Draft system help

[Woolsocks]

Hi.

I work at a 10 year old brewpub. We serve the lion's share of our beer straight from the Brite Tanks, over the bar. Sometimes, I'll put beer in 1/2 bbls and serve from those.

We have all the brite tanks on the 2nd floor (the building used to be a train station, so you work with what you have) and there are bars on the 1st and 2nd floors. The draft lines start at each brite tank and split off to flow to both bars.

For some odd reason, we have always pushed beer with straight CO2, dispite the need to push at around 19 PSI in order to get the beer to the taps. Of course, this means that after a normal (2.6-2.7 volumes of CO2) batch has been on tap for a couple weeks, it gets over-carbonated and starts foaming at the taps.

Needless to say, this is stupid.

I'm looking at a couple ways to improve things. One is to push beer with 60/40 gas to slow the changes in carbonation as it serves. The other is to use beer pumps to move our beer through the lines.

Another thing I'd like to do is have as much leeway as possible as far as carbonation levels in the beer. I'd like to be able to serve a 2 volume porter or a 3 volume triple with equal ease and little waste.

So... how would you go about this? I'm thinking that the beer pumps offer everything I want and don't cost too much. The savings in beer waste would quickly pay for them.

Also, a lot of people talk about "beer savior"s. What are they?

[edramshaw]

You are thinking in the right direction and most improvements will pay for themselves with a system like that. I personally would go with a 60/40 blend. The way it works is that you build restriction into the system based on the pressure you need to apply to maintain specific carbonation levels. Built properly, you won't need leeway with pressures as they will all be dialed in to each specific beer. In order to advise further we would need to know exact distances, pressures and temperatures of each product/tap. Also how do you keep the beer cold en route to the taps? (glycol/aircooled). Good luck.

Ed
Blue Line Draft Service
Blue Line Draft Services - Home

[Woolsocks]

Hi. I didn't design the existing system, so can't give exact runs or amounts of restriction. Also, it's very impractical to change resistance amounts in our system, but could be done if I had to.

We also don't have the exact same beers all the time. We typically have 3-4 seasonals at a time and also we don't necessarily keep the same beer on the same line all the time. So... it's a little complicated.

Beer pumps seem to offer the maximum flexibility for me, but most reports are that they're something you only use when you have no other choice since they're problematic and prone to breaking.

I'm hoping that I can have three gasses and that between them they'll make anything pour well without gaining or losing much CO2. These would be 75/25, 60/40, and straight CO2. Then I'd have one regulator per beer so I can put exactly the required pressure on each beer to push it. Highly carbonated beers would be pushed with straight CO2 at high pressure, average beers with 60/40 at less pressure, and low carbonated beers like stouts with 75/25 at even lower pressure.

Does this sound right?

[edramshaw]

If you really want to save on the amount of beer you are wasting ($$) due to foaming you want to try to balance the system as best as you can. Now this might mean trying to serve your higher carbonated beer through certain taps, mid level carb through other taps, etc. If each line is balanced with the proper restriction for the carbonation level and required pushing pressure then you will be alright. If at some point you need to pour a higher carbonated beer on a mid level line then you can. It won't be perfect but it will work. The point is your system will have the capacity to work properlly most of the time.

Roughly how far is it from the tanks to the taps? also how much is the vertical lift from the bottom of the tank to the taps?

[Scott Zuhse]

What is the pressure rating for your tanks? Blend gas at higher than spec pressure could have disastrous results. Use 100% CO2 at the tanks at pressures prescribed for the carbonation levels (Zahm-Nagel charts) desired for that particular brew. This pressure should maintain gas levels while supplying the beer to beer pumps (FloJet).

At this time you would be required to build the appropriate restriction in the system to accommodate the power of the pumps. As noted by edramshaw, you will require measurements to determine this requirement. Run lengths, vertical lifts and hardware would be useful.