Post by Stephen on Sept 28, 2019 10:47:45 GMT -5
So a little while back I started discussions with GTA Brews about the homebrew section at the Cask Days Festival in Toronto.
For those unfamiliar Cask Days is probably the best and most revered long running festival in TO. For more info click here. The obvious of it is all the beer served is from casks. From their site "THE FESTIVAL CELEBRATES CASK ALE: UNPASTEURIZED, UNFILTERED AND NATURALLY CARBONATED BEER THAT IS SERVED DIRECT FROM A BARREL."
The homebrew section is run directly by GTA Brews but I have been working to see if we can be a part of this in the future with the goal being to do a inter club challenge that directly relates and the winner being brewed for the festival. It seemed a great way to get some homebrew out to a more public space, all of course with the help of a brewery to make it all legit. Unexpectedly we were gifted a slot for one cask this year with less preparation for how to brew and a decent amount of logistics to make it happen. in order to make it happen I will be picking up the cask from TO to fill by Oct.10th (for enough time to carbonate) and returning it by Oct. 15th to TO so it can be served for the festival October 18th. This obviously leaves little time to brew and ferment.
1st - We need to determine what to brew keeping in mind it will be low carbonation (1.5vol max) and we need to do it quick. My plan no matter what is to use kveik at high temps to make it a fast ferment. I'm looking for suggestions as to what to brew keeping in mind that the casks are usually quite creative in that they are rarely "a mild" or "a stout" but usually have a twist of some sort. Examples are a sour mild or fruited, weird adjuncts etc. My first though was a Stout and adding some tart cherries since they're a local fruit we're known for and possibly vanilla, cocoa nibs maybe lactose. Kind of a Black forest cake type beer. That said if I can round up the grain by tomorrow I'm game to do another suggestion. Thats where you all come in.
2nd- I'm brewing tomorrow (Sunday) at my house to make it simple and then transporting the wort to Sons of Kent to pitch the yeast and ferment. If you are free than please come out and be a part of it. I could use the help and would rather this be a group effort. I'll be starting at 10am and the address is 21757 Kent Bridge Rd. (McKays Corners). Again sorry for this being last minute but I had to make sure I could even do the drop off and pickup before committing.
So with that please give some ideas below if you have some and let me know if you can lend a hand with brewing and/or ingredients if we need something special if you have an idea.
Cheers,
Stephen