Is it a Bitter, Pale Ale or Amber Ale?

[Cobnut]

I have found 20g table sugar sufficient for priming a pin.

And as for keystones “popping” out - this happened to me once; the pin was on its’ side in my shed which oft-times gets to 30C+ in the summer. I entered the shed and noticed a strong smell of beer and then saw the “flood” on the floor. There were not quite tears, but certainly a very sad occurrence

[nallum]

I have found 20g table sugar sufficient for priming a pin.

That's going work fine when you want to tap and serve straight away and the beer is going to be consumed in good time. I found I was getting too much flat beer with no convenient option to recondition in the pin. And I was wasting too much beer between sessions. It was putting me off using the pin regularly. No problem now it's been modified for home use. I'm aiming to replenish it monthly. Not a drop of beer wasted and, if needed, I can apply some CO2. Peebee's recommended gas regulator works like a charm. (My old cask breather gets used for cold crashing lagers these days.)

Anyway, for me, there are some genuine benefits to conditioning to a livelier/higher level. It's easier to bring it down to a desired level before serving than to increase it if something goes wrong and it's too low. The beer stays in good condition for longer. And CO2 is a great natural preservative for beer. In my mind, it's really what casks and their management were designed for.

I haven't had any pop so far. (Touch wood.) I do put a little of the beer being casked around the sealing edges of the keystone and the shive, which dries to an effective glue. PITA to remove, especially the shive.

[nallum]

Still enjoying this one a lot.

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It's pin bright now - I didn't use cask finings. I'd say a noticeable slight improvement compared with last week. Even nicer. I don't think it'll last much longer than next weekend. I need to get another batch rocking soon. Invert #2 at Eric's recommended percentage with less flaked maize.

[Eric]

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[Eric]

That looks great John, more invert of your choice should give it more colour.

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Below is a recipe for Nimmo's XXXXP made at Castle Eden Brewery, known locally as 4X. DA was Durham Ale, made from more or less the same recipe but with more darker sugar, but of lower gravity.

[Eric]

I seem to be having some difficulty in uploading pictures.

A quarter of malted barley was said to be 336 lbs, Flaked Maize will have been 256 lbs. A quarter of Cane Sugar will have been 2 cwt or 224 lbs and have been of the solid type.

Hydrol was the major byproduct when making sugar from corn or beet, not that from cane sugar.

[nallum]

Interesting info, Eric. When I read it last night I decided to pull a couple half pints through a sparkler.

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Very nice it was too. Good creamy head offering up the hop character nicely and a bit smoother generally.

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[nallum]

Next batch:

[Eric]

I had more trouble than I thought in uploading the picture and uploaded the wrong one. Another try.

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That looks a good, almost Northern, pour. Hope your next brew turns out as well.

[nallum]

Brewed the 2nd batch today. OG=1.044 in the FV, with 500g invert #3.

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Without (left) vs with 14.6% invert #3 (right). Quite a contrast.

Edit: The wort sample on the left is kettle wort ready (clear) to transfer to the fermenter. The wort sample on the right is from the fermenter after mixing the invert #3, before pitching the yeast. The wort doesn't need to be this clear, but it doesn't take any effort, just a little time, and it helps downstream in the process, with yeast harvesting and conditioning the beer.