B.O.S.S. P

I finally got the call yesterday. 

The cask cooler is in and nearly ready for pick-up.  I just need to have the temperature control replaced with one that will hold the cooler in the mid-50 degree range. 

Once I have it in place, it will be a relatively simple process to get everything hooked up so that we can feature cask-conditioned ales.

With that in mind, I picked up some oak spirals from Northern last week.  I also picked up some bourbon and have been soaking them:

Two oak spirals soaking in a bag of booze.

These spirals are nice because they provide a ton of surface area to impart their flavor to the beer.

Anyway, this was all in preparation to make our debut cask-conditioned ale:  Bourbon Oak Soaked Smoked Porter, or B.O.S.S.  P.

I made a robust smoked porter last week and racked some of it into a firkin along with some priming sugar and one of these spirals.  I also "accidentally" poured a little of the oaked bourbon into the firkin!

A conditioning cask.

After conditioning at room temp for a couple of weeks, I'll take it out to the World of Beer Festival on Saturday, June 4th.  This is one of Southeastern Wisconsin's oldest and best fests.  Get your tickets!