Alternative to "kegerators" and the like

A forum to discuss the various ways of getting beer into your glass.
Fil
Telling imaginary friend stories
Posts: 5229
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: Cowley, Oxford

Re: Alternative to "kegerators" and the like

Post by Fil » Thu Dec 21, 2017 5:13 pm

That set up looks VERY familiar..

what i started with..
Image

and how it ended up.. (i had 15mm on each side to fit cladding and insulation, 10mm stand off batons 3mm marine ply, and bubblewrap/mylar diy composite layer insulation ) it didnt help being quite windy when insulating.. (back wall, floor, and ceiling have 50mm polystyrene layers..)
Image

Im having a 'cant see wood for the trees' moment this end.. So forgive me asking but rather than run a shelf chiller 24/7 and maintain cold kegs wouldnt it be easier to simply use the chiller as intended? I have found that for my needs a maxi 310 hold sufficient cold in its waterbath at 0C without any ice wall as im never serving at a city pub rush hour (consecutive pints) rate.. So it only takes 30 minutes or so to chill down the waterbath ready to serve an evenings pint or 4..

If your under the stairs position is closed in i would keep a very close eye on things, I have found that if i run my chiller mid summer with the door closed on the beer cellar (ex coalshed/ washing machine cupboard) it can raise the internal temp to 40C in no time at all due to the chillers heat exhaust.
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

Fil
Telling imaginary friend stories
Posts: 5229
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: Cowley, Oxford

Re: Alternative to "kegerators" and the like

Post by Fil » Thu Dec 21, 2017 5:13 pm

That set up looks VERY familiar..

what i started with..
Image

and how it ended up.. (i had 15mm on each side to fit cladding and insulation, 10mm stand off batons 3mm marine ply, and bubblewrap/mylar diy composite layer insulation ) it didnt help being quite windy when insulating.. (back wall, floor, and ceiling have 50mm polystyrene layers..)
Image

Im having a 'cant see wood for the trees' moment this end.. So forgive me asking but rather than run a shelf chiller 24/7 and maintain cold kegs wouldnt it be easier to simply use the chiller as intended? I have found that for my needs a maxi 310 hold sufficient cold in its waterbath at 0C without any ice wall as im never serving at a city pub rush hour (consecutive pints) rate.. So it only takes 30 minutes or so to chill down the waterbath ready to serve an evenings pint or 4..

If your under the stairs position is closed in i would keep a very close eye on things, I have found that if i run my chiller mid summer with the door closed on the beer cellar (ex coalshed/ washing machine cupboard) it can raise the internal temp to 40C in no time at all due to the chillers heat exhaust.
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

User avatar
PeeBee
Under the Table
Posts: 1575
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:50 pm
Location: North Wales

Re: Alternative to "kegerators" and the like

Post by PeeBee » Thu Dec 21, 2017 6:06 pm

Fil wrote:
Thu Dec 21, 2017 5:13 pm
That set up looks VERY familiar. ...
Is that the coalshed? My brewery replaced the downstairs loo, so I got plenty of experience packing things in a tight place. The "bar" is open in a room (the "pub room") just cramped under the stairs.

Tried running the chiller "as intended" but it wasn't very flexible temperature-wise (although I did fit variable "shunts" so I could adjust the temperature) and no use for four or five beers when the chiller only has two "product coils". But the big issue was most of my beer is served at "cellar temperature" (13-14C and through hand pumps). Hence I choose to run the chiller at regular intervals for short periods and rely on the insulation to maintain temperature (certainly not 24/7, more like (6x1/4)/7 ).

Here it is, very much "work-in-progress" as is the "pub room" behind (as is the rest of downstairs!).
20171221_164250.jpg
Last edited by PeeBee on Fri Dec 22, 2017 12:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Cask-conditioned style ale out of a keg/Cornie (the "treatise"): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzEv5 ... rDKRMjcO1g
Water report demystified (the "Defuddler"; removes the nonsense!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Fil
Telling imaginary friend stories
Posts: 5229
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: Cowley, Oxford

Re: Alternative to "kegerators" and the like

Post by Fil » Thu Dec 21, 2017 6:34 pm

Ahh! makes perfect sense.. and looking very good..
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

Post Reply