Home handpull dispense practices

[Benjy Edwards]

So I was curious as to what the common practices are for those using handpumps. As many of us do, I serve my homebrew in kegs both via co2 pressure and by Angram beer engine. What do you do when using your handpump? To start off, I'll say what I do:

I keep the handpump full of cleaning solution when not in use (diluted BLC, Brewery Line Cleaner). When I intend to have a session of at least a few pints, I will pump half a gallon of water through the pump from a bucket, then hook up the corny disconnect to a keg of naturally carbonated beer (I sometimes use real casks, but I find the corny kegs are more convenient as the seal to the cask breather better, but most importantly, take up much less space in my kegerator). I'll pull off as many pints throughout the evening as I want, then before going to bed, I pump half a gallon of hot water through the engine from a bucket, followed by half a gallon of hot dilute BLC, which sits in the cylinder until the next time I use it.

Is this common? Has someone found a better way? I presume that nobody just lets the beer sit in the engine for a day or more? Thanks!

[joe1002]

I presume that nobody just lets the beer sit in the engine for a day or more? Thanks!

Errrr........

This is one reason why I have not used my beer engines recently. I'm not drinking as much at home and the beer goes stale in the cylinder therefore I end up wasting some.

With the way I have my setup is it a lot of faff to run water (or anything else) through the BE before and after using them.

[rpt]

I let beer sit in my beer engine. It's in my garage and for most of the year is cool. On a Friday I'll pull half a pint and possibly dispose of it. For the rest of the weekend it's just fine. In hot weather this doesn't work so well but then I'm probably drinking from the fridge.

[Jim]

I use a cask breather. However, between sessions I re-gas the cask up to about 8psi to preserve the carbonation and vent it again before the next session (at which point I connect the breather).

I don't bother draining the beer engine each time - too much work at a time when I'm likely to be fairly well oiled so I have to write off between 1/2 and 1 pint each session. I think it's worth it, as there's no other way of getting that unique cask experience at home.

[Brighteyebeer]

I have a non-return valve with a 3/8 stem. I connect the beer line to shut-off valve that's on that stem. When I'm not actually drawing beer, I close the shut-off valve - usually before I finish filling the glass, to empty the cylinder. This maintains pressure in the beer lines up to that valve. Next time I want to pull a pint, I draw-off maybe 1/4 pint of flat beer, that's been sitting between the shut-off valve and the BE, so the 1st (and subsequent) pints are in good condition. Like this one

[BackO'Th'Shed]

I have tried a few different dispense methods with my handpull and corny keg setup. I recently got a bottle of 70/30 mix beer gas for my new Nitro tap and decided to try this with my hand pull as well. I set at 12 psi for both force carbing and serving (the same pressure that I use with 100% CO2 for most beers served through my taps, but with the intention of resulting in a lower carbonated beer due to the lower CO2 content) and find the carbonation is just right for both Nitro and handpull. I use a check valve to prevent the pressure pushing the beer through the hand pull and the setup seems to be working great so far. I have previously tried naturally carbonating in the keg and venting before use to try to replicate cask and also tried force carbonating with 100% CO2. I think the 70/30 gas seems to strikes a good balance for me if I know the keg won't be emptied in one sitting as I had to disconnect the CO2 and vent due to my tap beers taking priority, whereas, I can just set the mix gas and leave it. I haven't compared the same beer across the different methods so can't comment on which gives the better tasting beer.

[Benjy Edwards]

Like Jim, I too use a cask breather, so intermittent use of the engine is not a problem from a beer spoilage perspective. I was very interested to hear from those who keep beer in the cylinder between uses as opposed who clean the engine between uses. For further elaboration, for those who keep beer in the cylinder, do you not see a problem with mold growth or bacterial contamination? My concern for that is the reason I store my engines with cleaning solution when not in use.

Is anyone using a cooling jacket on their handpump? One of my Angram units has the glycol jacket and lines attached, but I have never used it because I don't have a glycol system. I've thought about keeping a bucket of water in the chest freezer where I keep the kegs and casks, then running a pond pump to recirculate the water through the jacket, but I've never gone to the trouble to create such a setup.

[orlando]

It would be very interesting to see some pictures that these descriptions are trying to convey as it will be easier to follow the techniques involved. Any chance?

[Brighteyebeer]

Hi Orlando
Pic as requested:


Afraid it's a bit distant (and out of date - PB on bar replaced with a keg to make room on the bar for a tap )

My previous post refers to a non-return valve (NRV), which is attached to the wall. The shut-off valve I mention is attached to the front of it - the NRV has a 3/8 stem. Beer line coming in from the cooling pod connected to the other side of the shut-off valve. When closed just before I finish pulling beer through, the shut-off valve isolates the system from the NRV to the hand pump. This leaves very little beer to stand in the pipes unpressurised. Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Chris

[FUBAR]

I use budget type PB's connected up to my BE, do give it a squirt of gas after tightening the cap back up after a session . Can comfortably get it to keep in good drinkable standard for 3 weeks or so,although I do favour lower gravity session Ales that will by nature be consumed more rapidly . Also dump around a half pint at the start of each session, do think its a price well worth paying to be able to drink beer in a way that no other method of serving can match