Producing and Serving Homebrewed Cask Ales

What is Cask Ale? Also known as Real Ale, it is any ale that has been naturally carbonated in the serving vessel and then served directly from that vessel either by gravity or a hand pump (AKA beer engine - see picture at right.) without removing the yeast or sediment, and without extraneous CO2. It is a living beer, and when vented to the atmosphere it changes over time and exposure to air. They are generally low alcohol, low carbonation level session beers that are served at 50-55°F, though you could make nearly any style of ale into a Cask Ale.

Here is a link to an interesting article on Cask Ale from ratebeer.com: Warm, Flat, and Boring

Making and serving cask ales has always been a challenge for homebrewers. True cask ales are vented to the atmosphere and undergo changes due to exposure to air and the critters that it contains. As a result of this, cask ales are generally degraded after a few days to the point that they are no longer enjoyable. As homebrewers, we can't do this unless we can be sure the keg will be emptied in a day or two. For pubs that don't sell enough cask ale to empty a keg in a day or two, a product is available to allow the keg to remain on tap indefinitely. Although it is not approved by CAMRA, the UK's Campaign for Real Ale, you can use a cask breather, which is designed to keep a keg's headspace blanketed with CO2 rather than Air. These are available commercially from UK Brewing, but at a rather stiff price (about $90 plus shipping). We all know how frugal hombrewers are, so I've come up with an alternative that is more reasonably priced - around $20. I'll get into more details on this later.

Cask Ale is typically made by racking into a firkin (10.8 US gal) or pin (5.4 US gal), a type of keg with a bung on the top and on the end (when laid horizontally). The bung on the top is used for soft and hard spiles, and the one on the end is for the tap (or the connection to the hand pump). You rack the nearly finished young beer into the cask (filling to the top) and add a small amount of priming sugar and some gelatin finings. If you dry hop, be sure to add a boiled SS bolt (or other sanitized weight) to the hop bag to keep it weighted down, then seal the cask with bungs. Keep it at 65°F or so for a week to condition.

After it is conditioned, it is chilled to 50-55°F for a few days. 2-3 days before serving you hammer a soft spile into the top bung, allowing beer and gas to slowly escape thru it. When the venting slows to the proper rate, you remove the soft spile (slowly) and hammer in a hard spile, which prevents further venting. The day before serving, hammer the tap into the bung on the end. When finally ready to serve, remove the hard spile and place a damp towel over the cask (covering the hole in the bung). This vent allows beer to flow freely from the tap without building up a vacuum in the cask.

How to make and serve Cask Ales:

Now putting the strict CAMRA definition aside, nearly any beer style or recipe can be used for a cask ale. Follow the first set of steps regardless of the serving method you use. Continue with the second set if you use a hand pump, or skip to section 3 for gravity fed serving.

    Preparation and Conditioning
  1. Remove the liquid out dip tube from a corny keg.
  2. Bend it straight and trim an inch or so from the bottom end.
  3. Replace the dip tube into the corny. This will become your 'cask'.
  4. When primary is done rack to the sanitized cask.
  5. Add gelatin finings and 2 oz corn sugar for conditioning.
  6. Seal up the keg and allow it to condition at rooms temperature (65-70°F).
  7. After conditioning chill the keg to about 50°F. At this temperature most (if not all) of the CO2 should remain in solution even if the cask is vented to the atmosphere.
    For hand pump serving:
  1. Connect your beer engine to a BEER OUT quick disconnect and connect to the BEER OUT post.
  2. Connect an LPG regulator*** in the CO2 line to a GAS IN quick disconnect and connect to the GAS IN post.
  3. After pulling a pint leave the pump handle in the forward position. This prevents the cylinder from being full in betweeen beers, which would allow it to warm up and/or degas.
  4. Enjoy!!
    for Gravity fed serving:
  1. Make a rack for the cask to sit on horizontally, with one end (the top) a few inches lower than the other.
  2. Orient the cask so that the gas in post is facing down (6 o'clock on a clock face) and the liquid out post is facing up (12 o'clock).
  3. Connect an LPG regulator*** in the CO2 line to a BEER OUT quick disconnect and connect to the BEER OUT post.
  4. Connect a GAS IN quick disconnect to a keg faucet adapter (see picture below).
  5. Rotate the connector on the faucet so that the faucet is oriented in the proper position.
  6. Connect this to the GAS IN post.
  7. Open the faucet to pour a pint and allow CO2 into the keg to balance the pressure.
  8. Enjoy!!

That's it! Enjoy a nice cask ale that should be good to the last drop.

*** The LPG (Liquid Propane Gas) regulator should be a fixed low pressure type, and it functions as a cask breather. A fixed pressure LPG regulator is designed for 11" of water column, which translates to about 0.4 psig (psi gauge). This is not enough pressure to push beer out as long as the pump outlet is more than 11" above the keg liquid level. But it does keep a blanket of CO2 on the beer to prevent staling. Connect this LPG regulator in line from your CO2 supply (at any pressure) to the keg.


Replace the liquid disconnect with a gas disconnect, then rotate the disconnect until the faucet is oriented in the proper position.

Here is a good recipe to help you get started. I've brewed it several times and it always comes out great. It is an Ordinary Bitter, a session beer of about 3.5% alcohol that works very well as a cask ale.



Southern Cuzzin Ordinary Bitter
Recipe Specifications
  OG: 1.036
  FG: 1.009  
  SRM: 10  
  IBU: 35  
  Batch Size: 5.5 Gal  

Grain Bill
Amt Name  
6.25 lb Maris Otter Malt  
6 oz British Crystal 55L Malt  
2 oz Special Roast Malt  
2 oz Special B Malt  

Hop Additions
Amt Name % AA Time
.63 oz Target hops 10.4AA 90 min
.75 oz Challenger hops 5.2AA 15 min
.4 oz East Kent Goldings hops 5.1AA dry hop

Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Yeast (or 1968 ESB yeast)

Single infusion mash @ 154F

Ferment at 65F

Condition and serve as specified above