Expanding my bar for stout/soda/cider, ideas?

My bar is located in my home theater room and currently has a two tap tower on it, which always has 2 beers on it...I promised the kids I'd put soda on one tap so they could grab a pint like the 'big kids' during baseball games/movies/etc. This was before I read/realized I probably want a dedicated tap/keg/lines for soda, as it sounds like it will do a number on your system. With that being said, whereas I only have 2 taps, I don't want to dedicate one of them to soda.

It would seem an expansion is going to be necessary. I've had a few thoughts...one being that if I am going to expand to accomodate soda, I might as well include a stout faucet in the expansion...and possibly cider? (I have perlicks, and I think I read somewhere that you need to use a plastic faucet for cider? No idea on the reasoning behind that?)

So I'm thinking I drill out a new hole next to the current tower and put in another 2 tap tower (or possibly 3 depending on the verdict of the cider), have one be a dedicated soda tap, one for stout, etc.

I already have a corny/lines/qd's for the soda getup. My next thought is that it will be a bit $$ and time consuming to add another tower to the bar (It's only been done for a few months and the thought of tearing into it again already is not appealing) So I also thought maybe I can just install a shank through the end of the bar with a soda faucet on it, so while the adults grab their drinks from the top of the bar, the little ones could get theirs from the side of the bar (with a drip tray or something installed)

Does anyone else have any ideas? Stout and cider aside, the soda is my biggest concern, because I promised

Last thought, rather than purchase a new co2 tank for the soda, I have a 20oz paintball tank with regulator (I use it to serve beer when Im traveling), would that work for serving soda at 30psi or whatever ungodly number it has to be served at..and would it last more than 1 keg? Itd be nice to just toss it in the fridge to run the soda and take it out when I needed to go somewhere.

Cabot, I've taken this on as well. I have a Sanyo 1206 kegerator that held 3 cornies and a tank. This past weekend I moved the tank externally and now have 4 kegs in this sucker.

Currently I have one tower tap, 3 cobra's. Last night we drew the first glass of soda as it was carbing for about 24 hours. Still a little flat but SWMBO approved of mix.

I'll be ordering a 4 tap tower later this year... maybe an xmas gift...

As for the cider, I don't have a dedicated tap or cobra but I don't get beer flavor in my cider nor do I get coider flavors in my beer. I think your good here...

I like the idea of the kiddies getting their RB from a lower tap. I've thought about this long and hard for my tower.... not sure how I want to prevent the kids from taking the big kids beer... I like your idea...

As for the regulator, I bought a secondary that I installed internally... I'm thinking I may end up going run a second gas line in and daisy chain the secondary regulator to the primary.

Your paintball tank might make it too limiting....

If your faucets/shanks are stainless you should have no problem with the cider, the plastic is an alternative to the brass and plated brass faucets.
I'd say yes, another tower would be ideal. The soda needs much higher PSI, and the stout faucet needs "beergas" which is typically 75% Nitrogen and 25% co2, run around 35psi.
So to do the stout you need a stout faucet, separate tank and regulator for the beergas.
The soda will need at least it's own secondary regulator to bring it up to around 40-50psi and you will need a longer longer liquid line (I think I have read 20-25') 3/16" ID to add resistance. You may also want to search for "cure for your short hose" to find more info about adding resistance inside your soda keg to prevent needing such a long line. Show us some pics and progress on the expansion.
BTW I am a big fan of that particular Thoreau quote.

jtrainer, let me know of any progress you make/trouble you may or may not run into! It'd be a heckuva lot easier to just have them make soda in 2 liters with a carbonator cap, but they'll really get a kick out of pulling the tap handle. Who am I to deny them that.

bdavanza, good food for thought. I guess for now I will stick with just trying to get the soda on tap. I definitely don't have the $ to invest in a nitrogen setup right now. 40-50 psi!? holy smokes!! I knew I'd need a lot of line, I have 30' of 3/16 sitting in the basement waiting for soda. The short hose solution thing is very cool, but for me right now its just as easy to coil up and zip tie the soda line I have.

I believe my faucets/shanks are indeed plated brass...I assume this because I never consciously asked for stainless, I just bought "beer faucet" and "beer shank" type of things. Does the cider eat away at the chrome/brass or something?

