This month’s Session topic comes to us from Tom over at ‘Yours For Good Fermentables‘.  Tom asks that everyone write about anything they want as long as it’s about cask-conditioned ale.

Around here, cask ales are something of a special event.  Pubs don’t feature them regularly and when they do word gets around quick.  Usually you show up for a “cask event” at the prescribed time, stand in line with 300 other people and get one or (if you’re lucky) two pints.

Which kind of sucks.

But if you can homebrew then you can make your own cask ale.  In fact, if you’ve ever bottle conditioned your homebrew, then you’ve made about 48 12oz casks.  And if you keg your homebrew, then you likely already have all of the equipment you’ll need to put on your own cask event.

The Cask Party

The easiest way to serve your own cask ale at home is to throw a party with 15 or so of your best beer geek friends.  If you drink the whole keg in one or two nights then oxidation doesn’t become a problem and you don’t really need any special equipment.  Here’s how I would do it.

1. Brew a cask-appropriate beer as normal.  I like a good English Special Bitter, but you can do whatever you prefer.  IPA, Porter, Stout or Mild are probably the most common.
2. Assemble a corny keg, but swap the Beer and Gas posts.  You want the beer QD on the “short” dip tube and and the Gas QD on the long dip tube.
3. When fermentation is complete, keg as normal and add a priming solution of about 75 grams Corn Sugar dissolved in 1 cup of water.  You’re shooting for ~1.5-1.9 volumes of co2. It’s just like bottle conditioning except you have 1 large “bottle” instead of 48 small ones.
4. Leave 3 or so inches of headspace when you fill the keg.  This will help in getting co2 into solution.
5. (Optional)  Add gelatin or isinglass finings to the keg.
6. Seal the keg and put it aside in a room around 70ºF for 2 weeks or so.
7. While you’re waiting for the beer to carbonate, construct a simple wooden cask stand that will hold your corny keg on it’s side with the rear slightly elevated.
8. You’ll also need a way to get the beer out of the keg.  You could use a simple picnic faucet attached to a beer QD with a short (~1″) piece of tubing.  Or get one of these fancy-pants adapters that lets you thread a standard beer faucet directly onto a beer-side QD.  I like my stuff to be fancy-pants so that’s what I would do.
9. You’ll also want to rig up a gas QD with a length of tubing.  Eventually you’ll need to let some air into the keg or the beer will stop flowing.
10. Party time.
11. One day before your “cask event”  Chill the beer to around 40ºF (Yes, this is too cold for proper serving).
12. The morning of, get the keg out.  Vent the excess pressure then put it on your horizontal stand.  Make sure the post with the short tube is oriented at the bottom so beer can come out.
13. You’ll need to allow time for the trub to settle.  One of these keg parkas will keep the beer from getting too warm too quickly.
14. You may need to do some trial runs, but with luck the beer will be approaching the correct temperature (~55ºF) as your guests begin to arrive.
15. Attach your faucet and start pouring.  If you did it right, the beer will flow via gravity.  Just like a cask.  The first pint will probably be a bit hazy.
16. Once the flow starts to slow, try attaching your makeshift breather tube.  The level of the beer in the keg needs to be below the opening of the dip tube at the “back” of the keg or you’re in for a beer shower.  You could probably cut and bend the long dip tube so that it rests at the side of the keg instead of the center,  if you didn’t mind mangling a dip tube.  They’re not terribly expensive.
17. Enjoy all of the cask-conditioned ale you can drink with no lines!

Show You’re A Real Beer Geek

Be sure to have the correct glassware on hand.  A proper Imperial (20 oz. It’s the law.) nonic or a tulip glass.  With the official stamp.  Seriously.  Put those tumblers in the recycle bin.

Hold out on your friends and save 2 or 3 pints in the keg for 2 or 3 more days.  Drink one each day and notice how a bit of oxidation changes the beer.  Don’t cry about it being “warm”.

Add a beer engine to your kegerator.  Everyone has a nitro faucet.  Man up and get a hand pump.  You will be the envy of your town.  You can find the odd used beer engine on ebay. UK Brewing sells them in the US, but they’re a bit pricey.  When I find a reliable source for gently used pumps I’ll be sure to pass it along.

