All grain Brew Barrelling question

[chrisfoster]

Hello everyone , Im a bit of a newbie to all grain so i'm looking for some advice

ive just brewed a 5 gallon batch of a Sam Smiths style bitter , and its fermenting well as i write , however , my pub landlord sampled my last
brew and wants to put some through the handpumps in the bar , on a private party , no cash involved etc .

he has got a 4 and a half gallon pin , and im unsure of how to proceed once fermentation is over ? should i barrel it straight after fermentation in this metal pin , or barrel it in a plastic pressure barrel , then transfer it later .

I should mention , ive only bottled my beer up to this point.

Any advice would be gratefully accepted

many thanks

Chris Foster

[Whorst]

When is he planning on serving it? If time permits, I'd let it complete fermentation, rack it into the pin and add finings and some priming sugar. Soft peg it a day or two before he plans on serving it. If it's a low gravity bitter, 1.035-1.040 or thereabouts, give it a week or a week and a half in the cask before you vent it. Be careful on the amount of priming sugar. You don't need more than about 70g.

[chrisfoster]

Hi , he's ready to put it on as soon as its ready .

I've only ever bottled before so am unsure of how long to leave it in the barrel before its ready to serve .

so any advice im grateful for .

cheers

[Whorst]

Ok, this is what I'd do.

1. Once fermentation is complete, rack into cask.

2. Make a sugar solution consisting of 70g of sugar and about a 1/4 pint of water. Table sugar works well. Boil for about 10 minutes. Cool it off in an ice bath or put in the fridge. Be sure to cover it.

3. While your priming sugar is cooling, make up your finings. I use gelatin, but you can use whatever you like Isinglass, etc. If using gelatin, add to about a half pint of cool water and slowly warm, do not boil. This is just so the gelatin dissolves.

4. Once your priming sugar is relatively cool, and your finings are dissolved, add them both directly to the pin(cask).

5. Be sure you've pounded the keystone in the pin before any of the above takes place. Once you've racked the beer, added the priming sugar and finings, pound the shive with macho force into the pin. Wait a week or two. A day or so before dispense pound a soft peg into the shive and see what you've got. If it's still lively, let it vent until the liveliness subsides. Once it subsides, pound a hard spile into the top of the shive until you're ready to serve.

Let us know how you make out.

[chrisfoster]

thanks Whorst

thats great