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Author Topic: What can I do?  (Read 1326 times)

Offline violet94

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What can I do?
« on: January 03, 2019, 11:59:36 pm »
I have only made beer from kits for several years, but am going to start with all grain and then put it into 5 gals casks.  My question is I bottled some beer in 7/2016, but lost it in a refrigerator.  I found it and it is some of the best.  That was in the bottles, but how does it age in a stainless steel cask?

Offline goose

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Re: What can I do?
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2019, 08:12:23 am »
It should age just fine in a SS cask, so long as you purge all of the Oxygen out of the cask.  Several ways to do it.  You can fill the cask with sanitizer and push it out with CO2 (which is what I would do), or you can add some priming sugar to the keg and let the residual yeast do its thing to carbonate the beer.  The yeasties should eat up the O2 when they are carbonating the beer.  Just shoot some CO2 into the cask before transferring the beer and do not splash it when transferring it

Some of my stronger beers are aged in corny kegs which behave like SS casks.  I just force carbonate the beer in the keg.  This might not be doable in a cask since you will probably have bungs to deal with that could blow out under pressure.
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Offline jumpjasper

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Re: What can I do?
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2019, 11:57:12 am »
I always cask,cold crash in ss 5 gal keg. Just purge with co2. Especially lagers in winters. So when ready i just purge in co2 the out on tap side. Clear beer , eliminate couple of steps.

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Offline Robert

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Re: What can I do?
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2019, 03:41:31 pm »
There seems to be some confusion or imprecision in terminology.   In conventional usage,  "cask" and "keg" are two quite different things.  Both can be SS.   A cask is a vessel in which a porous spile driven into the shive allows CO2 to exit and air to enter the cask.  It is used to condition and serve ale at a minimal level of carbonation, without dispensing under pressure; because it is exposed to air, the beer must be consumed within a few days.  A keg is a sealed pressure vessel which can be used to condition beer by refermentation (just as in cask or bottle conditioning,)  but more usually is used to hold and serve racked and force carbonated beer.  I wonder which the OP really intends.   If he means he will be using casks, then the beer will in fact not keep at all after it is tapped and the shive pierced.  If kegs, then as long as it is kept at a cool temperature it will store well for months, but maybe not as long as in bottles because there is more opportunity for oxygen ingress at the keg seals than at the bottle cap.  As always, how susceptible a beer is to aging is dependent on the style. If kegged beer will be stored for any extended period of time between serving sessions, disconnecting the gas and beer lines will reduce the opportunity for oxygen ingress through the permeable tubing.
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Offline narcout

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Re: What can I do?
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2019, 04:52:44 pm »
If kegs, then as long as it is kept at a cool temperature it will store well for months, but maybe not as long as in bottles because there is more opportunity for oxygen ingress at the keg seals than at the bottle cap.

I thought the opposite was true?
Sometimes you just can't get enough - JAMC

Offline Robert

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Re: What can I do?
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2019, 05:04:44 pm »
If kegs, then as long as it is kept at a cool temperature it will store well for months, but maybe not as long as in bottles because there is more opportunity for oxygen ingress at the keg seals than at the bottle cap.

I thought the opposite was true?
I would have thought so too.  Depends on the seal to some extent.  The silicone o-rings are much more permeable than the rubber ones, but both are vulnerable.  There's also more area involved along a keg seal.  That much is fairly straightforward.  There was a lot of discussion of this (oxygen ingress in draught and bottles) earlier in 2018, with a lot of information provided by the LO guys.  A search of the forum, or maybe easier their site, should turn it up.

(On the other hand, it's easier for most of us to get beer kegged with less upfront oxygen exposure than bottling.  So I guess that should be figured in.)

EDIT Here's a link to the LOB post http://www.lowoxygenbrewing.com/brewing-methods/beer-serving-oxygen-ingress/

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« Last Edit: January 04, 2019, 05:30:41 pm by Robert »
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Offline narcout

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Re: What can I do?
« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2019, 06:13:48 pm »
There was a lot of discussion of this (oxygen ingress in draught and bottles) earlier in 2018, with a lot of information provided by the LO guys.  A search of the forum, or maybe easier their site, should turn it up.

Although I don't post there very much, I do actually read all of the posts on the low oxygen forum.

The dominant feeling over there seems to be that kegging is much better for long term storage than bottling in regards to oxygen exposure.  Though if you compare the blog post you linked to above to the blog post about crown cap ingress, the numbers don't seem to support it.  Something to ask about on the low-oxy forum I suppose.

(On the other hand, it's easier for most of us to get beer kegged with less upfront oxygen exposure than bottling.  So I guess that should be figured in.)

Yeah, that's a good point.  Keg spunding is actually pretty cool.  It carbonates the beer crazy fast as well.  I'd be too scared to try it, but you can do something similar with bottles (I know Big Monk has done it).

Sometimes you just can't get enough - JAMC