If you’re going to add a beer engine to your kegerator, also use a fermwrap and a second temperature controller to keep the beer at the proper 55ºF.

Its Not Rocket Science

You learned all of the relevant skills in your first couple of homebrew batches.  As a homebrewer you’re used to drinking “living” beer.  Show ‘em want “real” beer is all about and put on your own cask events!

This article is part of a monthly series called The Session.  This month’s topic is from Jim over at Two Parts Rye.  He asks that we “give a shout out to your favorite watering hole.”  And because that would be entirely too easy, “There is a catch.  This booze stuff has interesting side effects.  That means, you can’t get behind the wheel.  You gotta walk, take public transportation, or be a regular supporter of your favorite taxi company.”

So I took this as a challenge.  I live in a fairly metropolitan area, but walking to much of anything is quite a hike unless you live in one of the downtowns proper.

While there are a half dozen excellent spots within a 5-10 minute drive – it’s just not the same as walking up to the corner pub.

If you live in a city with good public transportation count yourself lucky.  I’m insanely jealous of places like D.C. and San Francisco.   The closest thing we have is some basic bus routes around town.

Fortunately there is a major upscale shopping center/outdoor mall within walking distance of my house.  Unfortunately it doesn’t contain any proper pubs and most of the restaurants are the franchise/chain type.  I’ve been to a few of them, but assumed that none had much in the way of good craft beer on offer.

The end of the mall area is about 2 miles from my front door.  Not an unreasonable distance on a nice night I guess.

So with all of this in mind I set out on a Caine-esque journey to wander the neighborhood in search of a proper beer.

I’m sad to say I didn’t find much.  I only managed to find 2 local micro handles.  The rest was standard BMC, Boston Lager, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Guinness, etc.  Which is disappointing for such a highly trafficked area.  The best selection of beer in the neighborhood appears to be on the kegerator in my garage.

What a sad state of affairs.  Someone should really do something about this.

I’m sure rent in this particular location is expensive but there are quite a few empty storefronts.  And with the beer scene exploding around here I doubt there would be much trouble doing enough business.

But if you (or I) build it, will they come?  I guess that’s the $64,000 question.  Maybe I should just have patience, grasshopper.

It’s that time again. The monthly beer blog-up known as The Session. The topic for this month’s session is “Framing Beer” and it comes to us from Andy Couch over at I’ll Have a Beer.  Andy wants us to “Imagine persuasively describing craft beer to someone who has until now entirely missed out…“  I think I can handle that.

Of course no Session article could be written without actually drinking a beer, so Andy also asks that we “… drink a beer. Ideally drink something that you don’t think you will like. Try to pick out what it is about that brew that other people enjoy… ”

So I went to the well for this one and rummaged around in the back of the refrigerator.  It was an arduous search, but I managed to produce a bottle of Rogue Imperial Stout from 2008.  A formidable beer indeed.

Weighing in at 11% ABV and robed in a ceramic bottle Darth Vader would be proud of, it’s certainly not approachable.

It’s also not a style that I’ve really enjoyed, but I’m coming around.  As I’ve mentioned numerous times – if I can’t drink 5 or 6 pints, then it’s generally not for me.  But lately I’ve been learning to appreciate the subtleties of a style like this one.

This isn’t a beer that just anyone could appreciate though.  Beer – like it or not – is an acquired taste.  It takes time to learn to enjoy one like this.  Your average Joe 24-pack isn’t going to pick up on the vanilla and berry in the aroma.  The firm but not harsh bitterness.  The way this beer deceptively hides it’s strength.

But we can find these qualities in other places can’t we?  Certainly someone who enjoys a fine coffee could recognize the roasted flavors and identify the vanilla and fruit.  A whiskey drinker might find an oak character and note the smoothness of the alcohol.

So maybe the way to re-frame beer isn’t necessarily to dumb it down – but to equate it to a similarly enjoyable experience.  Of course not everyone is going to “get it” and maybe that’s okay.

The topic for this 29th edition of The Session comes to us from David at Beer 47 and it is “Beer Dessert“.  You can read more about Beer Blogging Friday a.k.a. The Session over on the Brookston Beer Bulletin.

