Beer Engine or Jockey Box-like Beer Engine?

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What is the coolness factor on a scale of 1 to 10?

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Schlenkerla

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Yeah!!! - I finally made my beer engine today after about 1 year blathering on about it.

Its single cylinder, two-stroke engine or however many strokes you want!!! No oil or batteries required. Just beer!!!


I intend to use it at home as a normal beer engine with a pass-thru shank to the fridge or I can use it like a jockey box at an event. The engine disassembles. One corny keg or two poly-pins fit inside. Now I just need to brew some beer... I only have cider right now.

I used the following; (All from Menards- except for the hand pump) ~ $95 total including the pump cost

  • 1 tall narrow kitchen cabinet
  • 1 wooden foot stool
  • 1 marble tile
  • 1 black cube, normally used for wall shelving
  • 1 rocket hand pump
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BTW - For home use, you can also mount a pass thru shank on a fridge and then use a beer nut coupling to attach the beer line.

I might glue some rare earth magnets to back of this cube so it sticks right to the fridge.:rockin:
 
Nice work, I'm repeatedly amazed at the effort people will put into this hobby.
 
Nice job - that looks really nice.

Is the cabinet insulated, or will the beer be served at room temp?
 
I gave it a 7. It would have scored higher if there was a chiller involved (even an ice box) and if it had a better base. You could do better than the stool. We'll call that a deduction on the landing.

It's very cool though...I just recieved my faucets and shanks and everything for my bar and after seeing this I may have to add a 'real ale' on tap in the corner!

Nice work! :mug:
 
I will being doing any one of the three; pushing in a corny or a poly pin into the cabinet, or attaching it to my kegerator via a pass thru shank.

The beer storage vessel needs to stay cold, so the co2 stays in solution, using a chiller, with natural carbonation will draw out the CO2 (go into solution) as it warms up. Using a chiller will result in totally flat beer over time.

I plan to use chiller blankets to dry-ice down the beer.

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The stool is not a perfect match maybe I'll strip it and try to do a better color match.
 
9/10

Really great idea. If it were me, I would insulate the inside, and maybe add something like a small garbage can that you could put the corny in and fill with ice, water and salt to keep the keg cold. Hidden casters would be huge, but must be lockable with people using the pump, don't want it rolling away.

Overall, very cool build
 
I'll give you a 10, just because I don't have anything at all like this...

...Yet!

Thanks Bio! :mug:

9/10

Really great idea. If it were me, I would insulate the inside, and maybe add something like a small garbage can that you could put the corny in and fill with ice, water and salt to keep the keg cold. Hidden casters would be huge, but must be lockable with people using the pump, don't want it rolling away.

Overall, very cool build

The foot print of this thing is small. 12x12 or 1 square foot. So it doesn't take up much floor space. Casters would be cool option too. As it is right now. 1 corny fits inside with a keglove much there is not much space otherwise, for getting through the door.

I could do what you suggested and do the inner wall insulation to help keep it cold. 4-5 hours is all that is need at any beer event. I contemplated cutting the top off to drop the corny in from above, connect the disconnects then pop the top back onto the cabinet, this way I could maximize the insulation.

Right now the cabinet has a removable shelf, I could put two poly pins in this. Insulate the walls, using techni-ice ice blankets. Placing them under and over the pins. Then have two tappers. This would be ok too at an event I could have a normal cooler filled with polypins and attach them as needed.

I am temporarily living in apartment right now, but only 4 days a week, two hours from home. I'm trying to sell my house and move. The apartment is barely furnished. This is my pride of all my furnishings. Not to mention 90% of my HB equipment is mothballed (in storage).

Right now this is my budget draft system. Needs little equipment and requires minimal effort. Mother of invention. Right!
 
I tested the pull, used a sixer of SA Noble Pils. Stuffed the hose into the bottle. Works like a champ!!!!:rockin:

Drank too many for a week day!!:D
 
Do you have pics of the plumbing? I think I could figure it out, but wondering especially about the faucet and polypin hookups. Using 2.5 gallon cubes?

