THE BEGINNINGS
- Of Bavarian Brewery
THE BEGINNINGS
- Of Bavarian Brewery
ADS - From Newspapers
BARRELS, KEGS, CASKS, VATS, TANKS, VESSELS
& TAP COVERS
It is believed that wooden barrels or casks may have been made as long as 2,000 years ago by the Celtics. These wooden containers were adopted by the Gauls and then by the Romans, replacing clay and ceramic containers known as amorphaes, which would break more easily and were somewhat awkward to move. In comparison, the barrels broke less often and their round shape allowed them to be rolled, making them easier to move. They could also be stacked. Such barrels or casks were originally used for food, liquids, gun powder and other purposes. The use of tar allowed these vessels to be waterproof. They were used for wine by the Romans, and possibly beer. The oldest surviving beer barrel used in Europe dates from the 1500s, over 500 years ago. The making of barrels is known as cooperage, and people working in this trade are known as coopers.
COMPONENTS OF BEER BARRELS, KEGS...
There are several different parts to a wood barrel, keg or cask, as shown. The main components are the wood "staves" which are held in place by galvanized metal strips or bands called "hoops." The widest part of a barrel or keg is called the Bilge. Wood kegs only hold half as much or less than barrels and ususally only have two hoops on each end. A wood barrel or keg is filled via the Bunge Hole and then plugged with a stopper. The stopper can be removed with a good tap on the Bunge Stave. The liquid in the barrel or keg is then poured out with a spigot, faucet or tap in the Bunge Hole and/or a hole on the head. The components of a barrel are the same for beer, wine or whiskey, but their sizes are different, as discussed below.
BARRELS & KEGS
A barrel is a standard measurement that can be dry or fluid, and it can vary in size and weight depending upon the product. For instance, in the U.S. the standard beer barrel is 31 gallons. Kegs are smaller with a full keg containing 15.5 gallons, a quarter keg holding 7.75 gallons and a sixth barrel having 5.17 gallons. The capacities and sizes of barrels for other alcoholic beverages is greater, with a bourbon barrel containing 52 gallons, a wine barrel ordinarily with 59 gallons and a cognac barrel with 79 gallons. The size of barrels also varies between countries, with a barrel in the UK containing 36 imperial gallons or 43.2 US gallons. Usually wood barrels in the U.S. are made of white oak, whereas, in Europe barrels are made of French oak. The materials are similar, but the French Oak requires more time to treat and prepare for barrel making. Barrels for bourbon are charred on the inside and never reused for making that liquor. However, micro-breweries often age and flavor beer using these once used bourbon barrels, as well as wine barrels.
Wood barrels were used for beer and ale in America beginning with the first settlers through the early 20th Century. Not until shortly after Prohibition around 1940 were metal barrels more commonly used, eventually eliminating the need for wood beer barrels by the 1950s. The larger vats or tanks became metal and glass lined during this same period, making them more sanitary and easier to clean while requiring less maintenance than wood containers.
The accompanying photos show how beer barrels were stored, filled, washed, distributed and tapped at the Bavarian Brewing Co. in the late 1940s.The first photo is of wood kegs stacked near the Wash Room and the next photo shows the Pitch Shed and barrels entering the Wash Room of the brewery. On the second row, the first photo depicts the Rack Room where wood kegs are being filled in the foreground, along with metal barrels in the background and a full barrel on the far left. The next photo shows a customer buying barrels of Bavarian's that is being rolled out to his vehicle. The last photo is a beer tap, which was was inserted on the "head" or top of a barrel or key. The close up photo of the middle section of the tap indicates it was made for the Bavarian Brewing Co.
The photos below are the heads of wooden kegs for Bavarian Beer. The first lid below is from the keg below it and was provided courtesy of Dave Gausepohl. Next to it is a bunge stopper from the same keg. The other two keg lids are the top and bottom of different quarter barrels, and were supplied courtesy of Gary Schmeh.
The first keg below, with its lid and Bunge above, is from the Bavarian Brewing Co. The second photo is of a wooden Student Prince barrel from the late 1930s or 1940s from Heidelberg Brewing Co., which Bavarian Brewing Co. acquired in 1949. The last barrel below is a metal barrel used in the late 1940s or early 1950s, which was when beer barrels of metal were placing those of wood. The photo above shows a man rolling a barrel that is similar to the one in this last photo.
TAP COVERS or CAPS for Kegs & Barrels
To protect the tap connection on a metal keg or barrel and to indicate the alcoholic content, caps or tap covers were used. The are sometimes simply referred to as keg caps. The Bavarian's Old Styled Beer caps on the first row in yellow and red were used from around 1950 until 1957. The first three Bavarian's Select Beer caps below in the second row were used around 1957. The blue cap below with letters in white indicating Bavarian Brewing Co. was for 3.2% beer sold in Ohio and likely used around 1959. The last cap with the black lettering is the only cover shown after Bavarian Brewing Co. merged with International Breweries Inc. and is from the early 1960s. The different color tap covers apparently differentiated between the two different taxes and alcohol content for Ohio and a another tax involving only one alcohol content for Kentucky.
