Cask half full

jpb407

I have got the brewing kit with 23L cask and pressure barrel.
However if I was to do full mash..I don't currently have a boiler size ~25L
If I brew a batch of 18L (say) and leave the beer fermenting in a cask less than 80% full will this affect the taste/ end product?

HBO_Staff

If you have a pressure barrel and want to store beer in it, but not full, you can do this, the main difference is that the beer creates it's own CO2 and if there is less volume it is less beer to create the CO2 and more empty volume to fill. This may mean that the pressure is reduced inside the barrel, and needs topping up with additional CO2, such as injecting it in through a brass valve on the top with disposable CO2 bulbs to help it keep the pressure up. As the flow slows or trys to draw air in through the tap, this is when to inject the CO2, but it does vary from batch to batch on how much, if any, CO2 needs adding. This would be no different to someone making a 40 pint batch and then putting half in a barrel, and bottling the other half which sometimes people do