I've never even had cask ale and I just KNOW this is something I want to do at home.
Honestly, not too much. You don't need the fancy equipment I use to get it done.
So many questions But good job. Commit I think clear plastic would have worked better.
I wonder if a cask/keg with a bladder in it would be feasable.
It is, I think this is the setup the craft beer channel used
If you can't find ( or don't have the space for) a beer engine, could this be reproduced using a standard tap? With the Intertap/Nukatap faucets having detachable tips, I'm amazed Kegland hasn't released something for the cask ale lover.
So in this video: czcams.com/video/R-1YCL3aqMA/video.html I actually tried this concept out. I used a stout faucet and pushed the carbonation out and it turned out fairly close!
@@TheApartmentBrewer Can't believe I missed that. When you use that stout tip, do reduce the pressure any or leave it at serving pressure? I have that stout tip but never used it.
Yeah the key is not to have too much carbonation in the beer and to actually use a high pressure to serve
@@TheApartmentBrewer Ok, what co2 volume would you recommend aiming for if I decide to use that tip? What do you set the serving pressure? I'm usually at 11psi for serving pressure.
I think i would go with cask levels at 1-1.5 vol and then run 15-20 PSI to get it through the stout faucet
Did you try a 1 gallon keg?
Yes
is cask ale unpasteurized??? not necessarily?
Also slow full pulls on a beer machine non of this pumping it manically in short fast pumps like i see some bar staff doing now and then wonderimg why the cellar bouy has air locked
Never seen a cellar bouy on cask ale...if the cellar is significantly lower or far away from the beer engine, a flojet if used. As standard...only keg beers use a cellar bouy to make it easier to switch kegs without foaming and stop the gas flowing through the line.
Definitely want to pull it slowly, feels like it could be easy to break otherwise!
@TheApartmentBrewer a steady pull is what's required...a pause on the full stroke, If needed, to allow the beer engine to overcome the vacuum and fill...if its too firm a pull (to feel like something could break) it's most likely inadequate flow in or out...
Any problems feel free to ask 🫡
You won't find these in Ireland to be honest, it's a different pub culture.
Northern brewer is owned by AB...no thanks, i prefer to support small family owned suppliers
Actually it’s not anymore.
Just to let you know fella Scotland is not in England, Scotland is in the United Kingdom, Scotland is a country as is England
I'm aware, not sure where in this video I said Scotland was in England...
Love watching your content but every time you say “England” you really mean “The UK” so going forward just refer to this whole country as “The UK” and you’ll be grand and inclusive! 👍