Taps In My Liquor Cabinet Question

I'm in the planning stage for my draft system.

Here's what I know:
- I got a 14 cubic foot frigidaire chest freezer from the inlaws.
- I have no room inside the house for it except in the basement crawl space (about 5' high).
- There is a brick chimney for the boiler and water heater running right up the middle of the house
- The space next to where this chimney is in the dining room is currently being used as a liquor cabinet
- There is a good sized hole already in existence where I can see the basement when I open the liquor cabinet

Here's what I plan to do:
- I'll put the chest freezer in the crawl space and run the lines up the chimney to the taps I'll have installed in the liquor cabinet.
- I have enough room to run the lines nearly straight from the top of the freezer to cabinet, so I can use a 4-5" diameter insulated PVC pipe to seal the lines from freezer to tap

Here's my question:
- what would be the best method of cooling the lines for the nearly 6' of travel from the freezer to the tap? Keep in mind this is vertical travel but it will be 100% sealed from outside air.


Thanks for any help you guys are able to provide!

Put another smaller piece of PVC inside your larger outer piece and shoot foam insulation between them. This should make a well insulated inner chamber that will allow you to run your tap lines in. I have seen this done in several installs, however, they were much shorter lengths and I'm not sure that insulating that long of a run will still keep the beer cold at the distance you are looking at.

instead of inner pvc, could you use inner COPPER pipe? it would be more of a pain, and more expensive, but I bet it would wick a lot of cold up from the chest.

I'd run copper tubing up the line and to the faucet shanks and back down into a bucket or corny/etc running a small pond pump and an alcohol solution or glycol. 4" PVC seems a bit large for the application. Or run some flexible 1" or 1.5" tubing up to the taps giving a return path for the air, and use a small blower to keep the freezer's air circulating through the pipe. This will keep your lines cool.

I love the pond pump idea. Thin copper piping would be essential for the cold from the liquid to be radiated out into the tube. I had originally thought 4" would be the ideal so I could easily fit 4 beer lines and have airflow from the freezer, but if I'm running copper pipe cooling though it, I would drop the size down and insulate the hell out of it.

Does anybody know the benefits of using an alcohol-based solution for cooling instead of water? Are there any concerns as to the pond pump and the liquid it's pushing?

This project sounds daunting, but if I can pull it off half a good as I imagine, it'll be epic.

drat said:

Does anybody know the benefits of using an alcohol-based solution for cooling instead of water? Are there any concerns as to the pond pump and the liquid it's pushing?

Click to expand...

Alcohol based can get below freezing and stay liquid, which would be essential if you are pumping. With the pump, I would mainly be concerned about leaks and temperature control in your column. If you a pumping a coolant you will likely need some sort of control to turn on/off the pump unless you intend on running it constantly (in which case you might need something a little more heavy duty than the average Harbor Freight fountain pump).

The mag drive pond pumps sold at aquarium shops and home depot are designed to run continuously for years. My pond has had the same $50 pump for 5 years with no hiccups, 24/7. Alcohol will also inhibit mold, etc.

RiverCityBrewer said:

Alcohol based can get below freezing and stay liquid, which would be essential if you are pumping. With the pump, I would mainly be concerned about leaks and temperature control in your column. If you a pumping a coolant you will likely need some sort of control to turn on/off the pump unless you intend on running it constantly (in which case you might need something a little more heavy duty than the average Harbor Freight fountain pump).

Click to expand...

I have been thinking about that for the last few hours. I don't have a second freezer to cool the coolant any lower than the temp the beer will be stored/served at. With that in mind, is there any other benefit alcohol would provide? I'm guessing not, just a higher cost and a bigger risk of issues when a leak happens.

I'm already pricing heavier-duty pumps since I'll probably have to be running this 24/7. I plan to always have at least two and will strive to have 4 homebrews on tap at all times. Clearing the lines nightly so I can shut the pump off doesn't seem to be efficient (plus I'm not likely to remember to do that after a couple of homebrews).

The more I plan for this to be my perfect set-up, the more I see the costs rising and the time-to-completion extending out toward summer.

Come on lottery, I need you!

I just found a solution to my dilemma on how to attach all of the lines to the freezer and still be able to open it:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37489013@N00/4140862842/in/set-72157622891307322/

This guy built a collar for the freezer and drilled holes for the lines. This saves me a bit as well since I'm not sure if the inlaws will ask for the freezer back at some point. I was reluctant to drill the lid for that reason...