Hosting Cask Ale Events

This page contains the Table of Contents for the first draft of Hosting Cask Ale EventsThis draft eventually became the NHC Special Edition in support of the seminar I gave at the 2015 National Homebrewer’s Conference. It is my intention to leave this draft here for anyone to learn from. If you found it helpful, please let me know. Disagree on a particular point? I’d love to hear your point of view! Cheers!

Buy My Book!Table of Contents

  1. Why Cask Ale?
    1. Why Cask Ale?
    2. Defining Cask Ale
  2. Cask Anatomy and Preparation

    1. Sizing information
    2. Anatomy of a Cask
    3. Tools of the Trade: Sealing a Cask
    4. Cleaning Your Cooperage
    5. How to Prime a Cask
    6. Alternate Priming Methods
  3. Dry Hopping and Flavoring Casks
    1. Dry Hopping
    2. Incomplete List of Hop Varieties
    3. Adding Spices
    4. Adding Oak Character
    5. Adding Fruit and their Juices
    6. Conflating Beverages
  4. Serving Cask Ale
    1. Cellar Temperature
    2. Clarity
    3. Flavor Evaluation
  5. Linztoberfest – Single Gravity Dispense with Ice Blanket

    1. Setup
    2. Cooling
    3. Tapping
    4. Serving
    5. Cleanup
  6. XBF – Simple Vertical Dispense with Beer Engine
    1. Tools of the Trade
    2. Setup
    3. Managing during Service
    4. End of the Night
  7. Casktoberfest – Multiple Engine Setup With Gas Blanketing

    1. Connecting to Casks or Kegs
    2. Blanketing all vessels (or not)
  8. May Day Cask Festival – Cooling setup
    1. Original setup for NHC 2013
    2. Preparing the Beer Off-Site
    3. The Recirculating Cooling Manifold Setup
    4. Final Setup
  9. NERAX – Overview of Cellaring Responsibilities
  10. Unsolicited Advice for Publicans
  11. Technical Drawings & Specifications