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Containers

In time this page will collect information on the various containers that we can supply to you. As well as the traditional cask, keg, and bottle there is a wide variety of new “one way” kegs on the market now that are being rapidly adopted by the British craft beer scene. We can support you in using any of these – just get in touch with us.

Bottle

Why not add a premium bottle lineup? Great British craft breweries are putting more beers in bottle than ever before. Bottles are an excellent and easy way to expand the range of beers you have on offer, and a safe way to provide your customers with something a bit more special. Beers that might be a bit too strong, too expensive, or too strange to shift successfully via cask (or even keg) can be sold in bottled form.

Bottles can be either brewery or bottle conditioned – and it is worth being aware which is which. The vast majority of bottle conditioned British beers are of a style where the sediment should not be poured into the glass. Brewery conditioned beers come with the ease of use factor that the entire contents can be poured, but some think that bottle conditioning makes for better beer.

Cask

The well known and well loved traditional “real ale” container. Usually stainless steel, sometimes older ones are aluminium, and these days technology in plastics means there are a couple of styles of plastic cask about. At the end of the day the material makes no difference to the beer contained…

Of all the methods of dispense in the UK cask probably requires the most knowledge and care at the point of sale. We have experience & training in setting up & caring for cask ale in festival situations. We’re happy to help you serve the best quality cask ale possible at your pub beer festivals or other events.

Keg

In this instance we specifically refer to the common stainless steel kegs used for a wide variety of beer. From “macro lagers” to one-off brews produced by small independent breweries. The “keg” has something of a bad name, harking back to the early days of CAMRA where this “new” technology was being used to package the beers that inspired the creation of CAMRA. Whilst it is true that many of the “big” brewery beers put in keg are super-filtered and pasteurised this is not the case for the vast majority, of not all, of the beer good British micros are putting in keg.

If, as a pub, you have a vast array of changing cask ales… but your keg lineup is the same-old same-old then why not consider exploring the realms of good British keg? Many of the beers available in cask format can be provided in kegs as an alternative. Where keg really shines is for new popular heavily hopped IPA and “pale ale” styles of beer, also for stronger “big” beers that take a while to shift (like traditional Belgian ales), and good properly produced lager style beers. British microbreweries are producing beers in all these styles and more… so go on, why not give it a go?

EcoKeg

In practice pretty much identical to stainless steel kegs. CO2 is used to provide top-pressure to push the beer to service – and also to ensure the beer keeps well. EcoKegs are being used by several small brewers due to the advantage of not having to return them to the brewery. When the keg is empty it heads to the recycling. Less for the brewery, supplier, and publican to worry about.

KeyKeg

Another modern form of “keg” with the same advantages as EcoKeg – but dissimmilar in that whilst pressure is used to push beer out of the keg, the gas used does not come into contact with the beer. A KeyKeg contains an internal bladder full of beer encased in a polycarbonate ball or tube. Beer is pushed out of the KeyKeg by injecting air into the space between the outer ball and inner bladder. This means you can use cheaper compressed air rather than CO2. The beer inside the bladder is carbonated at the brewery (either naturally or with added CO2), which introduces the added advantage that it will always come out as intended by the brewer.