Using extra corny keg to supply cold water to glass rinser

[JakeDog]

I’m rebuilding my keezer with a bigger chest freezer. At the same time, I want to install a larger drip tray that has a drain and an integrated glass rinser.

Considering that one of the purposes of the rinser is to chill the glass before pouring the beer (especially important in the summer as my keezer and glasses are outside on the patio), I’d like the rinse water to be cold. I’ve been brainstorming methods to provide cold water from an outdoor tap, and the best I’ve come up with is to have a corny keg in the keezer filled with water. I would attach the water supply to the gas-in post, and beer-out post connected to the rinser. Water pressure will provide the pressure — no CO2 needed.

My first concern would be that the water pressure could exceed the pressure relief valve’s capacity, but that could easily be overcome by using a pressure reducer before the gas-in post. Obviously, the corny keg is designed to be pressurized by gas, and therefore is designed to have some headspace at the top, and using pressurized water on the IN post would mean the vessel would be completely void if any headspace. But an airtight vessel should also be watertight, so I guess that’s not a major problem.

Another option I considered was to run the water through some kind of heat exchanger (think copper coil submerged into a bucket of water inside the keezer). However, I feel like the corny keg option is a bit more elegant and potentially less messy.

Does anyone have any thoughts regarding how my idea may (or may not) work as intended? Anyone have any better ideas?

 

[day_trippr]

I like the idea, and have been wrestling with implementing the same solution. There's a cold water pipe only a few feet away from my keezer - but it's within an unfinished storage space, and my sensibilities require any new line back to the keezer be behind the sheetrock with some type of bib behind the keezer to hook up to. It's on my to-do list, but these days I'm working off The Spousal Unit's list

While cornelius PRVs are often rated around 65 psi it's wise to consider they're crude devices and after who knows how many decades in use may not be all that accurate wrt popping off. A pressure reducer would be prudent if you're on a water system that can range above, say, 50 psi. My well pump is set to peak at 65 psi so for sure I'd go with a reducer when I finally get a round tuit...

The coil idea has potential but otoh if it's in a keezer there's the potential to freeze the skinny tubing. A keg of water has so much thermal mass unless you have an extraordinarily low Set Point it's more likely to ride through the deepest cold cycle than a coil...

Cheers!

 

[paulshe]

I use a setup like this for my portable server. I'd not worry about the water supply. Just fill the keg with water like it was beer, if you can split your c02 so you can push it at around 25 or so PSI. In a rinser capacity that five gallons is going to last a long time. Only cost is a little C02 and need to refill whenever it's empty. I usually only go thru about 2 gallons of water when serving 3 kegs at an event.

 

[day_trippr]

I could see that for a portable/temporary solution but I'm trying to avoid going the CO2 route for cost considerations - water will suck up CO2 just like beer. I had actually considered splitting my beergas to use as a pressure source but cost and cylinder capacity would be an issue there as well...

Cheers!

 

[paulshe]

i imagine the next best thing would be to run enough line in your keezer. I'm not even sure if you'd need to run copper or anything. Consider how often it would be used. As long as the the tube holds enough for like 2 blasts from the rinser. You'll likely have enough time between rinses for the water to cool. Could run it into a spool of water line in a small bucket of water? Just a thought to keep it simple. This way you skip the keg all together. smaller footprint and all.

 

[mongoose33]

I'm doing exactly that--using a small corny keg inside my keezer to supply water to the glass rinser. I'm feeding CO2 into it to provide pressure. I've found that with the diameter of my feed line, which is 3/16", a 20 psi pressure works pretty well.

If the source of water is outside the keezer and warm, then some sort of heat exchanger would be called for, probably a copper coil submerged in water would work best.

Here are pics of how I'm doing it.

 

[TallDan]

You don't need as much volume as a corny keg. My refrigerator has a cold water dispenser that just has a fairly small (less than one gallon) "tank" inline and it provides plenty of cold water for serving, which is much more volume than you would use for rinsing. My old refrigerator just had a coil of PEX tubing in it for the same purpose. Similarly, it was plenty of water for the purpose. 13 feet of 1/2" tubing will hold about a pint, which goes a long way when rinsing glasses.

 

[jrgtr42]

another thought would be to have the keg of water in there, but insead of gas to push it - or even water pressure, use air - just use a plain old bike tire pump and give it a few punps every so often.
I have a gas-in I keep an old frame pump on, and a dozen or so pumps give it enough juice to push most of the liquid I have in there out - when I'm rinsing or sanitizing - just water or star san, I don't use that method to push beer out.
The only problem with this method is you have to open the keezer to get to it - unless you rig up something like a foot-pedal pump, like the use on boats.
Something like this is what I have in mind: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/whal...ount-galley-foot-pump--P002509222?recordNum=1
It may be a bit spendy for what you want, but I'm sure there's other options around - maybe try ebay or something.

 

[SanPancho]

Get yourself a 20” water filter housing. Way smaller. Holds pressure. Filter, or dont.

Edit- on second thought use a filter, the least restrictive one they make, or the water in the canister may not circulate/flush completely.