Notes and tips for serving
our cask conditioned ales
CASK/CONTAINER SIZES
- Mini pin ** 18 pints
- Pin ** 36 pints
- Firkin ** 72 pints
- Kilderkin **. 144 pints
- Plastic poly mini pins in boxes -10 litres
- Plastic poly pins in boxes -20 litres
** Steel casks
SEDIMENT BEER
Live beer which needs at least 12 hours to settle. Sediment or cask ale has finings added which drag the yeast to the bottom. When the finings have cleared the beer is said to have ‘dropped bright’ and will look clear rather than cloudy. Sediment ales are available from us in firkins, but not in the polypins.
BRIGHT BEER
If a beer has been filtered, or has been cleared of yeast by using finings, and then ‘racked’ (transferred to another container) this is called ‘bright’ or re-racked beer. Bright beer is essentially unpasteurised beer which has been cleared of yeast and placed in a different container. It no longer sits on the yeast. As such, strictly speaking, it is not real ale because it cannot continue to ferment in the container in which it now finds itself.
CASK DEPOSIT
For steel containers (firkins and pins) we also supply a stillage block and a tap. There is a returnable deposit of £85.00 for the cask, stillage & tap – please bring a cheque/cash, which will be kept safely and returned as soon as all three are returned.