Tom

Saterday the 10th October we’ll have 5 moonlight and bear republic beers on tap. The brewer Brian will be about all day to chat to. Some of these beers are pritty rare, like just 10 rates on ratebeer.

Also we should have Nanny state on cask!

chin chin

Tom

PS: Im away to Turkey on holiday for a week so wont be at this event, instead i’ll be lying in the sunshine drinking EFES!

Iv been wanting to talk about this for a while.  For the last year iv been mad about lagers. I walk into a bar and look to see what lagers they have before cask ales, in hope that i’ll find a hidden gem. Fair do’s this very rarely happens, especially in britian where 99.999% of lager is from the multinationals and is more alcoholic liquid cardboard than lager.

My love came after the RBESG08(ratebeer european summer gathering) in Plzen. While i was there  really dont think i understood what i was doing. Loads of hidden brewpubs giving out filtered/unfiltered/dunkels/bocks/red/low alc/blackcurent? lagers every type immaginable and for the most part fantastic.  Then i come back home into my usual 150 different  session bitters a month routine and something was missing. A few trips to Quinns in Camden and some other finds around London and it became clear that lager was missing from my life. Lager is clean, refreshing, super drinkable and generally(craft wise) flavourful in a way that cask bitters lack, that even lambic cant fix for the most part(and thats saying something).

Now its Oktoberfest time and iv found myself in a very nice situatuion. Augustiner, Spartan, HB….Oktoberfest clean awsome lagers. Its nothing like as great as getting them gravity cask from a brewpub in Plzen, but it does the job. Even as i sit here now im drinking Cotswold 3.8% lager. Its hardly the finest but im enjoying it and it takes me back to the catacombs of the pilsner urquell brewery, where you get unfiltered, unpasturised urquell from the wooden fermentation cask.

Anyway rant over. Get on your lager chaps!

Chin chin

Tom

16 unblended lambics and fruit lambics on draught and gravity straight from the cask! From Cantillon, Girardain, Boon, Lindemans and hanssens, plus some bottles.

Not to be missed!!!!

Tom

Cellaring cask ale is something iv been doing for many years now and its possibly one of the most rewarding parts of my career in the pub trade. There’s no specific art to cellaring cask ale, its just something you get a feel for and begin to understand it over the course of time. However there are some basic rules that no one has ever told me, but its what I teach my staff and anyone else who’s interested in how to do it. These rules wont always work, as iv said every cask will be slightly different, but generally they’ll give you the results that will make the customer smile and that’s what makes it so rewarding.

First thing to note is iv always used stillage racks for my ale, meaning gravity, when the casks are lying on their side. There are two other types of dispense which are spears(cask upright, spear goes in bung) and the float system(a very new technique which is basically just the same as spear, but it’s a rubber tube with a float so that the beer you get is always from the top of the cask and goes down with the beer level). I’m only going to refer to the stillage system, as I believe it to be the best system and its what I know best. However you can take note from what I write and use it in the different systems.

Ok so you go down into the cellar as a beer needs racked onto the stillage. This is the first time you’ve done it and you have no idea what to put on. So first you need to think, what beers do I currently have on and more importantly what beers will be on by the time this beer goes on? You want to keep it varied, a good line up of different styles and strengths are always desired, it really is an epic fail when you go into a pub and find 5 cask stouts on in the middle of summer for example. Secondly dates, general rule is whatever is closest to use by date first. This is a tricky one, as sometimes it wont match with the styles you want to have on so you have to skip a few things, what’s more is most dates on casks are just a safe date to keep the brewer less liable if the beers off, also ipa’s and other beers should be had fresh where as barley wines will cellar for up to 10yrs in the right circumstances(we’re got Thomas Hardy’s casks going back a few years now). So use your judgement and as iv said its something you’ll begin to understand over the course of time. Note that when you rack a beer the bung(the hole you dispense the beer from) should be directly at the bottom as if its to the side at all you’ll lose your yield of ale.

So you’ve racked the cask, now it needs time to settle. 24hrs I recommend is the minimum time you should leave a cask before putting it on, any more is excellent. In the cask is what’s called finings, generally isinglass(which is the shredded, freeze dried, powdered swim bladder of sturgeon) but can be other things now which are suitable for vegetarians. Basically the yeast sticks to them and they fall to the bottom, clearing the beer. Iv said 24hrs is the minimum recommended time to allow to settle, some casks may take up to 72 some only 3-4.

