Keezer build with Beer Engine

[homebrewdude76]

Hello!
I am working on building my Keezer with a side mounted beer engine.
I have the externals complete, now I am working on the plumbing.

Not sure how to post photos, I have some I can share.

My first question is the one way valve for the beer engine.
It has John Guest fittings on it.
And it will connect direct to the 3/8" stainless tube on the beer engine.
Is this normal? Or do I extend some hose from it first?

[Fil]

pop your pics into an online/cloud album like flickr or photobucket.. whatever you use it will have a 'share' feature, use that with the BBcode option to provide you with a link you can copy and paste into a post here

the one way valve should be fine on the ss tube, a JG bod will try n convince you to use the special ss tube fittings called superseal iirc but not many do

*edit you also need a minimum post count of 5 iirc to be able to post pics so give us mre details first

[homebrewdude76]

Keezer is a standard chest freezer on wheels.
I skinned it on oak.
The top is oak

The side stand is hollow and oak.
This is the beer engine mount and storage for CO2 tank.

[homebrewdude76]

The tap tower has two taps.
I bought off ebay and maybe Italian or German?
It is not something typical in the USA.

[homebrewdude76]

The beer engine is Angram.
Not sure the size, but it does have liquid cooled option.

I am wondering if I need to liquid cool.

I might plumb water lines to cool tower and engine.

[homebrewdude76]

The two taps will be normal Co2 carbonation.
The keg for the beer engine will be back fed with Co2.
I see on the USA people use a propane regulator for this.

[homebrewdude76]

Photo of my connections from engine to keg.
I was going to use bev ultra tubing 5/16.

Valve is direct to engine on stainless tube.
3/8 to 5/16 stem in valve
5/16 line to adapter and keg connection.

[homebrewdude76]

[Fil]

Wow quite a build, well done !!

a small water feature pump sat in a container of a few litres of water in the fridge kept at the optimum beer temp could recirculate through the beerengine cooling jacket, otherwise the first couple of pints through of a session may be a tad warmer than optimum.

now are you going to pull a proper pint? or stick a northern sparkler on the spout so you can waste an inch or so of beerspace on foam and serve a short pint hehe..

[homebrewdude76]

This is my controller for temp.
The switch is for the other outlet.
I was thinking a fan for the tower and water circuit for the engine.
But I have some small thin wall copper water pipe.
I think I might make the tower and engine on the same water circuit.

[Fil]

While the cooling jacket on the angram engine is purely functional in keeping the machine and its contained volume at an optimum temperature, the cooling feature of the font is mainly an aesthetic to create condensation on the outer body. the contents of the beer contained within the font is miniscule compared to the cylinder volume in an engine where upto half a pint can sit and isnt in need of active cooling.

What temperatures do you intend to serve at? you may find serving via the engine requires a temp too high for serving more highly conditioned keg served beers?

[orlando]

now are you going to pull a proper pint? or stick a northern sparkler on the spout so you can waste an inch or so of beerspace on foam and serve a short pint hehe..

See picture above. It has the Northern nonsense already attached. Mine hasn't.

[Fil]

So it has, Shame ... Even though i know they use bigger glasses up north, i still feel cheated when looking at a pint thats not full to the brim.. a bigger glass should be used to contain more beer not air

[homebrewdude76]

I suppose there will be times when the beer is not optimal temp. I think I used to run my old serving temp at 50F 10C

This is what is on the end of the Angram. I bought this used from UK.

[orlando]

Yep, that is the offending item. In all seriousness that is just a device for presenting a beer with a big frothy head and is something that divides opinion everywhere but particularly between the North and South of the UK. Try it with and without and whatever you prefer that's correct and don't let anybody tell you different, unless of course you prefer it with.

p.s. 10 c is too cold for an Ale to really allow the malt to shine, cold mutes the sweetness in the beer and accentuates hop bitterness. I must admit I do set my keezer closer to 10 in the summer as by the time I have got into the garden or back in front of the telly it has already warmed up a couple of degrees. Winter I set it closer to 14, arguably 12 is optimum.