Making Real Ale

[GAM]

The reason I’m asking, is I wanted to know if there are any foreseeable problems moving kegs out of the keezer, after they have been in there for a while, to higher temperatures (around 20C). For example the yeast might come out of dormancy and make the beer cloudy again??

Should not be a problem if you don't shake it up too much. Gravity will hold most of the yeast. If your final gravity was good you'll be fine.

Sandy

[GuingesRock]

Thanks for the help Derek and Sandy. I think I'm all set now.

[GAM]

Should not be a problem if you don't shake it up too much. Gravity will hold most of the yeast. If your final gravity was good you'll be fine.

Sandy

Just realized I used gravity the force and the measure in the same quote, but I think you know what I mean.

S

[GuingesRock]

Should not be a problem if you don't shake it up too much. Gravity will hold most of the yeast. If your final gravity was good you'll be fine.

Sandy

Just realized I used gravity the force and the measure in the same quote, but I think you know what I mean.

S

But of course! Made perfect sense to me, and provided the necessary reassurance. This brewing thing can be quite anxiety provoking some times, and it's good to have people around who can walk you through.

[GuingesRock]

Whilst trying to research the need for skimming krausen in real ale, I just found a really good link which answers a lot of the questions posed in this thread. It actually mentions using soda kegs rather than casks so you don’t have to know the terminal gravity of your beer exactly and can simply vent off excess CO2: http://www.posbeer.org/oppaat/real-ale/cask-ales.php

Oppaat:Real ale:Cask ales by Jim Bush

England has numerous distinctions to contribute to the brewing world, but none is as unique and important as the tradition of cask conditioned ales. Cask, or Real Ale as it is often called, is a special brew, served in a special manner, by hand pump from the cellar. Despite what you may have been told in the US, cask ale is not warm and it is not flat. It is dispensed at cellar temperatures, 54 - 59F, and is naturally, albeit lightly carbonated. As a result, the mouthfeel of the product is extremely distinct from that of a "gassy" keg beer.

Temperature and carbonation have a great impact on the perception of the beer on the palate, and the combination of the cellar temperature, low CO2 volumes, and often a snappy hoppy aroma & flavor, all are blended in the mouth to reveal a distinctly different and satisfying ale. While the spectrum of cask ales can be difficult to generalize, the carbonation, temperature, hoppiness and fermentation products are usually dominant factors in the flavor perceptions of all cask ales. Many cask ales have numerous fruity notes that are created in the fermenter and gradually reduced and blended during the maturation and conditioning periods. The important point is that they are supposed to be there, and that they manifest themselves in varying degrees of complexity throughout the life of the cask. This is one of the wonderful aspects of cask ale, it is living, breathing beer that will change over the week or so between bunging of the cask and the final pull of the hand pump.

Production of Cask Ales

Cask ales produced in England are top fermented beers, often produced in open fermenters. Open fermenters are just what they sound like, a vessal without a top. Often the fermenters are a large cylander with a hinged lid. Many are attemperated (chilled) by piping that is submersed in the fermenting wort. Either chilled water or chilled glycol is pumped through the piping, allowing the brewer to control the rise of temperature during the fermentation.

While closed tanks are used in some of the bigger breweries, open fermenters are the traditional technique, and some noted breweries rely on the old Burton Union and Yorkshire Squares systems of open fermentation. Both of these subsets of open fermenters are designed so that the fermentation effluent or krausen is allowed to flow out of the fermenter, into a collection area, and either removed or allowed to return into the main fermenter. This technique tends to introduce added oxygen to the fermenter that will often result in slightly elevated diacetyl levels in the beer. This is generally not a negative aspect of these beers. The use of open fermentation may seem strange to brewers who go to great lengths to keep out airborne contaminants, but this is not a worry in English brewing.

Like all brewers, English ale brewers are very careful to sanitize everything that comes in contact with the cast out wort, especially as the wort drops below 170F. A clean and sanitized fermenter, in conjunction with clean healthy yeast pitched with a cell content of between 6-12 million cells per ml will ensure a rapid start to fermentation, and the subsequent production of vast amounts of CO2 which will blanket the fermenting wort, and thus protect the beer from airborne contaminants.

Once the fermentation is active, the pH of the beer will be dropping rapidly from an initial level of 5.4 down to the mid 4 range, and with some strains as low as 4.1. This acidulation of the wort, in conjunction with the large production of CO2 results in an environment quite unhospitable to most airborne bacteria. The key, as with all brewing, is to pitch an adequate amount of healthy clean, cultured yeast slurry.

