Cask cooling Blanket

[nick79brew]

does anyone have experience with these

http://www.ukbrewing.com/caskcooling.cfm

or similiar cask cooling ice blankets and insulation jackets. I do not have the space for refrigeration so I'm wondering if swapping out an ice blanket 1-3 times a day will keep the cask at proper serving temp.

cheers,
Nick

[mlabbe]

I haven't used cooling blankets. I have used ice packs before. They tend to be a bit messy. Lots of condensation dripping off of the cask.

I have a lot of experience with the cooling saddle at the top of that same UK Brewing page. They work great. Do you have a draft glycol loop in the area where you are planning on cellaring your firkin? If so, you can tap into that line to run your saddle.

You can make a saddle out of copper tubing to test its viability in your environment. The copper won't last forever, but it will certainly let you see if it will work.

Cheers,
Mike

[BrewinLou]

The blankets are for more of a festival outdoor event. You soak them in, which the gel absorbs and then freeze. So when it thaws you will get a bit of a mess. The saddles are the way to go. The install is very easy, just remember to turn off the glycol system you are tapping into before you cut, and if the reservoire is higher then where you are cutting be prepared to kink the hose to stop the flow.

[MJMurphy]

We have used several of the saddle/jacket combo very successfully.

We happen to have a small glycol chiller to which we have added quick disconnects. There are also quick disconnects on the lines from the saddles allowing us to hook up one or several in series.

We already have two beer engines for our two main cask lines, but this provides a moderately portable method to set up additional casks for gravity pouring in our facility or outside.

If you plan on regularly serving casks and are planning on a gravity pour (versus beer engine) these work quite well. We only use them for short periods of time, one to two days, but they provide a clean and flexible way to serve cask beer (especially with small glycol chiller. It offers some great off-site potential we have yet to take advantage of).

I think the Great Dane in Madison, WI uses these or a similar system in a more permanent set-up.