Jason_brews_beer said:
Just been having a look around and will defo be getting a few polypins to serve off a hand pump at home. Great idea for small batch beers too. But still keen on a few casks to take when i go to parties. Tappin a cask looks pretty cool when educating the masses (i.e. my friends...) on real ale. :beerbang:
Hi mate
The controversy I was referring to was using cubes as casks not using beer engines/hand pumps. Some AHB members believe the practise is extremely dangerous and should not be encouraged and that a cube used as a cask will explode violently throwing shrapnel and causing serious injury if over primed.
As I have pointed out in the past it is no more dangerous than the common practice of no chilling in a cube and that cubes of wort can and have spontaneously fermented and burst without exploding and causing injury.
By far the easiest and most practical method of serving cask ale at home that I have found is using a cube as a cask.
I have brought purpose made casks (pins and firkins) from the UK to use at home but found that using cubes is easier and better.
I still take the casks to club real ale festivals occasionally and as you say it is pretty cool and fun to tap a cask but we mostly use cubes. Cubes of real ale have become popular with our club members and a few almost always appear along with keg beer at other club gatherings.
Traditional casks are just adapted barrels and were not specifically designed for serving beer. When placed horizontally and taped in the traditional manner the ale needs to be consumed within a few days as it oxidises.
I have found that ale served from my cubes lasts far longer than when served from my casks as the surface area exposed to the air is less than a horizontal cask. My cubes last about 8- 10 days after they have been opened and the beer exposed to the air if I keep them in the fridge.
Cubes like casks are not pressure rated containers and like casks they don’t need to be.
Beer engines/hand pumps are fun to use at home but not necessary. Engines are used in the UK to pump ale from pub cellars located below ground level up to the bar above.
I have never seen a cask of ale served through an engine when the casks are being used and served from above ground and not stored in a cellar.
I have been to many pubs and beer festivals in the UK and the beer has always been served direct from the taps in the casks when they are easily accessible and in plain view never through an engine.
The only practical reason I can think of to use an engine when the cask is close at hand is if it is fitted with a sparkler to promote a creamy head on the beer but I have never actually seen this done at a pub or beer fest. If a creamy head is desired on a beer served directly from a cube or cask this can easily be achieved by using a syringe.
If you do want to use a beer engine at home and do not want to consume the ale quickly you may be better off using collapsible polypins. I don’t like polypins personally as I find them to fragile and fiddly to use and clean also the taps leak easily.
Cheers
Sean
