Casking on the Cheap

I don't recall exactly when I was introduced to cask beer, or real ale as it's termed by CAMRA, but I've long enjoyed this departure from the normal draught experience.  There are certainly those who don't care for this "warm, flat" beer; for me, the cellar-level serving temperature allows more aromatics and flavours to emerge, and the reduced carbonation lends a fuller, richer mouthfeel to lower-gravity ales.

My home serving setup has not progressed to kegging yet, let alone setting up a firkin with a handpump (though there are some interesting DIY ideas for doing this).  A while back, though, Northern Brewer started carrying an innovative solution for those who wanted to have real ale at home.  Cubitainers are expandable, reusable plastic containers that are available in a number of sizes and can take a tap attachment.  They can't take a very high level of pressure, which makes them perfect for serving cask-style beer via simple gravity feed.  I picked up a few of the one-gallon size a year or two ago, but had only tried using them once before.  When my recent English summer ale was ready for bottling, it seemed like a perfect time to put one back in action.

Since the volume going into bottles was going to have a higher level of carbonation, I filled the cubitainer before adding my priming solution to the bottling bucket; the cask portion received a separate preparation of priming sugar to lend it a more appropriate amount of pressure (and to prevent the thin plastic container from, y'know, exploding).  This was kind of a test run for the cubitainer cask method, so no finings were added to the "cask".

After a week in my warm brew closet, during which time the cubitainer expanded and the yeast flocculated solidly, I let it chill in the fridge for a while and we had a small cask release party.  Real ale traditionally sits well for just a couple days once tapped, after which it begins to turn, so the thing to do seemed to have most of it in one go.  The results: mixed.

It was difficult to reach a real "cellar" temperature; with spring in full effect, even our basement was relatively warm, but in the fridge for even an hour or so seemed to bring it down a bit too far.  While not bad, it was just...off...a little.  The bigger effect was in the mouthfeel.  While the cubitainer had built up significant internal pressure, the beer in the glass was pretty much wine flat.  Again, while not the worst thing in the world, it still wasn't quite right.  Beyond that, the summer ale itself was pretty green; the mineral quality of the yeast (Wyeast 1028) was very assertive, giving the beer a lager-like quality.  This is still present in the mature bottles, though it's mellowed.

While this wasn't quite a rousing success, it was still encouraging; I will do this again.  Some considerations for next time:

- More priming sugar.  I'm fairly certain that BeerSmith, which I use to estimate carbonation as well as build recipes, accounts for some CO2 left in solution after fermentation; however, in rousing the yeast to ensure fermentation was complete, much of that was probably driven out.  Going a little heavier on the priming solution (within reason) should cover the issue.

- More carb time.  Giving the cask more time to allow the generated CO2 to get back in solution should also improve the carbonation levels.

- Improved "cellar temperature" method.  Instead of moving in and out of the fridge, a small insulated box with room for the cask and one (or maybe two) ice pack(s) might keep the beer at a better "cellar" temp.

- More appropriate beer style.  Admittedly, the beer in question was probably not the best one for casking: it was a light wheat beer, and the higher carbonation of the bottles seems to suit it much better than the low-carb cask did.  In addition, the young yeast character was a bit overwhelming.  An all-barley bitter or porter, possibly with a fruitier yeast, will probably turn out quite nice served this way.

- Cask hopping.  A few whole hops, maybe in a hop bag, would really make this something special.

Half the fun of these projects for me is trying out homespun methods to imitate or commercial process or product, or even to come up with something even more interesting.  Keep innovating, and find your bliss.

- Br. Absalom

New Pot Windscreen

I finally got around to putting together a windscreen for my new 9-gallon ported kettle, all for real-like (i.e., not held together with duct tape).  Given the size of the kettle, this one was much easier to build; the favoured design here was a simple cylinder that fits tightly to the corners of the turkey fryer body.  A couple notches for the gas line and the kettle ports and we're done.  The next step is to avoid accidentally folding the damn thing in half when it's not in use.  Let's hear it for ease of lighting and heating efficiency!

