Cask beer aspirators, my opinion!
Cask Breather
Wrote this before I realised it had already been covered,“Cask breather or Aspirator ” but never mind. The debate about using co2 as a top pressure on cask ale seems to polarize most drinkers. From a technical point of view and speaking as a technician of 40 years standing, I see the advantage of supplying a maximum top pressure of say 2 psi, to casks. It will prolong the life of a cask beer, keeping it in better condition than if a cask is just left open to atmosphere. Having installed many aspirated systems as they are called, I cannot think of one instance where there was a negative affect.
The affect of using a co2 top pressure is to exclude air born bacteria from the cask and not as some people may think to push the beer from the cask. Aspirators do not turn cask beer into keg beer.
However there is another valid argument used by lots of real ale buffs which runs along the lines of keeping things the traditional way and not introducing any system that is not traditional. This may from an aesthetic point of view be valid but practically speaking how many cask beer drinkers would know if a cask beer was using a co2 top pressure or not. My personal feeling is that there is no disernable change in the taste or character of cask beers using aspirators.
Using aspirators is viewed as sacrilege by some and unnecessary, but I do not agree, I think they are an integral and perfectly valid part of cask beer dispense and not just a gimmick to save the landlord money. I am unaware as to the CAMRA view on aspirators and would welcome there opinion on this contentious issue.
If after reading this article you are persuaded to give it a go, you will find the cost of installing this equipment is very reasonable and your local brewer may even pay to have it installed.
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CAMRA view is very simple. Use aspirators (aka cask breathers) and your pub will be ineligible for entry in CAMRA guides (including the Good Beer Guide) and awards. CAMRA believe that the top pressure does change the character of the beer by the additional CO2 absorbed.
If you use your cask breather with nitrogen, there is no added CO2.
Using a cask breather is effectivly masking a slow sale issue.
If a landlord is going to sell cask ale they have to comiit whole heartedly. Offer free samples use in food , have blackboards up in the pub . The key to cask ale is rate of sale , containers on sale for longer than 72 hrs simply give consumers a poor experience and consumers dont order again and go else where. Brewers need to stop talking up the benefits of breather and aspitators and focus on Rate of Sale – bring back Pins or help landlords drive ROS
Suhuy …Why would you want to use nitrogen? Its CO2 that helps to keep things fresh.
You could say you are giving a poor consumer experience after 24hrs because that is when beer is tasting its best. All an aspirator does is keep the beer tasting fresher (the operative word being taste) for longer, so if it keeps the beer tasting fresh on day 2 3 or 4 it has to be a good thing. The condition of the beer and whether it on sale or not is up the Landlord. Give the Landlord some credit. 72hrs is a rule of thumb anyway some don’t last that long some go longer more often or not it depends on the alcohol content.