Next thing to do is vent the beer. You need to think when will this beer actually be going on. Ideally id recommend venting the beer 24hrs before you think it will be going on sale. It can be difficult to judge as you never really know how much beer your going to sell, but you get a feel for how much you sell on certain days and what beers you have on already and that kind of thing. To vent a beer you need a mallet (rubber ideally), both hard and soft spile’s and some room to jump away from the cask if it explodes on you! Hit the hard spile into the shive, the  hole on the top of the cask in the middle where its just a thin layer of wood or plastic. You are just wanting to vent the beer here so don’t smack the spile right in or you’ll have a hell of a trouble getting it out again. I personally like to tap it very gently until its just beginning to hiss as the excess gas comes out, this way you’ll be able to tell if the cask is going to explode on you and cover you in beer, as if beer comes out rather than gas you can prepare for the worst. Once you’ve hit the hole right through on the shive, replace hard spile with soft spile just at hand tightness, no need to hammer it. The soft spile allows the beer to get rid of any excess CO2 but at a rate so that you don’t over vent the beer. After 24hrs if the beer is not on yet get a tap and hammer it into the bung, try and do it in as little hits as possible, as too many hits can unsettle the beer again, then replace the soft spile with hard spile to stop it from venting.

Tapping the beer. This is another tricky thing that’s probably taken me the longest time to figure out as it’s the most variable thing iv come across. Some breweries use casks with wooden bungs these are the biggest pain in the ass ever. It normally takes about 5-10 good hits from the mallet to get through one and by this time you’ve normally unsettled the beer somewhat and have to leave it for another 12hrs or so. Also the casks like to blow about a gallon of beer out of the shive and cover the cellar in beer. Most brewery however use a rubber bung which you can hit the tap through in one hit, most of the time that’s it fine and you can just go and sell the beer straight away, however there are times with certain breweries that it will go mad and explode all over the cellar. So general rule, if the beer was lively when you vented it, it’ll probably be lively when you tap it also. So take this all into consideration when your thinking about when you should tap the cask. If in doubt if you’ve given it enough time to settle, go get a glass and pull off two samples. The first one almost always has a few little floaters in it and the second one will give you a more accurate indication of whither or not the beer has cleared, you should also taste the beer just to make sure its not infected and to make sure your happy with it. Remember to put a soft spile in the beer when selling it, or else you’ll create a vacuum in the cask and it wont come out.

Well that’s it really. From here on you should just have to connect the cask to the line and pull it through or if your at a festival or whatnot just pour it gravity. Enjoy your journey!

Chin chin!

Tom

When I heard this was coming out I was mad excited, as the previous Tokyo was fantastic being one of my favourite  imperial stouts to date. James (the brewdog director) had posted on his blog updates as this was fermenting and guided us through how it was getting on, up until when it got to around 17%. Then when it came out at a massive 18.2% people really began to turn their heads. It has now become arguably the most controversial beer ever made in Britain.

At 18.2% it’s the strongest beer in Britain that I know of and what with brewdog’s growing reputation as an extreme brewing company it grabbed everyone’s attention, but not just beer loves such as myself, the Portman group also. Automatically it was in the spotlight as “6 units per bottle” and  was being condemned by everyone who wanted to look like they have some sort of medical/social influence over The Sun readers. As usual they forget that its £10+ a bottle. I mean hang about, I can get a 75cl bottle of port at 20% out of Lidl for £4 but that’s not a beer so its alright? Everyone jumped on the bandwagon to the extent it was even brought up in the Scottish Parliament, who as far as I know are still toying with the idea of banning sale in Britain.

Anyway enough about the politics and more about the beer. The beer itself is an imperial stout that has been fermented with a champagne yeast and conditioned with cranberries, jasmine and French oak chips. It was a very limited batch, only around 2000 bottles made and 3 x 30l key kegs. I managed to get my hands on 6 bottles at an early stage of the release and my god what an experience. Its massive. Huge honey sweetness, the roasty imperial stout character is almost muted by it, the spice and whatever hops were added mix with the alcohol to give you a dry peppery balancing influence, the fruitiness of the cranberries and the light acidity off the wood also help to balance the sweetness and add the layers of complexity you need in such a beast, and that was just the first sip. As you work your way through it the warming character of alcohol, as you get from any drink of this strength, begins to make itself known. It really is something to just sit back sip on and enjoy.

This is a seriously special beer. It has grabbed Britain’s beer drinkers attention and said “Let’s push some boundaries” and also shook up the multinationals so much that they have got their political arm(the Portman group) to try and ban it. Its an eye-opener on all fronts, get your hands on some before its too late!

Chin chin

Tom

My name is Tom Cadden, i live and work in London, England; where i am deputy manager in The Rake.  As my first post on my blog i thought id better give the low down on what you can expect here.

My plan is to blog about the general british brewing scene, though i’ll probably primarily focus on London.  Im massivly passionate about beer not only from britian though so expect some articals now and again from belgium and where ever else my travels take me. I’ll also keep you updated with any big events that may be coming up in the country and probably give some feedback on the ones i go to.

If theres any particular info anyone would like that they think i may be able to help them with, give me a shout and i’ll try my best.

Chin chin

Tom