I think that would make a real "classy" portable beer carrier to take to friends houses.

I gave you a 10!
 
Ditto, I would love to see the inner workings of this bad boy so I can get my own engine under way. Looks great by the way!
 
Do you have pics of the plumbing? I think I could figure it out, but wondering especially about the faucet and polypin hookups. Using 2.5 gallon cubes?

I think that would make a real "classy" portable beer carrier to take to friends houses.

I gave you a 10!

Ditto, I would love to see the inner workings of this bad boy so I can get my own engine under way. Looks great by the way!

I have no plumbing pictures yet. Its gonna be real simple though.

The engine faucet has a 3/8" male barb. The polypin is a 3/8" male spigot. (See picture.) I have a 5/16" beverage-grade hose pressed onto the engine faucet. (Did this undersized so the connection would not leak under a vacuum. - used boiling water on the hose to get it onto the barb) I plan to use a double-ended 3/8" barb. The 5/16" hose pressed on one side, 3/8" hose on the other side, then connect it to the spigot. The 3/8" hose will be about 1" long. It will be clamped into both the barb and spigot.

The 3/8" hose will slip on and off easily of the spigot for pin changes. Whereas the 5/16" is not meant to come off.

1 - Rocket Pump with 3/8" barb fitting
1 - 5/16" beverage hose about 5ft
1 - 3/8" double ended barb (plastic)
1 - 3/8" hose about 1" long
2 - 1/2" hose clamps
1 - Poly-pin with 3/8" spigot



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BTW - I've been using the engine to serve beer out of my growler until this last batch is ready to drink. Just dropped the hose in and pump out the beer! :rockin:

Been drinking Scottish 70 Schilling...
 
Does this whole assembly screw on/off? If so, could you rig up a disconnect of some time that screwed on? Maybe I'm over thinking it, your way is probably much easier. Just thinking out loud.

Yes - It does. The one thing to keep in mind you don't want to unscrew this cap if possible once the beer is carbed. The polypin will be pretty flimsy. You don't want to be crying over spilled beer. Not to mention, you want the spigot to be below the fluid line so the gas will not escape with slight temperature fluctuations.

Using one of these might be nice but you would need several. Polysulfone Disconnects

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An update to this chilling method. This worked too good! I pulled a gal pin from the fridge at 44F, popped into the box, with one blanket under the pin and two on either side but folded over the top. Then I filled the air space with over-stuffed plastic walmart bags. (bags stuffed in bags) Used about 5-6. Then went to work.....

Well, 12 hours later I pulled a pint, gave it a taste an noticed it was pretty cold. Dropped a in thermometer in my beer, it was 39F!!! I took out all of the blankets for a few hours then at the end of the night added just one, then re-stuffed the cabinet with the bags.

I'm using about one blanket every 24 hours. It will stay at about 50F.


This is my planned chilling method for the pins...

http://www.techniice.com/english/index.htm

Using ice blankets on top and below the pin. These blankets are real cheap and get real cold and last for a long time. I need the 1 gallon pin to be at 50F so this should easily done.

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I bought mine from Amazon. 6 ice blankets for $18

http://www.amazon.com/Techni-Ice-Reusable-Packs-Special/dp/B000ZOWG62/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1266672904&sr=8-1
 
Beautiful and inexpensive build. I like it alot but didn't vote. Maybe I misunderstood the poll. You are comparing cask beer to carbonated beer. Too much like apples and oranges. Yes I would love an engine for cask ales but don't think I would use an engine for carbonated ales. You cooling choice I'm very interested in. I will have to get some of those and try them.
 
Beautiful and inexpensive build. I like it alot but didn't vote. Maybe I misunderstood the poll. You are comparing cask beer to carbonated beer. Too much like apples and oranges. Yes I would love an engine for cask ales but don't think I would use an engine for carbonated ales. You cooling choice I'm very interested in. I will have to get some of those and try them.