In open fermenters, the brewer must skim the yeast head off the beer between days 2 and 3 of normal ferments. Often, the trub that rises to the top after day one is removed to reduce particulate matter that can lead to astringency problems. The use of open fermenters provides an easy method for the observation and skimming requirements of top fermented ales. With typical top fermenting strains, healthy white yeast is cropped off during day 3 or 4 of fermentation and stored for reuse. Yeasts collected from healthy ferments can be repitched for hundreds of generations provided the brewery is clean and the brewer is acutely noting fermentation performance. Any degredation in yeast performance should be corrected by replacement of the strain with fresh stock.

Fermentation is usually complete within 5-7 days at 60-70F. At this time, the beer is racked into maturation tanks where it can sit for a brief conditioning period. Alternatively, the still beer may be racked directly into the cask. The important point is that the transfer is done with approximately one degree Plato (1.004) of residual extract left in the still beer, and between .25 - 2 million yeast cells per ml of still beer [1]. The residual extract may also be supplied in the form of priming sugars. This is accomplished by preparing a solution of brewers sugar (glucose) at a specific gravity of 1.150 (34P) and adding to the cask at a rate of .35 to 1.75 l/hl. Cast out wort as well as krausen beer can be used, but in the latter case, excessive yeast cells may interfere with the clarification in the cask.

As the casks are filled, a fining agent is added to the vessel, usually in the form of isinglass in quantities of 1-5 litres per UK BBL [2]. Isinglass is composed of collagen molecules which carry an overall positive charge. Since yeast will exhibit an overall negative charge, an electrostatic attraction will result, leading to clumping of yeast & isinglass particles and then sedimentation. The process of clarification requires about a day to result in a "star brilliance" to the beer [3]. Beers with residual yeast levels of 2 million cells per ml or above will be more difficult to clarify. Many brewers also add whole hops at a rate of 1/2 to 3 oz/BBl at cask filling time. With the advent of modern packaging in vessals like polypins some brewers are using hop oil extracts to mimic some of the character found in cask hopped ales. At this point, the cask ale is ready for transport to the publicans cellar.

Maturation of Cask Ales

After the cask is shipped to the local pub, it is no longer the direct responsibility of the brewer to finish the conditioning job. This task falls onto the publican/cellarmaster. In the old days, it was the cellarmasters duty to add the finings to the casks as they arrived from the brewery, but this is not common today. Once delivered to the pub, the cask is placed onto its stillage, and allowed to sit for 2-3 days. During this time the cask is udergoing the secondary fermentation in the cask, or cask conditioning.

One day prior to serving, the cask must be prepared for dispense. This is done by driving the hard spile (non porous wood peg) into the shive (round plug device on top side of cask, this would be equivelent to a bung on older US kegs). The spile is essentially a primitive CO2 valve, a nonporous one is used to close the cask for overnight storage while a porous spile is used during dispense to allow a path for air to enter the cask, allowing the beer to be pulled by the beer engine. When the spile is first hammered into the cask, the cellarmaster allows the CO2 to vent from the cask, preventing CO2 buildup levels that would not be welcome to real ale lovers.

The final step in tapping the cask is to drive the tap into the keystone (actual port through which the ale is "pulled"). A minimum of one day settling is required to ensure that the tapping process did not disturb too much yeast. The next day, the cellarmaster will sample the beer to determine when it is ready. This is an extremely important part of the process and a major reason why many cask ales are not served at their peak of flavor. Some beers require a little more time than others to reach their peak.

Dispense of Cask Ales

When the cellarmaster has determined that a new cask is ready for dispense, the beer line connecting the cask and the beer engine are connected. A beer engine is merely a fancy hand pump that "pulls" the beer out of the cask. As beer is removed from the cask, air bleeds in through the porous spile. It is for this reason that cask ales are best during the first few days of dispense, and are known to become increasingly undrinkable after about day 3 or 4. Oxidized beer in any country is not very pleasurable, and casks allowed to sit for too long exhibit a strong oxidation effect.

In an effort to combat some of the ill effects of oxidation, brewers and publicans have devised several methods of introducing CO2 into the cask. The least objectionable is the blanket CO2 method whereby an extremely small amount (1-2 psi) of CO2 gas is pushed into the cask. Since CO2 is heavier than air, it will form a "blanket" over the beer, protecting it somewhat from the oxygen.

