Drip Tray - to drain or not to drain?

[microbusbrewery]

My old keezer died and I'm planning out my new one. I had the 19" drip tray from Update International on the old keezer, and I'd just swab it out on the rare occasions there were spills. The original drip tray isn't long enough for my new tower, so I have to get a new one regardless. So, just trying to decide if I want one with a drain. I thought a drain would be nice, but the more I think about it, it doesn't seem all that necessary and seems like it would be a good place for fruit flies, bacteria, mold, etc. to collect. So, for those that have drains in your drip trays, do you like them or regret them?

 

[IslandLizard]

I thought a drain would be nice, but the more I think about it, it doesn't seem all that necessary and seems like it would be a good place for fruit flies, bacteria, mold, etc. to collect.

You answered your own question. In a commercial bar it makes sense, but for those 2-3 pours a day, you create a lot of extra work and trouble for yourself. That drain hose gets yucky!

 

[rdavidw]

My old setup had a single three tap tower with a drip tray with no drain. It was in the garage so if a tap leaked or some idiot pored off the foam along with half the beer it was not a big deal. I could also just throw the drip tray in the dishwasher.

My new set up is a pair of three tap towers in a finished basement bar. I have a drain line in this 24" drip tray that runs through the wall to a floor drain in the unfinished area. So far I prefer having the drain. When I run cleaner through the tap lines I just let it run through the drip tray and clean that line also. It's easy to clean in place by just wiping it out and pouring some hot water in it. The drain gives me peace of mind that there is little chance I will end up with five gallons of beer on my floor. Leaky taps don't happen that often but sometimes people don't close it all the way and walk away.

If you are the only one using it and it's in a unfinished area I would go with no drain.

 

[day_trippr]

I have a surface mount tray, 18x4" I think (not home at the moment), with a 1/2" drain that ends up in a catch jug sitting on the floor inside the keezer. Never had bugs or smells from it, but then again I'm rather fastidious wrt keeping things in the brew space clean...

Cheers!

 

[kh54s10]

If I could, I would like a rig as described by rdavidw. I would want it to go directly to a sink/floor drain. Preferably I would have some kind of faucet for fresh water so that I could just open the faucet to rinse out the drip tray.

 

[Blazinlow86]

It depends on how much stuff was getting in your drip tray I guess. I honestly only clean mine every few months and theres probably only a few mm of dried liquid when I do. That being said I don't dump stuff in there and my system is well balanced so I don't get excess foam spilling. It's just a single drip when I'm impatient. Cheers

 

[microbusbrewery]

It depends on how much stuff was getting in your drip tray I guess. I honestly only clean mine every few months and theres probably only a few mm of dried liquid when I do. That being said I don't dump stuff in there and my system is well balanced so I don't get excess foam spilling. It's just a single drip when I'm impatient. Cheers

Yeah, the only times where I ended up with a lot in the drip tray was when a couple different friends were pouring their own, and didn't know what they were doing...pouring with the faucet halfway open, then wondering why their glass was half full of foam, and continuing to pour to try to get rid of all the foam. That's usually remedied by a quick "Hey! What are you doing?!?! Open it all the way!"

 

[microbusbrewery]

Ok, so I think I'm going to go the more basic route and go sans drain. Hopefully I'll have some pics to post soon showing the finished results.

 

[rdavidw]

Here is mine with the drain:
View media item 70214View media item 70158View media item 70150

 

[HiImBrian]

I've rocked my keezer and drip dray with no drain for over 5 years. I feel that it's kind of just one more thing to clean, however, that depends on your setup as well. I think I originally attached mine with velcro so that I could remove it and rinse in the sink, but I've always just wiped it out in place easily.

 

[mongoose33]

Unless you have a way to drain it so it doesn't detract from looks, and can easily flush it...maybe.

Mine doesn't have a drain because...well, it would just look like crap. I think it depends on whether you have a way to drain without the line being visible.

Every once in a while I'll clean it out, and I've found a way to really make it convenient: I'll usually put paper towels on top of it to catch the drips. If I have company over I'll remove the paper towel, and no cleaning!

Here's what that looks like on my old keezer (RIP):

The new keezer; having a drain line in front would really look bad, IMO:

 

[rdavidw]

Semi-random rant: Bartenders are the worst offenders for wasting beer. Drives me nuts. We entertain often and sometimes hire a bartender. There seems to be a direct correlation between how attractive they are and how much beer they pour down the drain. I meet the last bartender and my first thought was, wow, she is cute. My second thought was I hope she doesn't dump all of my beer. I gave her a prep talk about how this was home brew and a little head is ok . . . Sure enough every pour was with a tilted glass and she wouldn't even look at the pour, just smile at the person waiting for the beer. After about 24oz poured into a 16oz glass she would cut it off. The beer was never foamy. I reminded her but nothing changed. Won't be using her again.

