Beer engine video

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BeardedSquash

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I made a short video of my beer engine, as well as the keg-to-cask conversion. I'm not sure how to upload videos on here, so I'll just post a link to the youtube site. Hope you enjoy!
 
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Nice video. How long can you keep a keg on the beer engine without noticeable degradation due to oxidation?
 
I try to coordinate the batches with parties or long weekends, and I've never had one last longer than two days. If it goes between two days, I unhook the open air line before I go to bed, and that has never given me any problems. I purged one keg with C02 on a Sunday and didn't get back to it until the next weekend, and that one was fine too.
 
That's very cool!

Is there carbonation left in the beer after going through the pump?
 
The beer is lightly carbonated to begin with, and the restriction of the sparkler tip causes some of that to foam up for the head, but yeah, there is still a good prickle of carbonation left. When I can regulate the temperature to around 53º, its as close to a real ale as I ever had in England.
 
Never having been to England to experience real ale for myself, I have heard from some purists (Namely the old british guy that runs the pub near my office) that sparkler tips aren't necessarily favored and are an Americanized version of the beer engine.

Have you tried drawing a pint without it and compare the two?
 
I actually haven’t tried to pull a pint without the tip. There’s a long argument on both sides of the sparkler argument that, as a 30 year old American, I have no business fighting for or against. Historically, the fluffy head on a real ale was the result of a heafty pull from the bar-keep, not a sparkler tip or swan neck. All I’m really going for is a recreation of what I drank in England last summer, and the only way I can do that with a Camper pump is to use the tip. I should try it, though, just to see how it goes.
 
Just curious why you modified the keg to lay on it's side. Is there some problem using it the normal upright position?
 
You can use the keg in the upright position, but you still have to take 1-1/2 to two inches off of the dip-tube so that you don’t draw up the yeast created by the second fermentation. (Real Ale needs to be naturally carbonated) You want to be able to draw your beer over the yeast without actually picking up the yeast itself. The way I set on its side lets the yeast naturally collect in the bottom space and the small “Out” tube rises above it. It might more of a pain to do it this way, but the keg needs to be on its side to fit into my cooler, and the cooler build was my favorite part of this whole project. Another benefit of having the out-put on the bottom is that I can serve the beer via gravity if I install a plug valve into the bottom side of the cooler. I’m planning on doing an Oktoberfest this way next Fall.
 
Thanks for posting this. I was thinking of using a cooler cart as well. I plan on using 2.5 gallon and 5 gallon cubitainers instead of the corney keg. Great video!

Cheers
 
I understand the whole needing to be naturally carbonated thing for Real Ale, but not the serving with a beer engine. Why not just keg as normal utilizing a shorter dip tube, and serve using minimal CO2 pressure so as to not add any additional carbonation. Seems as though the effect would be exactly the same, and being able to enjoy your creation over weeks rather than days would be an additional benefit.
 
Yes – kind of. I’m using standard barbed quick disconnects; black at the beer and gray at the gas. However, I’ve swapped the dip tubes inside the keg. The long dip tube (modified from a liquid tube) is on the top port behind the gas disconnect, and the short nubbin that is typically used for gas is on the bottom port behind the beer disconnect. But the disconnects are standard, no modifications.
 
I wonder if there is a way to fit a beer engine like yours onto the 5L mini kegs. I would love to find a way to do that. I guess it would just take a rubber bung with two holes. Hmmm off to the drawing board!
 
Do you have any trouble with your pump leaking at the handle? Just ordered the same handle, but it leaks about 1 drop every time I pump the handle.
 
@Redcoat or Rebel: I don't have anything on the build. The cooler is pretty much fitted with the pump on the top, and that runs to the out line of my keg. That's about it.

@jbrookei I haven't had much trouble with leaking. It will sputter a few drops between glasses, but not enough to collect or be problematic. The fact that I have the breather tub wide open keeps any pressure build-up from forcing beer out.
 
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