Blackoat Mild

12#  Bairds Maris Otter

1#  Simpsons Golden Naked Oats

1#  Bairds Black Malt

1.75 oz  Styrian Goldings pellets - 5.2%  AA  (90 min)

Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale & 1068 London ESB

Irish Moss & Wyeast Brewer's Choice Yeast Nutrient

4 grams of CaCl in the Mashtun.

Mashed @ 153.

OG : 1.036

TG : 1469 @ 1.009, 75% AA & 3.6% abv, 1968 @ 1.010, 72% AA & 3.5% abv

In this beer I could get a little of the berry fruitiness of the Golden Naked Oats that people had written about- also some oaty, grainy notes.  Some coffee in the nose as well.  Pretty balanced.  I think twice as much of the Golden Naked Oats would've been better.

The 20 : Scottish 60/-

11 3/4#  Baird's Maris Otter

6 oz    Baird's Roast (3%)

1.5 oz  Styrians (5.2% aa) 60 min

Wyeast 1728

Moss & Yst Nutrnt

Salts in Mash Tun : 2g CaCl, 1g CaSO4, 1g CaCO3

Thick mash @ 158.5

OG: 1.031   TG: 1.009  71% aa, 2.9% abv

I love the 2.9% beer.  Biscuity and much fuller in flavour than it's meager gravity would suggest.  A great quaffer.  Next time I might add 1% dark crystal malt.  Maybe.

Dobbie's Best Bitter

15#  Great Western 2-row Brewers Malt

1#  Simpsons Dark Crystal (80L)

6 oz  Crisp Amber Malt

Cascade Hops : 35 IBUs @ 90 min, 1 oz @ 30 min, 1 oz @ KO, 1 oz Dryhop

Wyeast 1026 Cask Ale & 1028 London Ale

Moss, Yst Nutrient, & 4g CaSO4 in Mash Tun

Mash @ 152

OG: 1.047

TG: 1026: 1.011, 76.6% aa & 4.8% abv.   1028: 1.009, 81% aa & 5% abv.

American Pub Beer.  Nicely fruity, citrusy, and piney.  Pleasant and drinkable with some biscuity maltiness and medium body.

THANK YOU SAYS THE YARD!

You the good people of the Puget Sound have stood the Yard on it's head!!  A mesmerizing 10 beers, a smashing 75+ people, and a bewildering 34 gallons of fresh local ale!!   And on top of it, YOU the people, paid for it.  You said, "Yes, I will pay for Yard City Cask Beer & Real Ale Festival 2011, and yes, we will ALSO pay for 2012!"  That's right! You said you want a return of fresh, local beer that has attained it's condition in the keg from which it is dispensed!

Your festival will return!!    Thank you people.  Thank you...  YARD!

The Goals in producing beers for the Yard City Cask Festival were:

Low alcohol, quaffable, sessionble beers

Young beers

Priming them in the keg to produce appropriate carbonation

When I made the Mild & first Bitter I could then set the date for the event.  I set it for 3 1/2 weeks out.  Brad had already made his bitter the previous Saturday, making his beer four weeks old before tapped.  Worried about not having enough festival beer, I made yet another bitter only 2 weeks before the event!  (Crazy, I know.)  I'm very happy to report that all the beers were ready with all of the goals achieved.

I used information on priming beer for low carbonation in the keg from multiple sources: Sutula's Mild Ale book, Foster's Pale Ale, and the Tastybrew priming calculator.  I decided to go with priming the kegs at different rates.  Some were 7/8 oz of sucrose, some 1 1/8 ounce, and Brad primed his at 1 ounce.  All were refermented in the keg warm (68-72F), then chilled to celler temperature a few days before dispense.  All primings worked fine.  What I really learned was that, just like a cask coming into a pub celler in London, one needs to actively manage the refermenting beer during this time of conditioning.  I monitered the pressure in the keg with this, bleeding off excess as needed, and comparing with common pressure/temperature/volume charts.

Side spiel about the two stuck mashes I had on the 10th, right here.

W Feb 10, 10

Major Tom Mild

• 12.5#  Baird's Maris Otter
• 1.5#    Castle Kiln Coffee  (180L)
• .25#    Briess C-120
• 1.75 oz.   UK Styrians 5.2% aa  (18 ibus)
• Wyeast 1968 London ESB & 1028 London Ale
• Irish Moss & Wyeast Brewers Choice Yeast Nutrient & 3g CaCl (kettle)

5 gallons H2O @ 152F: 30 minutes, no mashout (ala English Brewers).  Vorlauf & run off.  Such great extraction in the mash that I had to liquor down in the kettle to achieve desired OG.

OG:  1.037

Captain Hastings Bitter

• 13#     Baird's Maris Otter
• 1.25#  Briess C-120
• 3 oz.    UK Styrians 5.2% aa, 75 minutes (31 ibus)
• 1.5 oz. UK Styrians 5.2% aa, K.O.
• Wyeast 1028 London Ale & 1882 Thames Valley II
• Moss, Yeast Nutrient, & 2g CaSO4 (kettle)

5 gallons @ 149F: 30+ minutes, no mashout.  Vorlauf & run off.

OG:   1.039

F Feb 19, 10

Grampa Wigan Bitter

• 13#   Gambrinus Pale Malt
• .75#  Briess C-20
• .25#  Thomas Fawcett & Sons Amber Malt  (50L)
• 1.5 oz.  Weyermann Chocolate Rye  (188-300L)
• 3.25 oz.  Cascade Pellets 5.4% aa, 90 minutes (35 ibus)
• .5 oz.    Cascades, 5 minutes
• 1 oz.     Cascades, K.O.
• Wyeast 1968 & 1098 British Ale
• Moss & Nutrient, no salts (I think) and unfiltered water

5.5+ gallons @ 154: 30 minutes, no mashout.  Vorlauf unt run off.  A speedy 4 hour beer!

OG:  1.039

Pictured is the beer engine that Brad & I put together for our Yard City Cask Festival.  Brad cut mine out and I assembled it and fixed it up real purdy.  His is just a different shape and the important details of the machine (which I'm too lazy to write up) can be found here.  (Note the Rochefort 8 coffee container in background!)

Hand pumps

I experimented with priming 3/4 of a gallon of WGV Pale into a Big Time Brewery Beer Box.

The box has a 1 gallon plastic type bladder inside that is fitted with a plastic spigot. I primed it at about 2 volumes and fermented it at ambient temperature for 12 days before we set it up to drink. I vented it once on day 10 and once on day 12. I was scared it was going to explode and make a giant mess! It puffed out quite a bit, but it did fine. Upon pouring it had some carbonation. It worked... kinda. I wanted a little more carbonation, but it might be risky if done again in the future. I think it was a bit lackluster. I may try it again with the Brown Ale. But, it's more likely that I'll try the same thing with 1 gallon of beer in a 2 gallon bucket fitted with the same spigot.

Any ideas on the priming rate in respect to the extreme headspace?