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Hausbräu - update

Posted by Barry on 2021-04-04 07:05:39

I spent nearly three years looking after cask conditioned beer and, to be honest, it didn't seem to difficult.  I had beer from several different suppliers, including Courage (from the former Georges' Brewery, long gone from Bristol Bridge), Wadworth's of Devizes (the delicious 6X), John smith's of Tadcater (this may surprise some but they used to brew a lovely cask-Yorkshire Bitter), plus several more that I can't remember (it was 35 years ago!). The beer all arrived as 'brewery conditioned', which meant, I suppose, Andy's 'final condition'.  It arrived 'sealed' and would keep in good condition for quite a long time, if it wasn't tapped and spiled.  I don't know how long because there was no reason for it to hang around but several weeks?  Thus, I concur with Andy's comment about non-exploding casks - I don't even recall any 'weeping'. A couple of days before it was scheduled for use, a soft spile would be hammered in and, a little later, a lovely brass tap - I believe gone now under hygene regulations!  And, then, drink!  Providing the cellar was kept at an even temperature, there wasn't really anything else to do, except line cleaning, which I've read a lot of rubbish about.  Basically, I was trained (and I meaned trained with an experienced publican for 3 months) to do this once a week, which I did and never had any complaints about my beer.  Easy really.

Followups:

Hausbräu - update by AndyH on  2021-08-20 03:51:17