Cask beer in the 1950’s – the humble bung

Remember my insanely-detailed series of posts about cask beer in the 1950’s? Well I’m back with more, having found an insanely-detailed article about shives and spiles.

They’re pieces of equipment 100% specific to cask beer. The only even vaguely similar beer, Bayerischer Anstich, handles venting differently. Often they use a brass tap in the equivalent of the bung hole, turning it on when they need to let air into the cask.

“THE HUMBLE BUNG
By D. M. Edmonds
A shive, we are inclined I to assume, is just a bung. So it is; but it is also a piece of wood which remains in contact with the beer from racking till the time of tapping. Thin is quite long enough for an undesirable flavour to be imparted to the beer, or for a considerable amount of beer to be lost through leakage. The condition in which draught beer reaches the customer is very largely dependent on the choice and proper use of shives and hard (tight) and soft (porous) spiles.”
"Brewing Trade Review, 1950", page 117.

It’s a good point about the shive being in contact with the beer all the time it’s in the cask. That in itself limits the materials it can be made from. We learned earlier of the importance of the proper use of spiles.

Here’s something about the physical requirements of a shive:

“What then are the properties which a good shive mast have, and, which will determine the choice of timber for its manufacture? In the first place it must be soft, to avoid undue wear on bushes and bung-staves. It must, for obvious reasons, be tasteless, odourless and non-porous, and there must be no leakage through the side grain. In addition it should break "short," in order to allow of easy knocking away of the centre portion for spiling, but it should not be too brittle.”
"Brewing Trade Review, 1950", page 117.

See? It needs to be soft so you can bang it in without damaging other bits of the barrel and forms a good seal. Also you don’t want it adding any flavour to the beer.

And which wood makes the perfect shive?

“The material which most nearly fulfils all the above conditions is the heart- wood of the Appalachian poplar, known in the trade as canary-wood, or American bung-poplar. Unfortunately this has been unobtainable in this country in recent years, though a little is now being allocated for the use of the brewing trade. The best substitute for bung-poplar is Finnish birch, and this is the wood of which most good quality shives are being made here to-day. It is slightly harder and more brittle than canary-wood, but imparts no flavour to the beer, and is perfectly; satisfactory in all other ways.”
"Brewing Trade Review, 1950", page 117.

Unlike with barrels, an American wood was perfect. But obviously the war would have messed up the supply of that. And I can’t imagine wood from Finland was available in the war years, either. Especially as Finland was on the wrong side for much of it.

What about British wood? Was any of that suitable? Sort of.

“Home-grown hard-woods, such as sycamore or beech, are sometimes used. The former is satisfactory, though inclined to be knotty and slightly porous. It is, however, very difficult to obtain in sufficient quantities. Beech is too hard, and is subject, to "dote." This is a fungus, causing decay, which is recognisable by black and cream-coloured vein-like markings in the timber affected. It causes porousness, but is not otherwise a serious defect, as any harmful bacteria associated with it will be destroyed in the kilning process described below.”
"Brewing Trade Review, 1950", pages 117 - 118.

Sycamore was knotty, porous and there wasn’t enough of it. Far from perfect, then. Beech was likely to be infected and was so hard it would eventually damage your barrels. That sound even less suitable.

Next time we’ll look at how shives were made.

Cask beer in the 1950’s – hard spiles, soft spiles and ullage

Can you believe it? We’re just about done with this look at the handling to cask beer.

The correct use of spiles is essential to produce cask beer in good condition. Though it seems brewers didn’t 100% agree on what that correct usage was:

“Use of Hard and Porous Pegs. The injudicious use of both hard and porous pegs will soon spoil beer, however well it has been brewed. Although their careful and systematic use may need time, it is well worth it. A hard and fast rule is impossible, and common sense must be the guide. Each brewery even appears to have its own ideas, and to give its own instructions as regards the use of pegs. These instructions may be justified by the peculiar conditions attached to the brewing and storage of its beers.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 259.

Though I case the state the beer arrived in at the pub had an influence on how the spiles were used. A beer that was actively fermenting would need different treatment from one that wasn’t.

Here are some more detailed instructions:

“For our part, we prefer to bore or punch through the half-bored shive of each cask as soon as it is placed on the stillion, and to leave it for a couple of hours without a peg, provided the condition is not violent. If condition is violent, then a porous peg must be inserted at once. If, however, there should only be a slight blow of gas from the peg hole, it will assist the fining to some extent if the peg is left right out for a time. Some slight emission of sludge may take place, and as soon as this has ceased the peg must be inserted further. It is a safe plan to case a hard peg every four or five hours, especially during hot weather, when internal cask conditions change rapidly. If there is only a slight blow of gas, and no emission of beer follows, it may be assumed that the contents of the cask are in good order, and the peg should be replaced at once. A porous peg should be used at the first sign of any fermentation, and not delayed until the beer is moving violently. The porous peg must not be inserted too tightly, otherwise the pores will be compressed and the peg fail to act as desired. This misfortune is often found to have taken place, resulting in the cask movement being unduly prolonged. Portions of hops and yeast, too, will frequently choke the pores, in which case a new peg should be substituted at once. A porous peg must not be allowed to remain in a cask of beer any longer than is necessary, or the contents will be flattened beyond recovery. A peg should be removed from the cask before any beer is drawn by means of a pump, or a vacuum may result which will upset the clarity. The peg must be replaced as soon as the period for trading has expired. There are several patent pegs on the market for use when the beer is being drawn, the idea of many being quite good. Unfortunately, some of them are very difficult to keep clean.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 259.