Another method makes use of actual CO2 tanks to push the beer out and mechanical pumps are also in use to help pull the beer from the cask. Traditionalists despise all methods of CO2 use to help preserve the beer quality, arguing that all result in some form of "gassy" ale.

The campaign for real ale (CAMRA), is particularly adamant about only dispensing real ale by the use of a beer engine without blanket pressure. To this end, they refuse to list pubs that employ CO2 systems in their excellent book, CAMRAs Good Beer Guide, published annually. While CAMRAs dedication to tradition is admirable, it may be unrealistic to expect the smallest pub in the furthest region to be able to adequately care for cask ales in the same fashion that the busier pubs can.

If cask hopping is employed, a small strainer device is used to keep the hops in the cask, and out of ones glass. At the tip of the dispensing nozzel, a sprinkler attachment is used to force the beer through several small holes, resulting in a release of carbonation into the beer and glass. This results in a thick head and is similar in principal to the tap design used by Guinness.

Cask ales can also be dispensed directly from the cask using gravity. In this arrangement, a cask is positioned so that the beer outlet is pointing down, and merely by opening the spigot and allowing an air vent, the beer will pour out of the cask by gravity flow. If a soda keg is employed in this technique the liquid dip tube would need to be removed or severely shortened. If the beer is to consumed in one evening, it is an excellent method of dispensing quality beers.

Brewing Tips for Home Production of Cask Conditioned Ales

The production of cask conditioned ales is not that different from the normal production of homebrew. In both cases, the beer is naturally carbonated in a closed vessal. The major difference is in the amount of carbonation that is developed, typical ales and lagers are conditioned to about 2.5 Volumes of CO2, while cask ales are closer to 1.5 - 1.75 volumes. When brewing cask ales, there are two methods to follow:
a.Let the fermentation complete, and add a small amount of fermentables in the cask. b.Carefully monitor the fermentation and when the gravity is within 1 degree Plato of the terminal gravity, bung the cask. This method is preferred but can be difficult due to the requirement that the brewer know fairly accurately what the real terminal gravity will be. This technique is simplified by using SS soda kegs for dispense, and carefully venting excess pressure as the cask conditions.
The use of finings for the homebrewer can be an additional effort that many may not want to bother with. In this case, be sure to use a yeast that is known to be an excellent flocculater. If cask hopping is done, only fresh whole hops or whole hop plugs should be used. Place the hops in a permeable bag, using a sanitized weight to force the bag to the bottom of the cask. If you intend to serve the beer as true cask ale, a gravity feed can be employed but ideally, the cask should be emptied in one night.

A Brief Description of Styles [4]


Type

Original Gravity

ABV

Unfermented
Matter*

IBUs

"Ordinary" Bitter 1.031 - 1.045 3.0-4.6 27-45% 20-40
Draught Mild 1.030 - 1.036 2.5-3.6 29-48% 14-37
Best Pale 1.040 - 1.050 4.3-6.6 21-43% 19-55
Brown Ale 1.030 - 1.040 2.5-3.6 43-55% 16-28
Strong Ales 1.066 - 1.078 6.1-8.4 32-44% 25-43

Historically, IPAs were of much higher OG, but my experience has found that today, these are as low as 1.035 up to 1.045, and merely a hoppier version of Bitter. Strong ales today are often found as "low" as 1.051 OG but frequently in the 1.062 range.

Note that despite the relatively low alcohol by volume (ABV) of all but the strong ales, these beers have a lot of unfermented matter that gives the cask ales abundant body and mouthfeel.

Unfermented matter is primarily composed of dextrins, which normal yeast cannot metabolize, and as such the dextrins will carry over into the finished beer intact. The use of caramel malts (or crystal malt as it is often called) will always increase the quantity of unfermentable matter in a beer and caramel malts are routinely used in the production of cask ales. Many brewers create a wort of OG 1.055 or higher and dilute this into the fermenter by adding boiled and cooled water to result in the 1.035 OG. By using this technique, a degree of carmelization can be achieved from the kettle processing that may result in beneficial flavor attributes.

[GuingesRock]

More often than not I prime in the keg.

That’s getting into real ale territory a bit. Do you like the results? How much dextrose do you use to prime a Corny? What is your technique? Do you prime highish and vent off excess C02 so carbonation is low at drinking time? do you serve at cellar temperatures? Do you keg in less than a week from pitching? Do you find you get more of the fruity notes of yeast flavours?