-Br. Absalom

Turkey Fryer Windscreen (Re)Build

In my second year of brewing, I moved to heating water and wort outside on a propane turkey fryer. Some time later, while perusing the book Brew Ware, I came across the idea of building a heat shroud or windscreen to keep the heat focused on the kettle and make lighting the burner easier (which can be a serious pain on a windy day). One roll of aluminum roof flashing and some pop rivets later, I had a heat shroud that looked a bit like a Cylon helmet but made my fryer much more efficient (and easier to light).

That is, until a few months ago, when we had a horrendous wind storm that was bringing down neighbourhood trees and blowing semis off the road. I’d left the windscreen sitting out the back door from the previous brewday; by the time I went looking for it, it was long gone. After much gnashing of teeth and donning of sackcloth, I set out to make a replacement.

I started to build the new windscreen just the way the old one had been: one straight sheet of aluminum with one pop-riveted seam that sat as an uneven tapered cylinder. After putting in one rivet, though, it seems I’d miscalculated my size and made it unusably small. I cut out the offending rivet, measured everything again, and redesigned the

windscreen to come together in five sheets, which would allow it to rest more evenly on the burner. Cutting down the single sheet also allowed me to leave out the spot where that first poorly-placed rivet had been. It took some adjusting before the final seam was riveted, but it came together great.

On its maiden voyage (a low-gravity beer fermented with Brett L alone, about which I’ll post on my homebrewing blog soon) I did learn one lesson worth passing along to anyone else interested in a project like this: five times the seams means five times less rigidity in the structure. The previous windscreen held its shape pretty well, and was never too difficult to navigate around to get the kettle on the flame. The new one bows so much around the square fryer frame that the narrow top opening, designed to only leave about a ½” to 1" gap between the kettle and windscreen, shapes itself into more of a square

when set over the burner, making it difficult at times to get the kettle into position.

To fix this, I’m considering making a rigid hoop for the top opening over which I can bend the rim to help it hold its shape. The extra seams also let out more heat, which you can see from the scorching along them on the windscreen; I’m not too worried about that, though, as it doesn’t seem to be melting. I may put some high-temp metal tape over them to better seal the structure, unless I come up with a better way to do that. In the meantime, though, I have a very usable replacement to keep down my propane expenditures.

- Br. Absalom

UPDATE: Last brewday a flaw in my slapdash propane-in opening (visible in this final shot) revealed itself: the contact with the propane line eventually led to the line melting, leaking propane, which ignited and sent out a very not-cool jet of flame.  I had to replace the line, and have since chopped down this windscreen to fit just on top of the fryer and inside the larger cylindrical windscreen I constructed to fit my larger brewpot.  Make sure your gas-in opening shields the line from as much heat as possible!

Homebrew labels

The only labeling I normally put on my homebrews is a couple initials on the caps so I can tell them apart.  It makes it a bit tough when folks come over and can’t figure out what’s what, but it’s not usually too much trouble get them what they want.  When giving homebrew as gifts, though, an actual label really improves their presentation.

In years past, I’ve mocked up pretty simple labels in a word processing program; for a background I’ve used an uncomplicated graphic (too much going on and it doesn’t really work) that I faded in a photo editing program.  Application with a washable glue stick makes it easy to reuse the bottles down the road.

This holiday season, though, I came across Andy Biggs’s Beer Labelizer website, which allows you to input your beer’s information into several really nice looking label designs.  It’s also extremely easy to use, which is a big bonus.  You don’t have total control over all of the variables (font, position, etc.), but it’s turned out the best-looking homebrew labels I’ve seen outside of some heavy Photoshop work (to which I’m not prepared to devote the time to really get into at this point).

I’m sure there are other sites and tools available for just this application; in fact, here’s another site I found sometime in the past year that I just haven’t spent as much time playing with.  I think I’ll be able to get a lot of mileage out of the Beer Labelizer site.  Fellow homebrewers, how long what do you do for label design?

- Br. Absalom