Beer Line Cooling

[MikeZ]

Hi All, I haven't been able to find any threads on beer line cooling as it seems most folks dispense right from the top of a keezer or fridge and there isn't too much need to cool the lines in that setup.

I will be setting up a keezer in the basement of my building and running about 20' or so of line. I was planning on having the lines leave the keezer shielded by a PVC sleeve and run them up through the walls. At the top of the PVC stack (behind/near the dispensing point) I was thinking about putting a T and having the lines come out one opening and a small exhause fan in the other to draw cold air up from the keezer to keep the lines cool - possible hooked up to a thermostat.

Anyone see any issues with that setup? Is there a better way to do this such as a tank of glycol in the keezer with a line running up and back down with a recirculating pump?

Appreciate any input.

Thanks
Mike

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

The tank of glycol sounds like the best bet. Check out micromatic for beer lines. They have some pretty nice insulated stuff that would probably do the trick without any fancy gadgets to keep things cool.

 

[mattjmac]

I think constantly drawing cold air up through your stack would cause the freezer compressor to run all the time. This would kill your freezer pretty quickly.

I've heard of people just putting a corny keg of glycol (or even just water; RV winter antifreeze works, too) inside the keezer and circulating water through a line wrapped around the beer lines. So, refrigerant goes up from the "out" valve, up through your stack, and then back down and into the corny through the "in" valve. Good luck.

 

[wyzazz]

Tub of Glycol, a pump, and an insulated Multi-Beverage Line is what you need. The fan won't work nearly as well.

 

[Jipper]

On commercial runs of 25 feet or less, they use a blower system like what you are talking about, but there is some math involved as to how large of a pipe you will need and how much air the blower will move at one time. I think it's like a 4 inch diameter pipe that the lines run through. If you are just using a freezer, I would not suggest the blower route, though it may work, mainly because of the small chamber you have to draw the air from. You could also do your set up and then run the beer through a cold plate before it hits the faucet.

The best draft set up is always a direct draw (right from the kegerator). Then glycol, then the blower unit.