Its not easy being an anglophilic english pub loving, real ale fanatic in the hills of Wellington New Zealand. There are two pubs up the road and they both sell the same continually fermented industrial swill, one with over priced food, the other with a TAB, neither place tempts me to hand over my hard earned cash. While bloggers like Stonch have the luxury of living a stones throw from the outstanding pubs like the Jerusalam Tavern I have had to build one in my living room. I had to you understand there really could not be any meaningfull life for me without a pub to visit.
So here are some pictures of my 'local'.
8 comments:
Somehow seem to have not stumbled on your blog until now Kieren. What a great read, I'm enjoying going back through every post. Keep it up.
I too long to live in a place where the corner pub is a proper pub. I lament the fact there really is no such place anymore, even in mother England. So for me too it's real beer brewed by me the way I like it. Crikey am I envious of your handpump though. I keg my ales trying to keep them as "real" as possible - low carbonation, served at the appropriate temps, but there's nothing on this earth quite like a session bitter pulled by hand from the cask. How do you breathe it? With co2 or air? Inspiring.
Barry, I vent at the start of a session and then draw air into the corny as I serve, then at the end I purge the headspce with co2. It works great Tim/George Busby taught me how to do it. I also have a fridge that sits at 10-12 c, however this is only required in the summer.
Any problems with staling? or is purging at the end of a session enough to stave off the nasties? Thats a good technique if the beer lasts at least 2 weeks - I can get through a corny by myself in that time especially a low gravity quaffer.
On the topic of hand pumps, where'd you get it and how much? :)
I havent encountered any bacterial problems with purging, occasionally you get oxidation issues, usually if you have 2 or 3 pints left and dont finish them quickly (surface area to volume is important in cellermanship)
I got my first beer engine from Frasier at Bar Bodega, he pulled out his 1/4 pint pull swan neck pumps and replaced them with 1/2 pint southern style ones. Its a former Bass northern style clamp on unit. My other 2 are model co Angrams , one second (or more like 3rd/4th/5th...) hand I got from trademe with a Youngs Bitter clip still attach but its engraved Scottish and Newcastle, real score. The other is brand new and came in on a recent import that Brendan did, we piggy backed on the Cryer malt shipment so the postage was minimal.
Nice set up!
Kieran,
I recently acquired a homark beer engine (with the Southern spout).
It is 1/2 pint pull (works properly too 2 pulls and you have a perfec pint).
I have a question about corny kegs. When you apply the co2 blanket what PSI do you set it at? I just kegged my first brew and currenty have it set at 5 PSI but the lid seal seems spongy. Also I assume you don't leave the keg attached to the gas but merely blanket and shut off the gas?
Thanks for the help?
I would lov a southern style engine. I rack my ale into the corny , make a decision as to wether it needs priming or not, I then purge the head space and let the keg sit with a alittle pressure , im afraid im not very specific , enougth to keep the lid sealed. I then let it condition for a week or so. When serving i vent the keg and open the pressure relief valve displacing beer with air. I then purge the head space at the end of a session. The air in the keg means you get changes in the keg as you go through the serving days, and the purging means it will last for up to a fortnight without souring.
Thanks for the run through. I am happy with the southern style spout as well.
I am looking forward to sampling via the beer engine in about a week.
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