Horizontal Extraction - Timothy Taylor's Cask Care

Horizontal – Stillaging

Remember it’s likely that this beer has just been bounced around on a waggon before being delivered and then dropped into the cellar. The key steps now are to let it cool and settle down.

If possible, on delivery position the beer on your autotilt with the shive and keystone vertically aligned.

If the beer has to be stored somewhere other than where it will be dispensed, for more than 24 hours, we recommend giving the cask a gentle roll to redistribute the contents before then moving to your autotilt and venting.

If the beer has entered the cellar straight from the delivery vehicle, it takes approximately 1 hour per gallon for beer to cool to cellar temperature (more if the cask was warm on entry).

For our beers, we would recommend that you let them settle and cool down for at least 5 hours, ideally a bit more, but no more than 24.

If you open the cask before 5 hours, you will lose too much of the carbon dioxide which needs to absorb back into the beer to give it that lively carbonation.

Horizontal – Venting

Venting removes the pressure in the cask allowing the yeast the space to continue its secondary fermentation – conditioning the beer so it’s ready to serve.

Make sure the shive and keystone are completely clean by thoroughly scrubbing with a brush and warm water.

We use a peg to knock the tut area of the shive into the cask which allows the excess carbon dioxide out.

For Taylor’s beers we recommend venting only with a hard peg and manually controlling the initial release of the carbon dioxide.

You may have heard the fizz as the peg went in, now we can slowly wiggle the hard peg out to control the release of the gas.

This is the point where we advise you also tap the cask.

Horizontal – Tapping

Our preference has always been to tap at the same time as you vent which we feel is more beneficial to our ingredients and helps the beer to settle bright.

Remember the tap must be clean and dry before coming into contact with beer, so please use hot water and the relevant detergent – and, of course, rinse well again in hot water after cleaning.

We recommend tapping the beer with a closed tap. It’s best done by giving it a solid first hit and then a second follow up to ensure it is tight. Less hits means less disturbance to the beer.

Remember to safely hold the tap with the flat of your hand.

Horizontal – Conditioning

After the initial venting we leave the hole empty for 24 hours, allowing the excess carbon dioxide and froth to be released. Don’t be worried about oxygen getting into the cask as the lively CO2 and froth stops it entering.

Once the emissions stop, clean the shive again and place a soft peg into the hole for at least another 24 hours, this allows conditioning to continue.

Check the beer every 6 hours, if you hear the hiss of gas, or froth is still coming out of the cask, replace the soft peg with a new one and leave it for a little longer until this subsides.

When there is no gas or froth released the beer is conditioned. You can then seal it with a hard peg and store ready for when you want to serve it.

Now it is fully conditioned.

Ten Day Rule

Once conditioned, beer can be left sealed for up to 10 days before it needs to go on sale (remember it must always be sold within its best before date).

Find out more and download your free cask care brochure from our website here: https://www.timothytaylor.co.uk/cask-...

Or view all our cask care videos here:    • Timothy Taylor's Cask Care - Looking After...