Cask and Hand-pump

[Tahoose]

Hmm next project to go along with my new renewed interest in English ales...

Those Valtera pumps look good

 

[aaronpetersen]

Anyone keen to share shipping costs on a couple of Valtera pumps?

 

[aaronpetersen]

Ignore that previous post. Shipping is only $9 so I'm just gonna buy one myself.

 

[mje1980]

Let me know which site you buy from. I love hand pumped ales, but a real engine is quite pricey.

 

[crowmanz]

After reading this thread over and over I finally started putting together a "cask" to try out real ale. It is basically as wide eyed and legless suggested, a 10L cube with a john guest bulkhead connector on top to let in a blanket of co2, gravity fed out the standard tap (with cheap bunnings aerator) for now, if all goes well I'll order a valtera hand pump.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

What ever it is that happens to the ale happens when it is pumped through the aerator I don't think it would be the same gravity fed through the aerator, SE has suggested before on one of the cask threads, may even be this one, if you get a large syringe (no needle) draw the ale into the syringe and force it back into the glass it gives a similar effect to the pump but it is the aerator which makes the bubbles act strangely the fine bubbles go down, a bit like pouring a can of Guinness.
I would like to know why this happens but cannot find any explanation.

 

[crowmanz]

I don't think it would be the same gravity fed through the aerator

yup two hands squeezing either side of the cube should give it enough push if gravity doesn't work through the aerator

ill probably end up getting the hand pump but wanted to try how the cube went first

 

[dago001]

Let me know which site you buy from. I love hand pumped ales, but a real engine is quite pricey.

Yeah, mine cost me $9500, but included a free 3 week trip to the UK for me and Mrs LB. Well worth the money.

 

[dago001]

The aerator/sparkler is an interesting proposition. While in the UK, we tried many beers, some with sparkler/some without. Me, I prefer mine without, but I do have a sparkler on my Engine.
In some pubs it was noticeable that for some of their regulars they would remove the sparkler, then put it back on. Have any of you Valtera pump blokes/ladies tried it with out the aerator. You can still get a nice creamy head with an Engine without the sparkler. Thoughts seem to be that the sparkler removes some of the flavour out of the beer. I kind of agree with this.
Damn, this beer engine talk. Looks like I will be putting a Brown Ale on the Engine for tonight (no dry July for me).
Cheers
LB

 

[S.E]

What ever it is that happens to the ale happens when it is pumped through the aerator I don't think it would be the same gravity fed through the aerator, SE has suggested before on one of the cask threads, may even be this one, if you get a large syringe (no needle) draw the ale into the syringe and force it back into the glass it gives a similar effect to the pump but it is the aerator which makes the bubbles act strangely the fine bubbles go down, a bit like pouring a can of Guinness.
I would like to know why this happens but cannot find any explanation.

Yep a syringe works really quite well. Guinness brought out bottled draught Guinness in Ireland years ago and supplied a syringe with the six pack but stopped selling them after the draught widget was invented for cans.

I have a Hi-Gene beer engine but don’t often use it at home as I find gravity dispense from a cube and using a syringe easy and convenient.

Having said that the main reason I haven’t got around to setting up the engine properly and using it is I personally prefer most of my beers especially hoppy ones gravity fed and not pumped through a sparkler. I tend to only use the engine and sparkler for Irish stout at home.

It should be noted that sparklers for beer engines come with a variety of hole sizes and the smaller the holes the tighter and creamier the beer head will be. I had a cube of Irish stout last week so tried the syringe first it was ok but not tight enough. I set up the engine but was surprised it wasn’t any better. I changed the sparkler for a finer one and got an almost perfect nitrogen like creamy head.

Here is a wiki link that gives some info on how sparklers work. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_engine

Cheers Sean

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Sparklers is a North South thing, I believe it was noted in the South of England the beer could often have bits of hop floating around in the beer, I don't think a sparkler was ever used as a filter but I would imagine that if one got used to drinking a beer without a sparkler and went up north and drank a beer with a sparkler a difference would be noted.And visa versa.

http://www.aswiftone.com/2010/10/why-all-fuss-about-sparklers.html

 

[mje1980]

With or without, they still taste a million times better than out of an icy cold keg .

 

[RelaxedBrewer]

Great info guys. I think I am going to put one of these together.

I will probably use the Cubitainers from USP as a ploypin and get a few different sizes.

Looking at the Valtera pump it seems to have quite a few people complaining about leaks and general faults. Have any of you experienced this?
I might look into a different pump.

Are any of you using these for other styles than English/dark beers? I wonder what the hoppy american styles taste like though on of these. Obviously you can not carb them to the level we are used to with them.

 

[mje1980]

I saw those reviews as well. Was keen afew months ago but those reviews kind of put me off too.

 

[sp0rk]

Notice the vast majority of those reviews are pretty old, I believe Valterra have corrected the design since

 

[RelaxedBrewer]

You are right. Seems all the recent reviews are pretty good.

Sold!!!

 

[mje1980]

Hmmm me too

 

[sp0rk]

When I order mine, I'll be grabbing a spare seal kit, mostly so I don't have to order one a year or 2 down the track if/when they wear out

 

[RelaxedBrewer]

I just ordered mine and got the spare seal kit and tubing recommended. I probably did not need the tubing but at least I know it will fit and it was $10.

My order cam to $65 including everything and shipping.

Also ordered the polypins from USP..... not sure how the shipping is going to work as there was no international option. They have not charged me yet, guess I will have to wait and find out.

(productive day at work )

 

[dago001]

I know that this isnt really much help, but I looked into the Valtera pump set up when I was thinking about getting a beer engine. Im pretty handy with tools etc, have access to a full metalwork workshop, but I decided to go the route of a genuine beer engine.
Given the choice again, I wouldnt hesitate to buy another one. I understand that cost is a factor, but for me, I would rather put my money towards the genuine article.
You wont regret it if you can find a way to get one.
Cheers
LB