Running lines to outside bar

[ztexz]

After Furious negotiation where he conceded far too much, my mate got his wife to agree to let him set up a Kegerator in the garage and run lines up to their deck above, where we can build a little box with a tower.

We have an extremely limited budget for this. We're going to make a Kegerator out of an old fridge and have two kegs. My two concerns at this point are:

1) Will a standard setup have enough pressure in the lines to push the beer through to the tap? I don't want to have to put so much pressure that all we get is foam

2) having the beer not warm up significantly as it goes through the line. My solution to this would be to wrap the lines in insulation like you see on freon lines. Won't be perfect, but I think it would get the job done.

We are looking at a horizontal distance of about 10 feet and a vertical distance of about 25 feet. My guess is we are looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-40 feet of line in total (x2).

Any thoughts? Other concerns? Is this a bad idea?

 

[brewswithshoes]

My 2 cents as I have a similar setup. Pressure to push the beer will not be a problem, my run is not quite as long as what you are quoting, but i have no issues with the approximate 20 feet that mine goes. Your issue is going to be cooling the beer in those lines out to the tap.

I have a kegerator in the garage, that runs the lines thru a 3 inch PVC pipe up to a box in the wall that houses 4 taps on the inside wall of my brewery in the house. I did buy a motorized fan that pushes keezer air up the tube into the box (that is insulated quite well) There is no fan in the box to push the air down the return tube. It's not a perfect setup but it does help to keep the foaming down.

I've conceded with this setup to "waste" a small pour to clear the line before each full pint I pull to have an in the house setup. If you are OK with losing a bit of beer on the initial pours to get the lines going you'll be fine with the setup your proposing.

Given your distance i think the only way you can truly keep the lines cool would be a long draw glycol setup unfortunately. Good luck with whatever way you go.

 

[IslandLizard]

We are looking at a horizontal distance of about 10 feet and a vertical distance of about 25 feet. My guess is we are looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-40 feet of line in total (x2).

For that distance you'll need 2 glycol chilling lines (one going out and one return) in a well insulated bundle.

Aside from the extra equipment needed, long lines, insulation, and operating cost which will add up over time to be quite significant, even if turned on only an hour before intended use and off when done.

Is it really too inconvenient to just walk to the kegerator in the garage, tap a pint and walk back?

After Furious negotiation...

Or back to the negotiation table and put the kegerator on the deck. It can be concealed with just the taps being accessible. They can be concealed or covered up if need be.

That's the simplest, most straightforward solution, and given your limited budget, the most economical.

 

[BrewingAroundtheRrealm]

What you are looking to do is done in commercial applications all the time. Serve beer to remote bars around the building from a single location. That is usually cost prohibitive for home brewers. The line bundle alone can start at $10/ft.

Take a look at this: https://skrilnetz.net/how-to-build-a-long-draw-beer-dispensing-system/

In that case he built his own chiller system. And built his own tube/line bundle that was well insulated.

Your other issue is that you need to calculate the amount of beer that is going to be outside the keg/refrigerator. If my math is right, using 1/4" beer line, over 40 feet, the amount of beer in the line at all times is .4 gallons. Changing the line to 5/16" is .64 gallons. That is a lot of beer to keep cold when it's not in a refrigerator..

Best of luck. Keep us posted if you move forward.