Running beer lines from garage into Living Room

So I want a 6 tap Keezer. My wife does not want it to take up room in the Living room.

So in the spirit of compermise I was thinging about drilling holes in the wall and mounting taps directly to the wall.

Use slate tile and a mounted catch tray with tubing for the catch tray going back into the garage in a bucket.

So the Freezer outside would literally be right on the opposite wall of where the taps would come out in the living room. So not alot of distance.

Anyone see any problems with this? I would say the length of tubing would be no more than 3-4 feet from the freezer thru the wall and ending in a tap.

Cooling issues on the tubing lines perhaps?

Yeah I would at a minumum insulate the lines, and if you're ambitious use some kind of cooling loop to keep the lines chilled, or maybe a nice heat sink wrapped around them going back into the keezer.

I saw this on a video cast today and it looked pretty neat. It was near the end of Brewing TV episopde 35.

I'll have to look that up! When you talk about insulating the beer lines what works best? Is there something at Home Depot I can pick up that is circular? They must make something for insulating copper lines

The only problem I see is the one the wife would have with drilling holes in the living room wall for beer taps. If your wife is cool with this, then :rockin:

You should be able to use the same kind of insulation they use on the copper pipe going from the house to the AC compressor outside.

As far as cooling the lines goes, you could put them in a piece of PVC that goes into the wall and get a 12 v fan to blow cool air from where the kegs are. Might also want a return PVC to aid circulation. You could use one straight piece with a T on either end. Run the lines through one side of the T and have the fan blowing into the other maybe?

I have a similar deal in my house. I have a bar upstairs and the beer is kept in the basement. I insulated the line and have a 2 gallon glycol container that is kept at 37 deg. Whenever the freezer turns on, the pump starts and pumps glycol in the tubing wrapped around the beer lines up to the tap and back.

I have all the lines braided together within foam pipe insulation. It has worked pretty well for a couple years. I had to put a check valve above the pump to keep the line full when the pump isn't running or it would lose prime.

if I didn't have a detached garage I would love to do something like this..

I read the title and thought "There's a Single Guy"

I can't believe you have a wife that will go for putting taps in the living room wall.


Assuming you are talking about one side of the wall to the other (about 5") I would put a piece of PVC thru the wall to run the lines, and keep condensation/drips out of your wall. outside of that I would insulate with pipe insulation

Sounds like a cool and clean look.

I might be wrong but isn't it recommended to have around 10' for beer lines anyway. If this is the case it seems much easier to just wind up the extra tubing in the freezer itself to keep it cool and while only passing through one wall you really only have about a foot or two that is exposed (not in the freezer). A simple quick pour to prime the lines for the first pull of the hour should be enough to cool the extra line down. But if you wanted to insulate them you could run the lines through a cut length of PVC filled in with some spray insulation, might not be the most consistent insulation but it would hold the temp inside the lines better than nothing.

bruin_ale said:

if I didn't have a detached garage I would love to do something like this..

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Do it anyhow!

If you don't fan cool it, you will have foaming issues, ask me how I know....

I ended running my lines through a tube in a pvc pipe(air return) and fan cooling it.

alot of lines to clean?!?!?

there is a pic in the keezer thread where someone did it, with a PVC loop and fan cooling the lines.

Your profile states that you're in Washington. How cold does your garage get in winter? If you are going to work on cooling the lines for summer, don't forget about keeping them from freezing in winter.

Something like an electric wrap for winter and at least some copper pipe insulation for summer over that. In 3-4 feet of beer line, there is not a whole lot of beer stored. Your first glass might be a little flat or warm given the season.

JonesCreek said:

In 3-4 feet of beer line, there is not a whole lot of beer stored. Your first glass might be a little flat or warm given the season.

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That's enough to nearly fill a glass with foam.

Might want to check out local code. I'm not sure if there are any rules on drilling through a fire proof (lack of a better term) shared wall.

A lot of people say you will get foam with set ups like these. However that was not (is not) my experience. I think a lot of people do these set ups and don't account for the proper line resistance and that is the ultimate culprit.

I have a basement keezer that runs 4 lines up to the first floor to a bar where I have 2 double tower taps. All I did was insulate the 4 lines with cheap pipe foam insulation, no cooling, nothing. I wrapped reflective tap on the upper half to reflect sunlight off the dark foam insulation. I have used the setup with great success for over a year, no foaming issues (once I dialed the resistance in). My system is balanced and I have 2 lines set so they run best with 10-12psi and a line for ~16-18 and ~18-20. Using all of these carb levels I get consistent pour with proper foam. I do pour out the first little bit in the line and get a little foam with that. But I don't want the beer that has been in the line for several day anyhow.


YMMV

3-4 feet in normal beer lines (3/16") is only a little over and ounce of beer. However, if it's warm and foams up, it will feel like more.

Ok so here is what I'm thinking... I will be putting in 4 taps.

I will make a insulated "Box" that will sit in the wall between the studs.

Basically 2x4's framed inbetween the studs with styrofoam insulation all around and sealed with a plastic vapor barrier.

I will run a PVC pipe from the freezer in garage onto this sealed box that will branch out to the 4 taps on the living room side of the wall.

I like the idea of blowing cool air thru the PVC and into the sealed "box"

If I have a smaller PVC pipe running from the "box" back to the freezer will that allow enough air flow circulation?

imperialipa said:

Ok so here is what I'm thinking... I will be putting in 4 taps.

I will make a insulated "Box" that will sit in the wall between the studs.

Basically 2x4's framed inbetween the studs with styrofoam insulation all around and sealed with a plastic vapor barrier.

I will run a PVC pipe from the freezer in garage onto this sealed box that will branch out to the 4 taps on the living room side of the wall.

I like the idea of blowing cool air thru the PVC and into the sealed "box"

If I have a smaller PVC pipe running from the "box" back to the freezer will that allow enough air flow circulation?

Click to expand...

Probably. You can always not glue it at first and make a bigger line later if needed.