I’m hoping there will be a lots of really cool, intricate, foodie-type beer desserts for this edition of the Session.  After all, food geekery and beer geekery often go hand in hand.  I thought I might go the opposite direction with something that’s super simple to start but can be as fancy as you want.

The Beershake. Just like a milkshake – but with beer.  Yes, really.

The Ingredients

Beer

Ice Cream

Hardware

Blender

Cool glasses

Bendy straws

Directions

For a 16oz serving:

Add 6-8 oz. beer to blender.  Top with 3-4 medium sized scoops of ice cream.  Blend until smooth.  Pour into spiffy glass. Add bendy straw.  Top with whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate shavings, or whatever else your heart desires.

The best (and maybe worst) part about the beershake is that there are nearly infinite combinations.  After a little experimenting – these were the favorites:

Dogfish Head Festina Peche with Vanilla Ice cream

Ommegang Three Philosophers with Chocolate Ice cream

It doesn’t seem to work as well with overly bitter beers – the hop bitterness really cuts through.  You might like it – I thought it was a little odd.  Not bad, just odd.  Adding more sugar didn’t seem to help so I think some additional “research” is needed.

You could also try sorbet or gelato.  Maybe some fresh fruit.  Depending on the beer some spices might also be in order – cinnamon or nutmeg with pumpkin ale and vanilla ice cream?  I don’t much care for chunks of candy bar – the beer should be the star of the show. The ice cream and spices should play a supporting role.

Also think about the occasion – something refreshing for a hot summer day, or a rich treat for the end of your next beer dinner.  If you come up with an interesting variation be sure to share it with us!

The topic for this 29th edition of The Session comes to us from Gail Ann and Steve at Beer by BART and it is “Will Travel for Beer“.  This month we’re blogging about our favorite beer trips and a few tips on travellng for beer.

You can read more about Beer Blogging Friday a.k.a. The Session over on the Brookston Beer Bulletin.

Since the last Session – the furthest distance you’ve ever traveled to visit a brewery – I’ve actually eclipsed the previous mark.  This time with a visit to the Bay Area of California which you can read about here.

It also included a visit to one of the greatest beer meetings on the planet, the National Homebrewers’ Convention.

Since I’ve already written about these adventures, I won’t bore you with the details again.  But the trip notes linked above are worth a look if you haven’t read them.  Instead let’s move on to a few tips.

Tip #1 – Do your homework before you leave

Even if you’re traveling specifically for the beer,  do some homework on the places you intend to visit.  Get the names of the brewers and owners and check out what they’re brewing – more on why this is useful later.

Search the internet for destination guides. There’s lots being written on local beer, so you can likely find a few blogs or other info on the place you want to visit.

On our recent trip, The Beer by BART guides were invaluable.  Not only for the directions, but we also found a few more places that we might have otherwise missed.  The Beer Mapping Project is also worth a look.

Tip #2 – Don’t try to do too much

More than 2-3 breweries/pubs in a day is pushing it.  It’s nice to be able relax and enjoy your trip without being in a rush, it’s vacation after all.  Plus by the time I’m 4 beers in, getting to the next destination seems less important.

I missed a few places in the Bay Area that I really wanted to see, partly because I wanted to visit too many in a day.  Also we only had 3-4 days before the conference started.  Plan at least a week if you’re thinking about visiting the bay area.

Tip #3 – Ask to talk to the brewers

Brewers are some of the friendliest people on the planet.  Most of the time they’ll be more than happy to come out and chat with fellow beer geeks.  Through our whole trip to California, we didn’t meet one person that was too busy to at least stop and say “Hi.”

They love to geek out on beer talk.  Ask a few questions about what’s going on at the brewery, or about their beers.  This is where doing some research ahead of time can help!

So that should get you started.  All of this writing about beer travel is making me want to do more of it.

Unfortunately, I don’t have anything planned until September.  I’ll be heading back out to Sierra Nevada in Chico, CA.  I hear they have a sweet taproom with lots of beers they don’t distribute.   If you’re in the area and want to meet up drop me an email or tweet.

I might have to sneak in another long weekend between now and then.  Any east coast suggestions?