I think that might be a middle ground, for people that don't want to do the whole thing. I’d shorten the dip tubes by 1 ½” also, 2" if dry hopping with loose pellets as well.

Quote from post above:

Temperature and carbonation have a great impact on the perception of the beer on the palate, and the combination of the cellar temperature, low CO2 volumes, and often a snappy hoppy aroma & flavor, all are blended in the mouth to reveal a distinctly different and satisfying ale. While the spectrum of cask ales can be difficult to generalize, the carbonation, temperature, hoppiness and fermentation products are usually dominant factors in the flavor perceptions of all cask ales. Many cask ales have numerous fruity notes that are created in the fermenter and gradually reduced and blended during the maturation and conditioning periods. The important point is that they are supposed to be there, and that they manifest themselves in varying degrees of complexity throughout the life of the cask. This is one of the wonderful aspects of cask ale, it is living, breathing beer that will change over the week or so between bunging of the cask and the final pull of the hand pump.

[LeafMan66_67]

That’s getting into real ale territory a bit. Do you like the results? How much dextrose do you use to prime a Corny? What is your technique? Do you prime highish and vent off excess C02 so carbonation is low at drinking time? do you serve at cellar temperatures? Do you keg in less than a week from pitching? Do you find you get more of the fruity notes of yeast flavours?

I think that might be a middle ground, for people that don't want to do the whole thing. I’d shorten the dip tubes by 1 ½” also, 2" if dry hopping with loose pellets as well.

I'm more of a "set it and forget it" kind of guy. After 3-4 weeks in the primary, I rack to keg and either force carb for a week at serving pressure (10 to 12PSI) or prime with 50 to 60g's of dextrose. I leave the kegs for a month to condition at room (18 degrees C) temperature. When ready to serve, I chill the keg overnight. The first glass or two comes out cloudy, but after that, the beer usually runs clear. I haven't really noticed a difference between the force carb and primed kegs. As for serving temperatures, the kegerator is set between 38 and 42 degrees F.

[GuingesRock]

Thanks very much Derek.

I’ve been thinking about finings for this. I wondered if Irish Moss can be used in the boil and then I found this link (apparently it is used) and I started using that again. If the beer still doesn’t clear fully, I might start looking into using something in the keg. Traditionally it is isinglass.

Also started skimming at high krausen: http://www.brewnosers.org/forums/viewto ... f=3&t=5204

[LeafMan66_67]

Thanks very much Derek.

I’ve been thinking about finings for this. I wondered if Irish Moss can be used in the boil and then I found this link (apparently it is used) and I started using that again. If the beer still doesn’t clear fully, I might start looking into using something in the keg. Traditionally it is isinglass.

Also started skimming at high krausen: http://www.brewnosers.org/forums/viewto ... f=3&t=5204

Also, I do use Irish moss during the boil.

[GuingesRock]

Just been finishing “Cellarmanship” by Patric O’neill (really good book).

The cellar temperature being kept constant at 13C (he says 13C) is actually quite critical, because it sets the level of carbonation to 1 volume, which is where it should be for real ale.

Following venting of the cask (soft spiling) the beer in the keg is at atmospheric pressure with CO2 in the headspace, and at that temperature and pressure, residual carbonation will be at 1 volume.

Beer that is kept too cold, even by a few degrees, will be noticeably over-carbonated, while warm beer will have little condition.

Pouring the beer will draw air into the head space unless a cask breather is used, and that will result in some loss of condition (carbonation) as the cask becomes emptier. However as soon as air enters the cask the beer will give off CO2 to re-stabilise the situation. It is essential to retain as much of this CO2 as possible, which is why the cask is hard spiled at all times when not in service. Also it takes some time for the beer to give off its CO2 under these conditions. And also many real ales have some ongoing yeast activity and CO2 is still being produced. So in the end, very little “condition” is lost during the three days or so it takes to empty the cask.

There would be no loss of condition with a CO2 cask breather, since the head space will be 100% CO2, the pressure will be constant at 1 ATM and the temperature will remain at 13C, and obviously the beer won’t spoil after a couple of days because no air is getting in.

[GuingesRock]

…also you can’t really move a cask/keg of fully conditioned real ale to take to a party, or perhaps to sell it, as the yeast, finings etc. will be stirred up during transport and the beer will become cloudy. But! it can be racked into another container and then taken off premises. Polypins are often used (disposable plastic bag with a plastic tap on it inside a cardboard box). Racking must be by tube to the bottom of the container to avoid oxidation.