The poll is nothing more than a coolness factor. I made the engine so that it would be portable. I could use it at an event or at home and it will fit in with the decor.

I agree cask & traditional kegged beer are two different animals. If one had a beer recipe split and it in half then served it both ways it would be like they were different beers.
 
I'm wondering could I use something like this on the spigot so I can screw it on and off?
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I already have a bunch of female flare fittings.
 
I really like the concept!! What if, just to say, you used a jockey box-style or cold plate to chill the lines of beer before dispensed into a glass?? I have seen them at restaurants and they work very well. Maybe put this plate on the outside back and still have the keg inside the box, IDK!?
 
I really like the concept!! What if, just to say, you used a jockey box-style or cold plate to chill the lines of beer before dispensed into a glass?? I have seen them at restaurants and they work very well. Maybe put this plate on the outside back and still have the keg inside the box, IDK!?

You really don't want to use a chill plate period. For cask style beer you are using priming sugar to naturally carbonate. No bottled CO2 whatsoever. Therefore its very important to keep your beer supply at serving temp all the time, so the CO2 stays in the beer. If you let it warm up then chill it by a coil or plate, it would go flat or be flat at serving time. Most of the CO2 would come out in the first few points. Remember the beer is anywhere from 1.0~1.5 vol of CO2. This rather low compared to force carbed beer.

The key or trick is to keep the beer at serving temp (50-55F) so the CO2 stays in solution. It depends on how much you have to serve and how quick it will be gone. That would dictate your chilling method.

The more I think about that's probably one reason why the UK industry tried to get away from producing naturally carbed cask ale or the traditional serving methods. I'm guessing the oxidation issue or spoilage was the primary reason.
 
Has anyo ne noticed any off flavors from the hand pump itself? I feel like I'm picking up a subtle off flavor with mine, and I also could smell it when I was cleaning the system.
 
Has anyo ne noticed any off flavors from the hand pump itself? I feel like I'm picking up a subtle off flavor with mine, and I also could smell it when I was cleaning the system.

I had, but I used kegs that were not totally free from oxidation not sure where it was coming from on the system. I'd use some BLC or Sanitizer, let it soak no more than 15 minutes then rinse with water. Maybe low concentration of bleach if you wanted to do a long soak. Bleach ratio of 2oz :5 gal water
 
Sorry to bump an old thread, but I have a question. If I used one of these with a corny keg and an aspirator valve, would I be able to keep the beer on tap for 3-4 months+?
 
Sorry to bump an old thread, but I have a question. If I used one of these with a corny keg and an aspirator valve, would I be able to keep the beer on tap for 3-4 months+?

Yeah, that would be correct. You can use a low pressure propane regulator to keep gas on the beer.
 
here is another design I stumbled on that uses an air cylinder. Anyone have any thoughts on this design?

http://penrosepicobrewery.blogspot.com/2011/09/internal-works-of-my-beer-engine.html

Yeah this alternate design does the job, but you need to do more to piece this bimba air cylinder design concept together. My guess its gonna cost you more and its not food safe like the rv water pump.

The guy commented that the check valves got clogged with hop particles. This could happen on both types of you didn't take the time to make sure it had settled out.

For about forty bucks I'd stay with the rv pump. It also looks much nicer with the chrome. The other design is not what its put on top of my bar. You'd need to build small wood box around it to hide the cylinder.
 
Using a low pressure LPG regulator are you able to pull several pints in a row or do you have to wait for the headspace in the keg to fill for a bit between pints?
 
I just got done using my hand pump. I was lucky and didnt get a leaker. I had it set up to my 2.5 gallon polypin and it worked like a charm. I need to build a box to hold the polypin and the hand pump and then it will be truly done but for now it works. Beer was fantastic as well.
 
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