Help me design a beer tower?

[John Beere]

I'm having a bar built and building a massive kegerator.. It will have 10 taps. I found a pretty decent tower on eBay but am considering building one myself. Maybe made out of cast iron swear pipe or something?n it would have to be rather large in diameter to service it, but might look really cool?

Anyone have any better ideas? Or done anything similar?

Thanks..

 

[slakwhere]

i found decent ones on ebay from q-equip (i think) but i'd love to see ideas on building. my personal recommendation for something that large is passthru (U shaped) with glycol running through it to ensure everything stays cold. you could probably get away with a MUCH bigger diameter and a fan, but that might start to get a little rediculous for the airflow needed to keep 6 tubes of beer per side cold.

 

[slakwhere]

service as you mentioned is a factor, so you need to be able to get the shanks out, change beer line, etc after install.

 

[John Beere]

I was thinking about something made sort of like this:

but with sewer pipe.

 

[slakwhere]

Hell. Yes.

flip open door in the back to service? or take apart the joints and wiggle in there with wrenches n such?

 

[John Beere]

well, it looks like this one has a joint right down the middle as well.. I bet I could get in there with some wrenches if anything went wrong.

 

[slakwhere]

link me to this sewer pipe you speak of...

what kind of diameter are you thinking? 4"?

 

[bad coffee]

You could go thick wall PVC, and then have it chromed.

 

[John Beere]

You could go thick wall PVC, and then have it chromed.

Hmm.. that would work? We have both a chrome shop and a powder coating shop here in town..

 

[bad coffee]

The only thing with chrome is you have to have the surface perfect. Powder coating might be better, but you'd have to hit the plastic with some kind of metal-based paint first.

Which might be better to just go with the black iron pipe.

B

 

[DevilsCreekBrewing]

Does it have to be a tower? Irish Coffin Boxes can be gorgeous.

 

[BrewBeemer]

The only thing with chrome is you have to have the surface perfect. Powder coating might be better, but you'd have to hit the plastic with some kind of metal-based paint first.

Which might be better to just go with the black iron pipe.

B

Powder coating requires 12 to 20 minutes in a oven depending on materal mass and thickness at 325*F to 375*F temp to flow, this is way beyond the 220*F temp turning PVC into a limp noodle.

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

If you ever have to change lines, access to the tailpieces in that pipe looks like it could really be a pain. +1 on the coffin box idea.

 

[DevilsCreekBrewing]

Powder coating requires 12 to 20 minutes in a oven depending on materal mass and thickness at 325*F to 375*F temp to flow, this is way beyond the 220*F temp turning PVC into a limp noodle.

I am not a painter, but I worked in paint removal for many years, and this is only mostly correct. There are UV curable powders that would work with PVC, as well as a few low temp thermoset powders. Both are quite expensive though. The only plastic I have seen powder coated was a polyamid, from a now defunct car part manufacturer not too far from me.

 

[JuanMoore]

I love my copper pass through tower. It would have cost me an arm and a leg if I had to buy the 3" copper though. I actually still have the small pass through tower made of abs that I was going to use before I found enough copper.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/keezer-soze-yet-another-keezer-build-164158/index4.html

 

[bendavanza]

If you can find a chrome shop that can handle plastic, PVC may be the way to go. I think they paint the plastic with a metal based paint for the plating to adhere to. I would want a access door in the back. Just messing with 3 shanks in a 3" tower is a whipping. Sewer pipe sounds heavy, if it's attached to a freezer lid.

 

[John Beere]

Thanks guys.. I will start calling around tomorrow. The more I think about it, the more I want it to be very retro / antique looking..

JuanMoore- your setup is awesome.. I might have to explore doing mine in copper too.

 

[BrewBeemer]

Chrome paint it looks like the real deal and you apply it yourself on any surface.

 

[John Beere]

I'm thinking I'm just going to have my cabinet man build me an Irish Coffin out of the same heart pine as my bar.. this might be the only chance to have one made from the same wood, in the same technique, etc. Plus after looking around, I just wasn't going to be happy with it made from the PVC parts I could find..

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I'd like to see one made out of a fire hydrant.

 

[nostalgia]

You may want to give a call over to ACU Metal Fab. They do great work and their prices are surprisingly reasonable.

I just bought a custom 8-tap tower from them.

As for the tubular ones, they usually have a removable panel that runs the entire bottom of it so you can get to the lines/shank nuts.

-Joe

 

[John Beere]

Thanks.. I'll email them now for a quote and see where it shakes out. Do you have a contact email address you could PM me? The email script on their website doesn't play nice with gMail..

 

[BrewBeemer]

This is cool by ACU for DIY types, nice of them to post this.
http://www.acumetalfab.com/drawings.html

 

[John Beere]

For anyone interested, check out post 301 in the following thread on what I went with..

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/deep-six-brewery-back-action-164889/index8.html#post2442130