Tap on bar - how to keep beer cold

[wheadman66]

I recently got the "Green Light" and purchased a used kegerator and will be brewing ASAP. I have ordered the soda kegs and all parts neccesary to get a second tap flowing and am getting an old brass tap off a buddy of mine to mount on my bar, on the other side of the wall from the kegerator. Right now, the commercial keg I have in there is tapped through the side of the fridge at 7 PSI and 37 degrees, pouring well.

My idea to feed the brass tap mounted on the bar is to use 2" PVC and drill the hole in the side of the fidge that is large enough for the PVC to go through that then put the (roughly 5 feet) of beer line between the keg and tap wrapped in a foam insulation used for hot water copper pipe. That large PVC with "insulated" tube will go from the kegerator, through the wall and side of the bar, 90 degrees straight up into the tap.

My concerns are:
1. Will the beer stay cold enough for that (roughly 3') run outside of the refridgerator?
2. Is there an easy way to keep air flowing into that PVC from the fridge?
3. When going from inside the fridge to outside, will that ruin the beer's "pourability"?
4. How close together are coils usually on the side of a refridgerator? Am I going to be able to fit the 2" hole between two? I am going to look for a repair schematic online for the frdige....

Any answers you may have from experience would help....

 

[Walker]

My concerns are:
1. Will the beer stay cold enough for that (roughly 3') run outside of the refridgerator?

No. It won't. I have a short tower on top of my kegerator, and the beer inside the lines up to the taps gets warm in just that short distance.

2. Is there an easy way to keep air flowing into that PVC from the fridge?

Use a small fan like you find in a PC and blow cold air into the tube.

3. When going from inside the fridge to outside, will that ruin the beer's "pourability"?

I am not sure I understand what you mean here, but if the beer gets warm in the line, the beer will pour with a lot of foam.

4. How close together are coils usually on the side of a refridgerator? Am I going to be able to fit the 2" hole between two? I am going to look for a repair schematic online for the frdige....

I don't know for certain, but I'm betting that they are closer together than 2". There is a trick people use where they take corn starch and alcohol and make a slurry. Then you smear that all over the fridge and watch it.

The fridge wall will be warmer near the coils, so the alcohol will evaporate faster in those areas, leaving a white powder of starch where the lines are.

HOWEVER, I think this probably only works if you are checking for lines on the TOP of the fridge, and not on the sides.

Do full-size fridges usually have cooling lines in the sides, or just on the back? (I have no idea.)

Any answers you may have from experience would help....[/quote]

 

[wheadman66]

Thanks for your response.

I am not sure I understand what you mean here, but if the beer gets warm in the line, the beer will pour with a lot of foam.

Yes, that is what I meant. I have seen that computer fan concept before and will plan on hooking that up.

I don't know for certain, but I'm betting that they are closer together than 2". There is a trick people use where they take corn starch and alcohol and make a slurry. Then you smear that all over the fridge and watch it.

The fridge wall will be warmer near the coils, so the alcohol will evaporate faster in those areas, leaving a white powder of starch where the lines are.

HOWEVER, I think this probably only works if you are checking for lines on the TOP of the fridge, and not on the sides.

I have seen this looking around and will try this even if it will not work on the vertical surface.....for alcohol, you are referring to something like rubbing alcohol, right?

Do full-size fridges usually have cooling lines in the sides, or just on the back? (I have no idea.)

I just found the schematic and it looks like I may be in the clear to drill on either side of the fridge. I am not sure though.

 

[Walker]

I have seen this looking around and will try this even if it will not work on the vertical surface.....for alcohol, you are referring to something like rubbing alcohol, right?

Yup.........

 

[bendavanza]

Every fridge is different. Realize that if you hit a line your fridge becomes junk. Some have nothing in the side walls. You will need to blow cold air to the faucets, and have a return path for the air, in other words, a blower pushing air through a smaller tube within your 2" tube all the way to the faucets, and then the air returns back through the larger tube, without this, the air will not make the distance.

 

[Elfmaze]

Now here is an expantion. The beer will get a bit warm. And that first pour will have lots of foam. BUT if you tap a little bit. Let it cool down and then pour you'r epint it works fine. NOW the question is can the beer in the warm section go bad between pours?

 

[walther]

I have placed one of these in my fridge, with a loop up and down along the beerlines: http://www.xs-pc.co.uk/baypump.php

When the fridge is 5 degrees, the beer line temperature is 8-9 degrees. (depends on insulation).

/walther