Saving stuff here until the wiki works again

[mrsbrown]

We have bought wooden casks to store and serve our beer and cider at festival.

I've brewed a kit each of beer and cider and they're nearly ready to put into the casks.

Now I need to work out a bit more about cask conditioning. Here is a collection of the pages I've read:


http://www.craftbrewing.org.uk/technical/doc/technical-44.htm

http://www.betwixtbeer.co.uk/docs/cask_beer_opening.htm

http://www.classiccitybrew.com/caskale.html

2-3 days before serving, hammer in a SOFT spile through the middle depression on the large, center bung of the cask. Beer and gas should escape through the soft spile. This is done to check the amount of carbonation and allow excess gas to be vented slowly (so not to dredge up sediment). When the venting slows, wipe off the soft spile. When it takes three seconds or longer for beer to flow back through the spile, this means the cask is probably ready for a hard spile. With ALL spiles, leave the top one-third of the spile showing out of the bung so you will be able to grab the spile with pliers when it’s time to remove it. There is no need to sanitize the spiles.

I think this means that I should use a hard spile for the secondary fermentation, take them to Festival, settle them for a few days in the spot we're going to use them, put in a soft spile to equalise the carbonation, change to the hard spile again, tap and drink!

What do I make a "hard" and "soft" spile out of?

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bardallis/relaxed.pdf

If the beer is too fizzy or pours too foamy, carbonation needs to be bled off. This is where it is easier for a horizontally stillaged firkin: simply fit a “soft spile,” a porous peg typically made of bamboo, tightly into the hole in the shive, and check the beer twice a day until it meets with your approval. Replace the soft spile with a hard, nonporous spile until serving time.

Here's a photo of of a keystone and shive - these are the things the spile and tap go into.


Now I just need to work out What a period tap looks like? I'm inclined to go with something like the spile and shive, rather than a keystone and tap. But if anyone know of some pictures showing beer dispensing, that would be great!

Comments

[celsa.livejournal.com]

"check the beer twice a day until it meets with your approval Heh. Would there be any left after all the "checking?"