A friend of mine is running the beer tent at a Rugby 7s tournament in a couple of weeks. Because obviously we don't want to look after beer in a tent beforehand, and because it's for one day only, we're doing it with re-racked beer direct from the breweries. I've been detailed to pick up one of the casks because the brewery is reasonably near where I live.
I've been quite involved in running a festival for a few years, and I've re-racked casks a couple of times, but only for immediate use. Thus I have no real idea of how long the beer will stay good after it's been racked. The CAMRA Cellarmanship Guide says 24 hours, but it's not clear whether it's referring to life only after venting and tapping or in total since re-racking.
The tournament is on the Saturday, and if absolutely necessary I could pick up the beer after work on Friday. However, for logistical reasons it would be more convenient for me to collect it on Thursday instead. The question is, if stored in my garage for Thursday night and all of Friday, would it still be in good condition during the day on Saturday? A number of discerning drinkers will be there, and we wouldn't want to let the beer down.
What do you think, and do you know of anywhere else I might ask? I'll ask the brewer, obviously, but it's a relatively new micro-brewery and I wouldn't be surprised if he has no real idea himself.
Thanks,
Pete