Jockey Box Plate vs. coils

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aardvark

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I'm working on putting together a jockey box and trying to decide on whether to go with a cold plate or coils. For my uses a plate chiller should work fine, in terms of volume. I'm concerned about the fact that I'll mostly be using it in hot climates and I know with a plate the keg should be kept cool.

What I'm wondering, is if I got a 6 pass (12 port) and had 3 kegs on tap if I could run it through once and then back into the chiller a second time for each keg. So for each keg ambient temp beer would go from the keg into the chiller, then cooled beer would come out of the chiller, then back into it a second time for further cooling.

Is this crazy? Would it work to cool warm beer? Should I just go with coils?

Thanks.
 
are you actually talking about a "plate chiller" like the Shirron or Therminator here? (sorry... I am just confused about how that would work.)
 
Walker you need another avatar that one is disturbing.

image_895.jpg


He talking about using a standard plate. Where there are 6 circuits. He is is thinking of daisy-chaining two circuits. Essentially doubling the length. This would make a 6 circuit into a 3 with added cooling capacity.

I can't tell you if you could forgo the icing down of the keg. Look at the typical coils on the market and see what lengths are available.

The standard 2-cuircuit plate is 18', so you would make it 36'. Check to see the length on the 6 circuit plate.
 
Ah... Ok. So that plate you linked two actually has two separate channels through it, and you are propsing connecting those two channels serially so that the beer flows through the plate twice before getting to the tap?

Seems like it would work to me. Not sure why "keg should be kept cool" (quoting you) for this the plate. Is that because there is less surface area compared to an actual coil? If so, then I think looping through the plate twice would probably correct that issues, wouldn't it?
 
Plates require cool beer. 50F to serve at 44F. This according to the mfg'r.

Alot of the at depends on how fast you serve the beer. I'm going to assume this is if you have a constant flow of beer in the lines.
 
I think this is the extreme. If you have warm 65F beer you can get cold beer from the chiller if it sits in the line for awhile, but how long or how many can be served before its too warm to be appetizing.
 
Walker said:
Holy cow! No way I would pay $129 for something that is going to cool my beer 6*F.
Click to expand...

That would be beerS. And that is 6F at a continuous flow, which isnt too bad. Running through twice might be tough, but I am sure doable, and would double this number. Take the continuous flow out of the equation and I would say you are good to go so long as the keg isn't in direct sunlight and is below 80F. For continuous flow, you need a 120ft coil. For mostly continuous, you would need a 90. For sparing pours, I'd say your setup would work.
 
I also would like to build a jockey box for next years camping season (spent too much money this year) I have some past experience in food service and understand the dynamics of a cold plate as we used them for serving soda thru a machine where the cold plate instantly chilled the water from the carbonator for mixing with syrup at the fountainhead and it is a very efficient cooler. The part that I see would be different for beer would be the need to keep the keg cold for the purpose of keeping your co2 in solution. If you prechill and pre-carb your keg to say 2.5 volumes and then take it camping..well you cant just let it warm to 60-70 degrees and not expect co2 to break out. I cant see where chilling again as you serve would fix this, in my mind the keg would have to be kept cold. Am i missing something in my thinking?
 
It depends on pressure on the keg as it gets warm. Often it takes 20# to push the beer threw the chiller and tap. If you can up the psi when you quit drinking it will keep co2 in your beer as it gets warm. Then get fresh ice and adjust the psi for serving. If over pressured cut the gas for a few beers.
 
bucfanmike said:
If you prechill and pre-carb your keg to say 2.5 volumes and then take it camping..well you cant just let it warm to 60-70 degrees and not expect co2 to break out. I cant see where chilling again as you serve would fix this, in my mind the keg would have to be kept cold.QUOTE]

You are right, the CO2 would break out (in a manner of speaking) - but it has nowhere to go. It simply increases the pressure in the keg. The key is when you cool it, even through a small chill plate or coil, the pressure decreases - and voila - cold beer at correct pressure.

Just the same as you are thinking that the CO2 must 'break out' as it warms, it ALSO must 're-absorb' as it cools.

Carbonate your keg as you normally would, then let it warm. As it warms, the pressure in the keg increases. So long as the pressure does not escape, the pressure will again decrease while it cools as it passes through the chiller.

When I go to tailgate, I actually let the beer warm to ambient temperature so there are no temperature fluctuations while I am serving - this takes about a day. I confirm and check the temperature/pressure and set up at the event. I keep the keg OUT of the sun, and the pressure at equilibrium - this is usually somewhere around 24-36PSI depending on style / ambient temperature.

About six months ago, I did an experiment and brewed a beer specifically for a tailgate that was taking palce the following month. I *never* chilled the beer. When secondary was nearly completed, I simply racked to a keg at ambient temperature and forced carbed at about 30PSI for three weeks. I then took the keg to the tailgate and hooked it up to my cooler. It was PERFECT. This was a beer that had NEVER been below 70°F and was force-carbed for 3 weeks at 30PSI.

So long as you make sure the chiller/coilbox is always filled with ice water all the way to the top, the beer pours perfectly.

I have used only coil-type jockey boxes in the past. I am not sure exactly how these plate chiller boxes perform.

Hope this helps!

- John
Click to expand...
 
Schlenkerla said:
Often it takes 20# to push the beer threw the chiller and tap. If you can up the psi when you quit drinking it will keep co2 in your beer as it gets warm. Then get fresh ice and adjust the psi for serving. If over pressured cut the gas for a few beers.
Click to expand...

Yet another reason to serve at ambient temperatures. If the keg and ambient temperature are both 80°F, and your beer requires 2.5vols, then 34.8PSI should be used. This will ensure enough pressure for pushing the beer through the system AND keep an equilibrium so no adjustments need to be made.

The only drawback is that beer at 80°F does not keep for nearly as long as beer at 40°F.
 

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