how much beer is left ???

The one thing I hate the most draft beer is not knowing when the keg is going to run dry so I’ve spent the last couple weeks trying to look for a system to help solve this problem. The scale idea is nice but I hate moving the kegs once I have them tapped and leaving them on the scale is bad not only because of the constant weight but also the cold temp. I really despise those strips that you can put on the side of the keg so I’ve come up with a different idea and wouldn’t mind some input.

I found this little turbine flowmeter that can be put inline with the beer line and it should be able to monitor how much beer goes through the lines. A regular faucet dispenses beer at just under 1 gal/min so this should handle the flow. It outputs 12500 pulses per gallon it almost matches up to the 128 ounces that are in 1 gallon and it only causes about a 1-2 psi pressure drop. Then I could use a digital counter to collect the pulses and essentially display how many ounces of beer have left the keg.

I’m just looking to see if anyone can see a potential problem with the system that I may of over looked or concerns that they may have with the system.

I was looking at the FT-110 model 173932

http://www.gemssensors.com/Products/Flow/Electronic-Flow-Sensors/Turbo-Flow/~/media/GemsNA/CatalogPages/FT-110.ashx

Here is a pricy counter but I haven’t had time to research a cheaper one with 2 inputs since I have a 2 keg system.

http://www.redingtoncounters.com/products.php?RF_ITEM[]=Product$0@38;Product

You may want to check this product out. Easy to calibrate, no adverse effect to flow, and know how much (to the ounce), is left in your keg at all times.

www.parker-technologies.com

If I can pick up the keg with my pinky, I know there's barely a pint left.

perhaps maybe a fishing scale so you don't have to move the whole thing, just lift, read, subtract the tare weight, and yer done?

This may be way out in left field, but what about one of these from REI?

I know a few guys that use them on hikes and they report that they work well.
Not sure how well they would work with beer, but homebrewers tend to be a crafty bunch.

Kealia said:

This may be way out in left field, but what about one of these from REI?

I know a few guys that use them on hikes and they report that they work well.
Not sure how well they would work with beer, but homebrewers tend to be a crafty bunch.

Click to expand...

Neat I wonder how it would deal with sticker liquid and cleaning. And pressure ... It only has 2 stars in the reviews tho

When I was in Dublin during the end of 2009, there was a company that had started putting draft tables (I don't know if that's what they are actually called) into restaurants/pubs. The pub I saw them in had 4 or 5 round high top tables with a double sided draft tower in the center (Guinness & smithwicks). The tower swiveled around so anyone at the table could pour their own beer. When you sit down, they would take your credit card, turn on the taps and bring you fresh glasses. The attached pictures shows a digital red display on the tower that counted the number of pints and they would charge your card at the end of the night. For example, it would show like 7.2 pints.

If you take your keg out of the cold for even just a minute or two the condensation line tells you exactly how much beer is left. That's the way I've always determined how much liquid is left in a keg.