Trunk line cooling

[Merkur]

I am building a home bar and will have six kegs feeding a homemade 'T' type tower and I have couple of questions.
1) The line length will be around 7-8' maximum. What is the best way to ensure cold non-foaming beer? Just insulate the lines well and keep them away from heat sources. Have a length of 1" hose and an inline fan that blows air to the top of the tower from the kegerator to keep the taps cool? Build a trunk line with a submersible pump and loop of hose in the center of the six beer lines? I am thinking a gallon or so of glycol in the kegerator, while not that efficient, would provide enough cooling.

2) What sources have readers found for 3" 'Black Iron' pipe to make up a serving tower? Any pictures of completed builds?

Paul

 

[day_trippr]

Before you make assumptions about line length make sure you're not setting yourself up for epic frustration.

Reference the only beer line length calculator worth using and plug in your particulars - and most importantly, beer line ID - and see what pops out. 7-8 feet of 3/16" ID beer line will not provide sufficient resistance for a good pour and you'll be dealing with excess foam forever, while the same length of, say, 4mm ID EVAbarrier tubing (highly recommended, btw) will result in rather slow pours.

There have been a number of cool black iron sculptures shown on HBT, I only wish there was a way to find them easier than resorting to a Google search, but that's probably the best it's gonna get...

Cheers!

 

[Merkur]

Thanks. I currently have a four keg setup with 5.5 feet of the 4mm EVA tubing and Duotight connections and it’s perfect. I am hoping I can get a similar pour with a six tap system but am concerned about the warming of the lines. With the existing traditional kegerator system, the lines and the back of the taps are kept cool by refrigerated air being blown up the tower. With the new setup and six taps, plus longer line lengths, I feel I need some sort of glycol system to chill the lines and cold air being blown on the back of the taps and inside the tower.

That may be an overkill but Is what my gut is telling me to ensure smooth pours. I already have a full glycol system to chill my fermenter but unfortunately it’s too far away from the bar to use, so I’m thinking of just chilling a one gallon container on the hump of the kegorator and pumping that through a barrier hose, PEX or copper to chill the lines on the way to the tower.

Paul

 

[Deadalus]

I found the prices pretty good at Steel Supply is Houston's best source for steel, iron, and aluminum.
Sort of backwards in that you have to look for pipe fittings>specific type of fitting > then choose malleable iron.

They have an interesting ornamental iron section too.

I need to finish assembling my lid then I will have some pics. I did my tower in 2" though so I don't know how the 3" prices are.