That all makes sense: while the beer is fermenting you need a soft spile to stop too much pressure building up in the cask. Once the beer has calmed down, you need to seal it with a hard spile to build carbonation. And obviously you need the peg out when serving so there’s pressure on the top of the beer. If air goes back through the tap into the barrel it’s likely to displace sediment at the bottom of the cask.

I assume that a patent peg was one that let in air as required to maintain pressure inside the cask. Like a non-evil version of a cask breather.

Now ullage. The topic we’ve been leading up to.

“Ullage.
It is difficult to describe what actually and exactly constitutes ullage. Some people regard it as the first pint or two drawn off to clear the tap, together with the sludge at the bottom of the cask. Others would include beer drawn out of the pipes which has remained in them between each interval of trading, also any waste from overflow when filling tankards and glasses. Whatever the rule about the allowance for ullage may be, we have very strong opinions about the practice of draining sludge, hops and finings from a cask and putting them into one so-called ullage cask. Sooner or later, this cask becomes a receptacle for other undesirable matter. The system is a wrong one which has ill effects winch may not at first sight be apparent. A beer cask is not a cheap article, and its value is much impaired if every drop of moisture is drained from it. The situation is worse if the cask is then turned out into a yard in the hot sun, when the timber will dry out. This misfortune would not take place if the bottoms and sludge were left inside, and it would also be less difficult to clean than a bone-dry cask. For this reason alone we think it would pay any brewery to make a monetary allowance for such ullage. Included in this allowance should be consideration for loss of beer occasioned when beer is used to remove any traces of soda from the pipes. This beer should be put down the drain and not into any cask.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, pages 259 - 260.

I thought ullage was beer that for one reason or other was unsaleable and which was returned to the brewery for landlord to be reimbursed.

“overflow when filling tankards and glasses” will be the contents of drip trays which, as we learned earlier, some returned to the cask.

There wouldn’t be the same problem today in draining all the liquid from as cask, seeing as they are usually metal. Once again you can sense Jeffery’s exasperation with pub landlords who mistreated casks. Better for the brewery to pay the landlord for the gunk left in the cask than have their casks ruined.

I’ve never heard of this practice before, putting slops into its own special barrel:

“Beer which is drained from pipes between each period of service, together with the overflow from tankards and glasses, also any drawn off to ease heavy cask condition, need not be regarded as ullage, but can either be put into a small cask which the brewery will usually supply, fined down and used when bright, or it may be filtered through an efficient filter, and returned to a cask very slowly through a proper spile-hole pipe. In either case, the beer should be used up while it is fresh and sound, and no attempt must be made to sell any which shows the slightest trace of acidity.

Beer which has been allowed to stand in buckets and exposed to the air, so that a white film of mycoderma yeast has formed upon it, must on no account be treated as ullage or put into casks. The drain is the only suitable place for it.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 260.

My guess is that most publicans put such beer back into the cask it came from. Leaving beer standing around in buckets sounds lovely. I’m sure this did go on. And probably still does in less reputable pubs.

We’ve just a little further to go – handling empty casks and cleaning glasses next.

Cellarmanship

I had to share this with you. It's an explanation of the need for good cellarmanship. It's as true today as it was when written in 1796. If you're talking about cask-conditioned beer. Which is the only type worth talking about, isn't it?

"Beware, lest you forget to pay attention to your beer which is at tap; for, "as the eye of the master maketh his horse fat", so the head of a family, now and then giving a look into his cellar, may be the cause of beer drinking more agreeable to his palate, by taking care that the vent-holes are kept closely stopped, and the cocks secure.

"Do not fail to stoop your cask when the beer is about two parts in three out; this should be done whilst the tap is spending, for then you will not disturb the sediment. By stooping the cask when the beer is about two parts in three out will prevent it from becoming flat and sour; when, on the other hand, it is too frequently to be observed when a person is drawing a pot of beer, the stream is impeded; for the beer, being so nearly out, will not run till it is stooped. Now before this, the cock discharging the beer but slowly, the air is admitted into the cask, which causes the beer to drink flat, and, perhaps, turn sour: therefore this will enforce the necessity of stooping your cask before it be so nearly out.

"This is a fault with many publicans, not paying attention to their cellars; even many who brew their own beer are neglectful, notwithstanding their own interest and credit is concerned. Tis not uncommon for the vent-peg, and even the bung, to be left out of those casks which are actually on draught.

"Publicans, who retail common brewer's beer, and neglect their cellars, have this excuse, if their customers find fault with the beer, by saying "tis such beer as my brewer sends me," so it may be; but let a publican be served with beer of the first quality, it entirely depends on the management of the retailer thereof, whether the beer shall be of good or bad quality. This is proved by persons in the same town, each being served with beer from one and the same brew-house; there will be generally a disparity in the quality after it comes into the stock of the respective retailers thereof, which proves it to be the good or bad management in the cellar.

"I am convinced I shall not offend the attentive publican by what I have said respecting the cellar; but should this fall into the hands of the inattentive, it may offend; but that I will excuse, if, by the reading of this, he should be convinced of his error, and pay more attention to his cellar; that he may be enabled to draw a pot of beer to please those useful and valuable men, the labourer and the mechanic; and where they used to drink but one pot of beer with him, they may, from finding his ale much better than usual, perhaps, drink two."
"A Treatise on the Brewing of Beer" by E. Hughes, Uxbridge, 1796, pages 34-37.