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  • cask conditioning procedure questions

    I am about to start some cask conditioning in our brewpub and have cobbled together from various threads the following procedure. I have some questions that I couldn't find answers to below. My procedure:
    • Clean/sanitize cask
    • Fill with finished unfiltered beer from FV
    • Add finings (biofine?) and gyle or wort or priming sugar
    • Seal and leave in brewery for a week
    • Move to cooler for another week
    • Move to stillage/serving location morning of cask conditioned night
    • Serve that night



    Questions:
    1. What temp is the beer when you transfer from FV to cask? Is it crashed and you let it warm up, or is it just at diacetyl rest/ferment temp (68, for our ales)?
    2. Will biofine work if the cask is moved several times? Is it going to interfere with the secondary fermentation in any way (as opposed to isinglass, which apparently does not, but is not vegan)
    3. I have seen some people roll the cask around a couple times during the secondary ferment. Is that really necessary/common?



    Thanks for any advice.
    Dave Cowie
    Three Forks Bakery & Brewing Company
    Nevada City, CA

  • #2
    Your process seems good to me. I have not used biofine in any of our casks. We usually perform a diacetyl rest, then cool the beer to around 10C and transfer it to the casks before continuing to cool our beers to aging temperature. We then seal the cask and let it rest in the brewery undisturbed for a week before cooling it down same as you mentioned. I am by no means a cask beer expert but this has worked for us with few issues over the years.

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    • #3
      In reviewing this procedure, it doesn't make sense to me to add the finings at the same time as priming. Is this what folks are doing? Seems the finings would encourage the yeast to drop out before getting adequate second fermentation.

      What fining techniques are people using? Anyone fining casks with biofine?

      Dave
      Dave Cowie
      Three Forks Bakery & Brewing Company
      Nevada City, CA

      Comment


      • #4
        I work at a brewery where the owner trained in England for about 3 years. What you are looking to do would not be acceptable over there. According to him, and what he taught me, is to do is the following:
        -Clean and sanitize casks
        -add hops/other flavorings to the cask
        -add beer to the cask before the end of fermentation (no priming sugars!). I usually go with about ,004 sg before the end of primary fermentation
        -fill the cask from the bottom up, letting the cask overflow just a little bit as you withdraw your racking tube
        -seal the cask
        -let sit 1-2 weeks at room temperature
        -move to a cool place for a minimum of a week
        -move to service fridge (for use with a beer engine)
        -vent the cask: open cask with hard spile, then soft spile the cask for 2 days to vent (hard spile when the co2 is at your desired level). hammer your tap in the keystone to let the yeast settle for the 2 days
        -you could technically add your finings now as the everything is still moving inside the cask.
        -let everything settle during the 2 days, or more if you want. Things should clear pretty well
        -remove the spile, hook-up your service line and enjoy!
        -If the cask is not done, hard spile at night till the next day
        I hope this helps a little,
        Cheers!

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by danlow35 View Post
          -you could technically add your finings now as the everything is still moving inside the cask.
          Thanks for the details! So you would remove the shive, add finings, and then reinsert another shive?
          Dave Cowie
          Three Forks Bakery & Brewing Company
          Nevada City, CA

          Comment


          • #6
            In the late 90's I spent some time as a cellar manager at a Youngs pub in SW London taking care of cask ale. The brewery would add fining at filling with dry hop and finishing beer. They then delivered it to us where we would put it to stillage before soft spiling it.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by beerbeer95648 View Post
              In the late 90's I spent some time as a cellar manager at a Youngs pub in SW London taking care of cask ale. The brewery would add fining at filling with dry hop and finishing beer. They then delivered it to us where we would put it to stillage before soft spiling it.
              Thanks for the feedback. I went ahead and added the finings with some dextrose and bunged it. Will find out next week how it worked out.
              Dave Cowie
              Three Forks Bakery & Brewing Company
              Nevada City, CA

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by barleyfreak View Post
                Thanks for the feedback. I went ahead and added the finings with some dextrose and bunged it. Will find out next week how it worked out.
                How did this work out? Meaning the biofine? I have always followed this procedure with Isinglass, but never tried with Biofine. Did it work with all the moving around?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by beerbeer95648 View Post
                  How did this work out? Meaning the biofine? I have always followed this procedure with Isinglass, but never tried with Biofine. Did it work with all the moving around?
                  Not sure. I had other problems. I used to course of a mesh on the hop bag and got so much hop particulate that it continually clogged up my tap. I will try it again though and post results when I do.
                  Dave Cowie
                  Three Forks Bakery & Brewing Company
                  Nevada City, CA

                  Comment

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