Ale extractors & fittings

An ale extractor draws cask beer from the cellar up to the bar, replacing the volume with filtered air or gas so the cask empties without going flat or drawing in contamination.

  • Replaces the beer with clean air or gas rather than cellar air
  • Most useful on slow-moving lines, least on fast ones
  • Spares are pattern-specific u2014 check what you are running before ordering

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The problem an extractor solves is simple: as beer leaves a cask, something has to take its place. Left to itself that is cellar air, complete with whatever is in it, and the beer oxidises and sours over a day or two. An extractor supplies clean air or a gas blanket instead, which is what lets a cask stay good for longer than the couple of days gravity service allows.

How to choose

What to know

This is the piece of kit that lets a pub sell cask through a slow week without pouring half of it away. It matters most on a beer that is not going to shift a full firkin in two days u2014 a busy line does not need the help, a quiet one very much does.

What to know

Extractors are assemblies rather than single objects, and the vent nuts, bodies and connectors are all serviceable parts. When ordering a spare, the thing to check is which pattern you are running, because the fittings are not common across manufacturers.

Common questions

What does an ale extractor actually do?

It replaces the volume of beer leaving the cask with filtered air or an inert gas blanket, so the cask does not draw in cellar air. That is what stops the beer oxidising and souring in the days after it is broached.

How long does a cask last with an extractor fitted?

Considerably longer than the two or three days a broached cask usually gives on gravity, because the beer is not sitting in contact with cellar air. It does not make the beer keep forever u2014 it removes the fastest cause of it going off.

Have a look at

Keg dispense equipmentBar bells