Cask Ale in a Bag/Box

It is probably the best option if proper cask conditioning is not possible.

 

Not totally clear to me from OP, but if this is like the box/bags I’ve filled in the UK, it is cask. Their ability to fill in a way that doesn’t cause the beer issues and/or longevity are open questions (and my rec would be to consume ASAP), but as I understand it this is cask ale. Vs bottle conditioned which is not.

 

I am not prepared to characterize this as a gimmick at this point in time since I have not had a chance (yet?) to try this product.

I live 20 minutes from the Forest & Main Brewery so I suppose I could go there and pick up a box to try but my principle concern would be how long this product stays 'good' after it is tapped. It would take me while to drink through 5L of beer and I would be quite concerned that those last few imperial pints would be stale.

Maybe someday if I were to have a party (i.e., post pandemic) and I thought that others would enjoy drinking Mild Ale as much as I do (not probable) I could buy a box and give it a whirl?

Cheers!

 

Some more discussion about cask ales:

In the UK the production/serving of cask is a distributed process between the brewery and the cellar person at the pub. The casks are delivered by the brewery in an unfinished condition and it is the role of the cellar person at the pub to get the beer into a finished condition for serving to the patrons of the pub. The beer goes through a secondary fermentation within the cask and the cellar person needs to monitor and participate in the completion of this secondary fermentation – for example the cellar person needs to manage the spiles (hard spile vs. soft spile) as the cask matures and finally reaches the point where it is ready to be served.

Below is an article written by Jim Busch on how we homebrewer can produce cask ales:

https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Cask_Conditioning_Real_Ales

Cheers!

 

Can you elaborate on this please?

 

In many "bottle conditioned" beers, the yeast in the bottle is a special type which floculates and thus remains in the bottle when the beer is poured out.
It is not the same yeast which was used to brew it.

 

Genuine question: Why do you consider the above to be a "cheat" or something to beware?

 

My thoughts is that if it's similar to the bag in box wine, it should be fine for quite a while, depending on the packaging. Those bags are meant to keep out air, and more specifically to use the air pressure to dispense. My parents used to keep a box of that stuff on the boat in summer, and it would stay fine for as long as it took to finish (usually a month or so.) They'd leave it in the cooler over the week they were away, so while it was warmer than ideal temps probably from Wednesday to whenever they got back (Friday night or Saturday morning, it was still lower than ambient in there. There's by no oxidation or anything.
So as long as the beer is packaged well; I don;t know if it's filled to order or what, but either counterpressure, or capped on foam, it should last long enough to drink the 10 or so pints it contains.

 

You may be right here but as you know beer is a differing beverage from wine:

• Beer is carbonated while instead wine, as served in the box, is not carbonated.
• Wine is a beverage that is resistant to aging effects and some people will cellar/age their wines for many years. A beer like a Mild Ale is intended to be consumed very fresh is not as resilient to the effects of aging.
• etc.

Plastic bags within a wine in a box can vary in materials. One example:

"The types of plastics used in these bags can vary, though the outer bag is commonly made with a plastic laminate plus PET, while the inner bag is commonly made with a low density polyethylene (LDPE) or ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)."

None of those materials listed above (i.e., PET, LDPE, EVA) are oxygen impermeable and consequently over time oxygen will indeed diffuse across the plastic material(s). Since folks typically consume wine in the box fairly quickly (i.e., they do not cellar these products) the impacts of oxidation on the wine is minimal. Since beer is not wine I am unsure how resilient a beer like a Mild Ale would be in comparison.

And that aspect of "long enough" is the critical question here. What exactly is the duration of "long enough'? Is it 2-3 days post tapping (e.g., a weekend)? Is to a week? Is it longer than a week? And whatever the answer to that duration, how 'good' is that last pint from the beer box as compared to the first pint?

If you have definitive answers to those question above:




Cheers!

 

I wish I had any definitive answers to those questions. I'm shooting from the hip like most people.
I would SUSPECT it's good for a similar amount of time to a cask, that is 4 - 5 days or so, but I have no scientific or personal experience to back that up.
I'd guess they'd be treated like growler fills - recomended to consume relatively quickly, as the filling process, to say nothing of the bag, would introduce oxygen.

 

Those are my initial thoughts and therefore I am reticent to purchase a package such as this unless I was having a party (which will have to await post-pandemic) and my friends & family were fans of drinking Mild Ale (not likely but...).

5 liters of beer is just too much for me as a single beer drinker to drink quickly.

Cheers!

 

Well, thats the pace I like to consume my light beers

 

Many small breweries and pubs in the UK offer polypins of draught beer, usually 10 or 20 litres. My local brewery also offers pins and firkins for home delivery. (A pin is a 4.5UK gallon cask, a firkin is 9 UK gallons)

 

Any pubs offering this for home consumption while they're closed?

 

Adnams put together a video on how to properly utilize their Poly Pin beers.

Around the 4:20 mark they state that once the beer is tapped the Poly Pin has a shelf life of about 4 days.

Cheers!

 

Certainly the local brewery offers it, order and pay online.

 

The Quoin Party Pig. Maybe not around anymore?
https://www.amazon.com/Quoin-Industries-Party-Pig-Kit/dp/B004SUIX66

 

Green Cheek/Track seem to be attempting the homey, pub ale experience as well: Mini Casks - Modern (hazy) British Pale Ale