Since the beer is carbonated at atmospheric pressure, a container that can withstand pressure is not required, and the beer will not lose any of its one volume of carbonation unless it warms up.

Something like the containers below might be ideal, as they would help to prevent the beer warming up. It would have to be drunk within a day or two, but it would be ideal for taking real ale/keg conditioned ale to a party, or even picking up some real ale from a brewpup, if there was any to be had.

Since the beer isn’t going to be stored in the container, it only has to be washed out, and doesn’t need to be sanitised.

[GuingesRock]

I'm looking into a different yeast. Has anyone had a chance to try this one? It's relatively new. How does it compare to US-05? I think it is supposed to be more flocculent and more esters. Also someone says it takes some of the hops down with it. I don't know if they are talking about flavour/aroma or just bitterness. My focus just now is trying to achieve a beer that clears more quickly without needing to use finings in the keg.

http://www.danstaryeast.com/products/br ... oast-yeast

http://www.torontobrewing.ca/servlet/th ... -97/Detail

[jeffsmith]

Re: BRY-97: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5145" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[GuingesRock]

Re: BRY-97: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5145" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oops. Thanks!

...good thread. It sounds like it might be a good fit.

I just discovered OBK has it in now also.

[GAM]

Picture 021.jpg

Nice beer, carbonation was lower than even I expected, but still fine. Not the hop punch of your others I have tried.

Sandy

[GuingesRock]

Thanks Sandy. Just a beginner at this keg conditioning thing. Give me another year. That was supposed to be my "beer for non beer people"


Sorry to have missed you last night.

[mr x]

Mark, I sent your cooler down with hpHunter. Neat idea, had a few to finish the evening.

[GuingesRock]

Thank You!

[mr x]

BTW, Shelley was looking at the virtual tour of your house. *shakes fist*

And just realized I forgot to send back the blue bowl....

[GuingesRock]

Shelley gave me a real tour of your house. I loved the style of your place and the location. I tried to talk her into working out a trade deal.

This place was a fixer upper, and we fixed er up, but I would have to work until I’m 99 to pay off the mortgage, so it always was a speculative thing.

Put the plastic bowl in the recycling, I think it cost all of $2. Thanks for thinking of sending the cooler back with HPhunter, and thanks HPhunter for bringing it back.

[GuingesRock]

It does clear eventually. This glass was 1 month after it was brewed. No hot break or krausen skimming as I wasn't doing that then, and US-05. I’ve got some BRY-97 for the next batch to see if it clears faster.

[GuingesRock]

I’m trying to shorten the time it takes to get the beer to “drop bright” and still trying to stay away from finings.

Yesterday I brought home the fridge from work (it took up too much space really there, and I’m getting a bar fridge to replace it). My idea is to give the kegs a stint in this fridge at just above zero centigrade before moving them to the keezer which is at cellar temp.

I had a keg of Amarillo Galaxy (US-05) in there since yesterday. I had no keezer room left so it’s been stuck out at room temp since it was brewed on 18th September, and hey presto! It’s well on the way to clearing today. I’ve been dying to try this beer and it’s really good. Quite hoppy, colour I wanted, and has the tangerine and peach. Will post a picture when it’s clear. The white flecks in that glass of beer are chunks of yeast that were on their way to the bottom of the keg before I interrupted their journey and poured that glass.

I can also use this fridge as a dispensing fridge. I put a beer mat in one of the door compartments so I can rest the picnic taps in there. There’s a bath mat on the floor in front of the fridge. There’s room for 4 x 5 gal kegs, or 8 x 2.5 gal kegs + CO2 tank + yeast in the door compartment and hops in the freezer compartment.

[GuingesRock]

Great podcast on making real ale:
James Spencer/Benjy Edwards December 6, 2007. Cask Conditioning. http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?p ... radio-2007

From the information on that podcast I’m going to start putting the beer at cellar temperature as soon as it is in the keg. I’ve set my extra fridge from work (see post above) at cellar temperature. The reason I was having trouble clearing two kegs of real ale was I had a bazooka incident and infected them with acetobacter…so that’s all solved now.

I’ve written to the Benjy Edwards, who was interviewed on the podcast, to see if he has any comments on this thread.