 

[Mic Carp]

I’m planning a new keezer build currently and plan on a side door with a hidden bucket and drain line. I plan on just using simple transfer tubing
It should be easy enough to keep it clean and if i get lazy it’s cheap enough to replace the tubing. The plan is to make it easy enough to take apart that I don’t allow it to get gross

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I dont see how a drain makes any sense.
You only get a drip or 2 in the tray that dries up long before it collects enough to drain. Unless your a really sloppy beer pourer.

I just walk mine over to the sink when it gets funky and soak it it hot water. A drain seems like extreme overkill

 

[day_trippr]

"extreme overkill"? Really?

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

"extreme overkill"? Really?

maybe not extreme LOL
I'll rephrase: seems completely unneeded

It seem like more of a hindrance than its worth with the tube when its time to clean it.

 

[Mic Carp]

maybe not extreme LOL
I'll rephrase: seems completely unneeded

It seem like more of a hindrance than its worth with the tube when its time to clean it.

Maybe a little overkill but my faucets drip like crazy after each pour. Plus if any of my knuckle head friends spill it’s contained

I see no issues with having a bucket. My current setup is a tower and it’s always a mess under the taps. And in those cases when a new kegs is a little excited it will keep things a little cleaner for The little woman.

 

[rdavidw]

Everyone's setup is different. If your setup is for just you and yours and you only have a tap or two and if one of those taps leak on your setup it is in a place where its not going to ruin anything . . . then yes, there is no reason to have a drip tray line.

Back when I was a kid working a summer construction job my boss had a kegarator in his finished basement. Had me over and then yelled at me the next day that I did not close the tap all of the way. Said they had to rip out all of their carpet and some of the drywall the beer leaked into. Felt super bad about it.

I have had a tap or two since the 90s and my current setup has six taps. Two nitro taps and four Perlick 630SS. About five years back on my old setup I had a tap drip when we were out of town and came back to a sticky mess on my garage floor. Not a big deal in a unfinished room.

Taps can leak.

 

[rdavidw]

Ok I am going to super nerd out. Had a poker game on Friday and on Saturday morning my keg of apple wine was kicked as was my 20lb tank of CO2. The tank was half full and the keg only had about a half gallon in it. The tap that leaked was new. I took apart all six of my taps and greases them up with keg O-ring seal.

For the nerd out part - I ordered six 1/2" solenoid valves and a Samsung Smart Things Plug. I will splice a tee in the drip tray drain line and run a wire from that to my smart home hub. As soon as liquid hits the wire in the drip tray line the six solenoid valves will close, turning off the taps. It will then have to be manually turned back on at the Smart Things plug.

Should be about $150ish in parts and will take me about an hour to set up. The ROI is not there as a full keg is only about $40 in ingredients and the CO2 is only $30. Would need to stop two or three leaks to break even, without considering my time value, which is somewhere between zero and a grand per hour.

 

[mongoose33]

Ok I am going to super nerd out. Had a poker game on Friday and on Saturday morning my keg of apple wine was kicked as was my 20lb tank of CO2. The tank was half full and the keg only had about a half gallon in it. The tap that leaked was new. I took apart all six of my taps and greases them up with keg O-ring seal.

For the nerd out part - I ordered six 1/2" solenoid valves and a Samsung Smart Things Plug. I will splice a tee in the drip tray drain line and run a wire from that to my smart home hub. As soon as liquid hits the wire in the drip tray line the six solenoid valves will close, turning off the taps. It will then have to be manually turned back on at the Smart Things plug.

Should be about $150ish in parts and will take me about an hour to set up. The ROI is not there as a full keg is only about $40 in ingredients and the CO2 is only $30. Would need to stop two or three leaks to break even, without considering my time value, which is somewhere between zero and a grand per hour.

I'm torn between "liking" your post....or sending you help.

 

[rdavidw]

I'm torn between "liking" this post....or sending you help.

you can do both

 

[augiedoggy]

Semi-random rant: Bartenders are the worst offenders for wasting beer. Drives me nuts. We entertain often and sometimes hire a bartender. There seems to be a direct correlation between how attractive they are and how much beer they pour down the drain. I meet the last bartender and my first thought was, wow, she is cute. My second thought was I hope she doesn't dump all of my beer. I gave her a prep talk about how this was home brew and a little head is ok . . . Sure enough every pour was with a tilted glass and she wouldn't even look at the pour, just smile at the person waiting for the beer. After about 24oz poured into a 16oz glass she would cut it off. The beer was never foamy. I reminded her but nothing changed. Won't be using her again.

at the brewery we have our drip tray drain into a 5 gallon pale just so I can keep tabs on how much beer is wasted... You can definitely tell who has been bartending my looking at the pale..