Tower at kitchn sink

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brianj434

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Due to lack of room in our apartment I was able to convince my wife that I could just put a draft sytem under our kitchen sink cabinet space and attach a tower at the accesory hole in the sink itself (the cap was a rusting eyesore) .

Is it possible/ worth it to balance a draft sytem to run at room temperature with the proper carbonation and serving pressure? I know the CO2 solubility would be lowered by the increased temperature.

I think I could use a cold glass or mug from the fridge and have a satisfying home-brew expirience.

What do you all think?
 
Hmmm.... i think you would have a hard time getting the correct carbonation, although I guess theoretically it could be done.

So you have no room for a cold box of any kind? What about one of those super small dorm refrigerators? I'm thinking you could either create a custom cabinet that the fridge cools, or even possible run a line through a plate chiller in the fridge that houses a bucket of water or glycol?

Maybe thats a bit far fetched, but might be possible, no?
 
I've considered the same project, but I'm thinking about running a line of sparkling water up from the basement to a tower at the sink.

I think you'll do fine carbonating at room temp. You'll use more gas, but it's a small price to pay for convenience.

Maybe consider something like a tap-a-draft system instead and keep it in the fridge?
 
Even if you get it good and carbonated at room temp, you will have a super foamy pint when it poors. Even into a cold iced down glass you will have tones of head. an Electric cold plate or running the line through a cooler with some ice will do better then warm beer out of the tap.
 
Thanks for the responses. We do usually keep our fridge pretty full and its furnished by the land lords so i wouldnt want to cut the gasket or drill a hole in the side. I have not explored it for an external drain hole; if it has one i could probably enlarge that and go undetected.

I am also viewing this project as a strategic move, creating oppotunities for future progress. If I have an agreement to keg now, I think I should take advantage of it. In the future, this agreeable mood may be gone, do you know what i mean? Most of the initial investment on the kegging equipment will be paid for by a gift certificate i got from my old job.

I think I may go for it. Then if it doesnt work, I will already have a kegging set up that shouldnt go unused. I could then make a case for a minifridge or keezer set up.
 
Arneba,

If a system is balanced at room temp why would the pour be more foamy than one balanced at a conventional temperature?

In my head it seems like it should be the same...
 
Make some room in your fridge for a Tap-A-Draft system, I can almost guarantee that there is a bunch of crap taking up room in your fridge.
 
Plus, given your circumstances, I really hope you like English pub-style ales. Milds, bitters, porters, etc. The low carbonation and warmer serving temps would fit this project well. I wouldn't throw a hefe in the keg with your setup.
 
brianj434 said:
Arneba,

If a system is balanced at room temp why would the pour be more foamy than one balanced at a conventional temperature?

In my head it seems like it should be the same...
Click to expand...

I would think you would maybe run into some trouble when you try to pour that balanced beer into an ice cold glass, but I may be overthinking it.
 
the cold glass should cool the beer which should make CO2 even more soluble in the liquid. You are right though, turbulence from the pour and ice on the glass would cause plenty of nucelation sites for bubble to form.

Those are the exact beers i prefer.

Im going by the LBS after work to take measurments and see if everything will fit under my sink. I think they run a room temp system so im going to talk to them about it.
 
Put the corney keg in a bucket. Fill the bucket with ice. You'll pull cold beer no problem. Replace the ice when you want to drink that day or evening. I use re-freezeable freezer blocks, you cold probably use cold packs or frozen water bottles, etc... It has worked fine for me. In the winter though I just put the keg on the back porch :)
 
I am getting the feeling no one does exactly what i am talking about... having a draft system with no refrigeration element at all.

Is that because its not possible or because it is not preferable?

I am still going to give it a shot. If it doesnt work out that well Ill just have to get a mini fridge and convince swimbo it had to be done.
 
RegionalChaos said:
Put the corney keg in a bucket. Fill the bucket with ice. You'll pull cold beer no problem.
Click to expand...

I like this idea. Ghetto, but simple. Especially if you arent planning on pulling from the tap every night. (This wouldnt fly at my house, but maybe you arent all ALCHY like me).
 
I'd be worried that the extra pressure required to carb the beer at room temperature would cause too violent of a pour and make a very foamy beer. I suppose it's worth a shot though.
 
DustyTheBrewer said:
I'd be worried that the extra pressure required to carb the beer at room temperature would cause too violent of a pour and make a very foamy beer. I suppose it's worth a shot though.
Click to expand...

If you were going this route you could add enough beer line to balance the resistance. That way, by the time the beer gets to the tap you would only be at 10-15 psi, even though your C02 is set at 30ish.

How about you just put the cold plate in a bucket of ice water. That would be super simple right? And then you have the option of serving cold or room temp. I dunno how the length of line and carbonation would be affected though?
 
Im not sure im capable of uploading them.
I already went through a 5 gallon batch of an amber ale made with home made crystal malt and also an entire batch of seltzer.

It looks like im completely capable of loading immages. sorry for the large format test picture.

Winter.jpg
 
brianj434 said:
Thanks for the responses. We do usually keep our fridge pretty full and its furnished by the land lords so i wouldnt want to cut the gasket or drill a hole in the side. I have not explored it for an external drain hole; if it has one i could probably enlarge that and go undetected.

I am also viewing this project as a strategic move, creating oppotunities for future progress. If I have an agreement to keg now, I think I should take advantage of it. In the future, this agreeable mood may be gone, do you know what i mean? Most of the initial investment on the kegging equipment will be paid for by a gift certificate i got from my old job.

I think I may go for it. Then if it doesnt work, I will already have a kegging set up that shouldnt go unused. I could then make a case for a minifridge or keezer set up.
Click to expand...
Forward thinking, I love it!:rockin:
 
brianj434 said:
It works incredibly well and looks good too.
Click to expand...

You mean it works okay, but would be so much better if it was in a keezer, minifridge, or some other purchase that is entirely necessary, right?

-gotta fight the fight, brother!-
 
KPR,

Right, that is what i meant to say. I have got to get my story straight. One thing I did not anticipate is the fact that a batch goes alot faster when its just as easy to get beer as it is to get water. Unfortunately, because of that fact, all I have to show you all is me pouring a seltzer... But hey, its visual proof of concept.

It took some fiddling around to get the right angle shank to fit in the 1.5 inch Cu pipe but i managed. I capped it with some spare Cu sheet I had laying around. To balance I needed about 30 feet of beer line and I need to pressurize at about 30psi. It could use a bit more carbonation but im not going to mess with it for a while.

I need to re-polish the copper and then lacquer it so it stays nice, maybe all add some more line then.

IMG_3898.jpg


IMG_3900.jpg
 

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