Regarding James Spencer/Benjy Edwards December 6, 2007. Cask Conditioning. http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?p ... radio-2007" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dear Benjy, I hope you won't mind, but I found your brewery and contact email with a Google search, after I listened to your podcast this morning. I also sent a similar message to Basic Brewing radio hoping they may pass it along to you. I loved your podcast!

In your podcast you said you wouldn't mind if people contacted you with questions about real ale. I know it's nearly six years later, and I hope I'm not imposing too much. (just ignore the email if I am).

I started a thread on real ale, on our Canadian Site http://www.brewnosers.org/forums/viewto ... f=3&t=4986 and I wondered if you had any comments for me to post on that thread. You might find that thread interesting? I’m originally from England (now living in Canada) and visited many real ale breweries in the UK, as you did.

I suppose my main question is that I have been hooking up the kegs at 2 – 3 PSI after conditioning in the keg, or as low as I can get the regulator to go and still be able to serve from a picnic tap, and I find the beer to be good and real ale like and I don’t believe the carbonation is higher than 1 – 1.5 volumes when I do that at cellar temperature. I’m aware that I am not meeting the strict definition of real ale, but for the first pours at least I am, as I do not hook up the CO2 until the pressure in the keg becomes too low to enable serving. I haven’t noticed a difference in the beer before and after the low pressure CO2 is hooked up. Do you have any comments on that?

The other thing I haven't been able to figure out is skimming Krausen and what that's all about (other than for collecting yeast for future batches)

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or comments.

Regards

The Amarillo Galaxy cleared, but I guess I won't be doing any more cold crashing, and don't think I will need to if I am conditioning at cellar temperature, and hopefully avoiding any more infections.

[GuingesRock]

I was excited to wake up this morning and see that Benjy Edwards emailed back.

Thanks Benjy

Mark,

Thank you for getting in touch with me, and thanks to James for forwarding your message and for his great work on the podcasts. I was hoping that you might be in Vancouver BC or somewhere else close to me in Canada, but I see that you're in Nova Scotia, which is a long long way from here!

I think the way you are serving the cask ale is working for you, but in case you want to mimic the traditional method a little closer, I thought I would pass along some resources. You probably already know about UKBrewing since I mentioned it on the podcast, but I'll include the link to their cask breather anyway:

http://www.ukbrewing.com/Cask_Breather_p/40030.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A lower budget alternative is using a low pressure propane regulator. I have not tried this, but I saw it described in a recent article in Zymurgy magazine, which is the publication of the American Homebrewers Association. I hoped to attach a copy of the article, but I am unable to print it out from the online version of the article. If you would like, I can scan the hard copy that I have at home (I'm at work now) and email it to you. Just let me know if you would like that. Basically the article says to use the propane regulator just as you would a true breather, and that it only allows .5 PSI to go through it. Here is a link to a thread on the same subject that the article references:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/fellow- ... ost1134217" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think skimming is mainly for harvesting the yeast. I have a hard time imagining how it would affect tyre fermenting wort, except maybe to reduce the yeast vigor, which is not something I would advise. So I don't see any point to skim on the homebrew scale, unless you're brewing so frequently that you need to repitch before the earlier batch is done fermenting.

One English technique that I thinks makes a big difference to the beer is fermenting in Yorkshire squares, where the yeast is pushed out of the wort and then recycled back in. Samuel Smith still produces their beer that way.

I don't know how I could reproduce that method in the homebrew level though. And Smith is criticised for the diacetyl that's present in their beer.

I'm glad that you took the time to get in touch and please let me know if you have any further questions or just want to chat about cask beer. It's certainly a passion of mine, and I love to find others who appreciate it as much. Here in the US it's still pretty exotic and hard to find good examples.

Cheers,

Benjy.

[GuingesRock]

I just figured out, all by myself, how to brew butterscotch pudding! Quite good butterscotch pudding in fact, even smells like butterscotch pudding from a distance, and it slips nicely down the throat.

I used BRY97 for the first time. Primary fermentation was 5 days and then kegged for secondary fermentation/conditioning in the keg, but this time, after listening to the podcast, and again for the first time, the kegs were put straight in the fridge at cellar temperature and they’ve been in there for 5 days.

I’m going to take the kegs out and put them at room temperature, for a warmer and longer secondary fermentation. But that yeast has a lot of cleaning up to do.

I’m fairly sure I am going back to leaving the kegs at room temperature for 10 – 14 days, like I used to do, from this point forwards, but has anyone noticed BRY-97 is more prone to produce Diacetyl? I’m going back to US-05 for the time being as well…sod that!