*edit* Thanks, I've always appreciated that quote. It's how stuff gets done

Cabot, I think it has something to do with the acidity and brass, I know if you want to serve wine you need ss or plastic. If your perlicks are forward sealing, they are stainless. Yeah I have been wanting to put some soda on tap as well, but haven't gotten around to it. I think I will go for the epoxy mixer sticks in the soda keg so that my 6 lines stay available for beer serving as well.
from micromatic: (a great resource)


Chrome body is forged brass which is chrome plated.

Polished Brass body is forged brass polished to a bright finish.

Polished Stainless Steel body is forged stainless steel polished to a bright finish. This is the best faucet available today. The stainless steel will not impart any off tastes. The finish will not tarnish like brass or pit like chrome. Excellent choice for beer, wine or cider as it is not affected by acidity.
Gold Stainless Steel with Brass Like Finish. Same attributes as above in addition to a tarnish free brass like finish that is bonded to the stainless steel faucet body.

Plastic - all components touching the product are plastic. Must be used for wine or cider applications due to the acidity. Not recommended for beer.

Another option on the soda, and what I do, is to make carbonated water and use the Torani (and other) flavored syrups. The plus side is you can offer a variety of flavors, don't have to worry about odd flavors from the popits/o-rings (like root beer will do), and I really like mineral water w/ my scotch.

I don't know if this occurs with all soda but I have rootbeer on one tap of mine. I swapped it out for some IPA a while back and even though I soaked the line, tap, shank, and jumper in soapy water with oxyclean for a couple days I still had rootbeer flavor in the first pint of every time I drank off it. Dedicate all the hardware for soda and only soda.

fartingdog, when do you mix then? Do you just put some syrup in a glass, then pour the seltzer water ontop of it??

tommyboy I've heard something similar, I think I would go the dedicated route if I did anything...although with some more info, fartingdog might be onto something.

good points, I have a 2L plastic bottle that I made root beer in once, and it will always smell of root beer. Maybe with the soda water + syrup you could use a pump bottle to dspense the soda syrup, figure a good ratio, like one pump per pint etc.
The syrups I use are not sweetened so I'd have to mix them with simple syrup, honey, agave nectar, etc.

cabot said:

fartingdog, when do you mix then? Do you just put some syrup in a glass, then pour the seltzer water ontop of it??

tommyboy I've heard something similar, I think I would go the dedicated route if I did anything...although with some more info, fartingdog might be onto something.

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Exactly. If it's not quite to your liking, you can always adjust post pour. My bro's GF's urchin was hitting the rootbeer at almost a 50-50 mix! He had a little too much energy after that… Kids love being able to 'make' their own soda, fountain style. We have about 7 different syrups on hand, and they're a big hit.

For my soda water, I actually add a couple tsp of Burton salts in the keg of filtered tap water- gives it more of a 'mineral water' quality for straight drinking, and I think it brings out the flavor of sodas (and scotch) a little better.

Fartingdog thanks man, I think thats a great route to take...at least for now, as I can run carbonated water through my taps no problem. You still carbonate the water upwards of 20-25 psi correct?

cabot said:

Fartingdog thanks man, I think thats a great route to take...at least for now, as I can run carbonated water through my taps no problem. You still carbonate the water upwards of 20-25 psi correct?

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Actually I carbonate at 12 PSI since the main purpose for me is to use with my scotch and for regular drinking, the soda is really for the SO and guests - they seem to enjoy the carbonation level. I also have 2 kegs in rotation so there's never a downtime - I do love my scotch, the second one is carbonated at a higher psi at room temp, so I still get my ~2.5 vols. But I'd say if dedicating for mostly soda, and you have the extra reg, you could go higher. You could try it at 12 or so and see how you like it, and ratchet it up til you find the sweet spot.

Great! I can't wait to try it. Gotta order some syrups.

cabot said:

Great! I can't wait to try it. Gotta order some syrups.

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Glad to be able to help! I just remembered, Northern Brewer carries the Sprecher syrups- kind of pricey compared to Torani syrups, but it is a tasty rootbeer!