Using Cornelius Kegs for CASK ale

Hi guys,

I'm a big fan of cask ale and english beer.  Since there's not a lot of good ones brewed in my town, I want to recreate this at my home.
I'm using the method of Randy Mosher in Radical Brewing.  So he explains it briefly : just take a cornelius keg, flip on its side with the gaz entry on the bottom, and use the gaz connector for gravity pouring, then put a connector on the liquid side when you had a few pints so it won't messed up your floor.  I know it's not as idyllic as a pint from a beer pump or a wooden cask, but it still should work fine.
I didn't try it for now, I'm waiting for my beer to referment in the corny, so next week I could give you guys some feedback.

I'm wondering if any of you ever try this?
Do you have good tips or anecdote for us?

If yes, I have a few questions for you :
Should I purge the air from the corny?  Since it's fermenting for carbonation, I won't have CO2 at the beginning to purge the air out.  My corny is on a horizontal wooden frame while gazing up, if I purge it after a few days of fermentation, it wont work, since there's liquid in front of the valve, right?
Normally, in pubs they lift the cask at an 45 degree for the last pints.  Is it useful for a corny too?

Anyway, you'll have my feedback in a week or so.

His Dudeness said:

I'm using the method of Randy Mosher in Radical Brewing. ... I'm wondering if any of you ever try this?
Do you have good tips or anecdote for us?

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Yep. That's a good method. I would also add finings like gelatin or biofine, just to help the yeast stick a bit more while serving. Otherwise, while tipped, everyday will start with a muddy pour. Put it in place 24 hours before tapping, to let the yeast settle.

If yes, I have a few questions for you :
Should I purge the air from the corny?  Since it's fermenting for carbonation, I won't have CO2 at the beginning to purge the air out. 

Click to expand...

You can purge the headspace with CO2 right after priming for carbonation. Just release all pressure after purging, or leave a couple of pounds to keep the lid in place.

Normally, in pubs they lift the cask at an 45 degree for the last pints.  Is it useful for a corny too?

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Sure! Maybe not a whole 45 degrees, but some tilt is useful. I'd carbonate laying flat and not tilt right away, though.

If you are cask conditioning you'll finish fermenting then take the beer off the yeast and put it into the cask with some sugar. This secondary fermentation will give you enough CO2 to carbonate the beer. You'll get some sediment.

Some people simply cut about half an inch off the dip tube to clear the sediment and use the Cornelius Keg normally. They add just enough CO2 to be able to dispense. When they want to force carbonate they add a piece of plastic tube to the dip tube to restore the length.

Okay, so I place the corny on some home made wooden frames.  I used the carbonation bit for the service.  I've waited more than 48 hours, without moving them, before tapping them.  None of the pints were cloudy with yeast.  In the end, for the last pints I tilted them at 45˚.  Worked great.

At the beginning the beer was really foamy (CO2 level 1.5) and effervescent.  It took quite some time before I could vent them because I have ball locks kegs (the valve was near 3 O clock).  So I was thinking maybe to a bastard cask service : carbonate with corn sugar, gravity service but no venting.
Why do brits vent cask beer?  Is it only to purge excess CO2?  Because the oxydation is part of the flavours of cask ale?  Are there other technicals reasons?

I think you vent because otherwise a vacuum would build up and the beer would stop pouring.