Today, beer barrels or kegs are either stainless steel or aluminum, and normally of the former material. To distinguish between the two, a magnet will not be attracted to aluminum, but it will with stainless steel. Neither affect the taste of the beer. If beer does taste metallic, it is normally because of the corrosion of metal pipes used at the brewery. Since stainless steel is heavier and more expensive than aluminum, cans of beer are always made of aluminum.
KEGS
A keg is typically a half barrel containing 15.5 gallons in the U.S. However, a A European Keg (Import or 50 Liter Keg) contains somewhat less than an American Keg, with 13.2 gallons.
There are other smaller containers as noted below, which can also include the term keg.
A Tall Pony Keg (Slim Quarter or Tall Quarter Keg), contains 7.75 gallons.
A Short Pony (Stubby or Quarter Keg) has a rather short height, but also contains 7.75 gallons.
Incidentally, a Pony Keg is also a colloquial term for a drive-thru liquor store, primarily only in the Cincinnati area.
A Torpedo (Sixth Barrel or Sixtel Keg), contains 5.16 gallons.
A Cornelius Keg (Corney Keg or Soda Keg) is just slightly smaller with 5.0 gallons.
This keg is also used by soda companies, and reflected by one of its names.
A Mini Keg (or Bubba Keg) is the smallest of the kegs with only 1.32 gallons. (It is not shown below.)
The diagram above is supplied courtesy of Barfly Staff Monitoring Service.
CASKS
There are numerous sizes of casks, and they can be larger or smaller than a "standard" barrel. Standard size English Casks are shown on the side.
Regarding the reference to "cask ale," it does not mean a size. Rather, it means the ale has not been pasteurized as it has in kegs, and it actually still in the process of fermentation. Consequently, cask ale normally has less carbonation. Such ale is much more common in Britain than in America.
VATS and TANKS
Often the above terms barrels, casks, kegs, vats, tanks, etc., are used interchangeably. All can also be referred to as vessels. Technically, however, there are some differences among the aforesaid terms as explained below.
Large vessels used for beer storage or fermentation are more commonly referred to as vats or tanks, with the latter term being more modern and usually made of metal. They are normally stationary and difficult to move, whereas, barrels, casks and kegs are designed to be moved. A vessel can refer to all of previously mentioned terms, or be used as an alternative. For instance, a fermentation vat or tank can also be called a fermentation vessel. Before and shortly after Prohibition, larger vessels, usually referred to as vats, were made of wood. Storage vats containing 300 barrels from photos taken around 1900 are shown below, along with those open on top and used for fermentation.
The first photo above contains workers in the Storage Cellars at the Bavarian Brewing Co. alongside the storage vats of the same size as in the next photo, c. 1900. The second photo shows beer storage vats with a capacity of 300 barrels each after they were made at the J.M. Schott Cooperage Co. c. 1900. J.M. Schott is on the far right and his two oldest sons Chris and John. (For more photos of this firm see the Schott Family.) The last photo above was take a few decades later, around 1940, and shows the wood fermentation vats in the Bavarian Brewery.
Similar as with beer barrels, the larger fermenting tanks and storage vats became metal and glass lined in the 1940s, replacing those made of wood. Metal tanks used at the Bavarian Brewery, including one that was being installed, are shown in the accompanying photos.
The first photo above shows metal glass lined beer storage tanks with a capacity of 210 barrels each in the Bavarian Brewery Stock House. The other photo shows the installation of one of five 240 barrel tanks that was being installed in the Government Cellar of the Bottling House in the 1940s. (For more photos of this installation see 8A. Brewing Equipment.)
USING WOODEN BARRELS FOR BEER TODAY
Craft barrel-aging breweries currently use wood barrels (or casks) for aging and flavoring beer - but not for distribution as in decades ago. They use barrels previously used for either whiskey or wine, which are much less expensive than new barrels and that can add unique flavor to their beer. Aging beer in former wood whiskey barrels is usually done only once or twice. Whereas, wine barrels can be used for flavoring beer perhaps twice as often. In order for craft breweries to use such barrels, it is normally necessary to obtain them directly after they are used by whiskey or wine makers and before the barrels "dry out." The normal cleaning process for the interior of barrels by craft brewers can involve steam or soaking them in hot water, which may also reduce some of the flavor the barrels impart. The aging process for beer can take from a couple of months to several years. Barrel beer can age with different taste characteristics, and is sometimes blended with other barrels for fuller and more balanced qualities, as are whiskey and wine. Craft breweries using wood barrels do so to obtain more varied types of beer. This is a major difference between craft breweries and the largest breweries. Even though the large brewers continue to mostly produce a standard tasting lager beer, they are providing different variations of their main beers, and new varieties, in order to better compete with the many unique versions offered by microbreweries and to satisfy the more varied tastes of beer consumers.
