BEER-IN-A-BOX - FAQ
What is it? Our beer-in-a-box is a great way to enjoy some proper real ale at home. It is cellar quality real ale that you would find in the pub. Available in 5, 10 & 20 litres there is something for everyone whether you want a couple of pints for the weekend or are having a party all sizes cater for the occasion.
So how does it work? We keep one of our beers that we have in stock racked up in our cellar conditioning in the same way it would in a pub cellar from which we fill an air tight bag that sits in a sealable box , similar to what you may find wine in. We then add a small amount of CO2 on top of the beer to act as an barrier between the beer and oxygen (as oxygen degrades beer quality), we then push any excess air out of the bag and seal it with a push in tap. What you have then is real ale exactly the same as you would find it in the pub.
When I order can I collect straight away/ When will my order be sent? We fill our beer-in-a-box fresh straight from the barrel so we do need a certain amount of time to prepare them once an order has been placed. In some cases we may need to rack a fresh barrel of beer to fulfil your order so we do ask that you wait for an email to confirm that your order is ready to collect or contact the brewery directly before coming to the brewery. The same stands for deliveries sent via courier, they may not be dispatched the next working day depending on whether we have beer ready to fill and send NOTE – we do not send beer via courier on a Friday as we do not want it sat in a warehouse over the weekend.
How long will it last? We put a 4 week best before date on our boxes from filling date but we have tried boxes that are older and they have tasted fine the beer may just taste flatter than normal. Beer does not have to be drunk within a certain period once opened as it is in a bag which collapses in on itself while being emptied and it is dispensed from a none return valve keeping oxygen off the beer. Just ensure that the beer is kept below 11°C between uses to prolong the life of the beer.
Can I connect a box to a beer engine/pump? Absolutely, you just need an adapter to put on the end of the beer line. These can be found readily online or on ebay, just search for ‘Vitop connector for bag-in-box’. This way you really can have the pub experience at home!
The bag in my box has expanded, what should I do? As the beer is live, in some cases you may notice the bag in the box has expanded to its full capacity due to the beer giving off natural CO2, this is perfectly normal. Simply stand the box upright, take out the tap and release the excess gas from the top of the bag until it collapses back down to the liquid.