Hi all,
has anyone built a hand-pull kegerator fridge?
I'm thinking of getting a second-hand fridge and adding a thermostat to ensure the Ale stays around cellar temperature. However, I want to use a Angram hand-pull system rather than use C02 to dispense the beer. Having said that, does a C02 set-up change the flavour of the ale?
Would Cornie Kegs be the answer here? I'm a little worried that 19 litres of beer might go off before I sup it all. Are there any smaller alternatives out there that will do the job also? I have looked at the brewferm mini kegs, but wonder of they could be adapted for the job.
Finally, I suppose you'd need a breather system for any keg you'd use, if you hand pulled it.
I'd be interested to see if anyone else has got such a system up and running and what the results are.
Real Ale Hand Pull Fridge
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Kev888
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Re: Real Ale Hand Pull Fridge
Hi,
yes quite a few people have done this sort of thing - in fact theres a recent thread here you may be interested in too. I'm no expert but I believe you can use beer engines without CO2 but also with it, if you incorporate some sort of demand valve so that beer only flows when the engine asks for it.
CO2 does change the taste of beer, definately - flatter beer can taste very different to carbonated beer. Personally I wouldn't say there was a very great difference in taste between CO2 from priming or from force carbonation, though there does seem to be a difference in the texture of the bubbles, if that makes sense, and some people do have a preference for one or the other. But using CO2 just to push the beer out or replace oxygen in the head-space makes no difference whatsoever as far as I personally can tell, except to preserve the beer a bit longer by reducing the rate of oxidation.
The main reason for me going to cornies was to preserve beer whilst dispensing; I don't drink it fast enough from gas-permeable plastic casks or PBs for it to be in good condition after about half way through. They work, although at the price of more complication and effort to sort initially. There are those who do use cornies without gas too, but aside from that partly defeating my particular objectives by letting in oxygen I wouldn't have the patience; they're pretty much designed to work and seal with pressure.
You can get smaller cornies, though they aren't much cheaper than full-sized ones and I find there's no need unless i want to take them places; the first pint and the last from a normal sized corny tend to taste about the same in any case.
Cheers
Kev
yes quite a few people have done this sort of thing - in fact theres a recent thread here you may be interested in too. I'm no expert but I believe you can use beer engines without CO2 but also with it, if you incorporate some sort of demand valve so that beer only flows when the engine asks for it.
CO2 does change the taste of beer, definately - flatter beer can taste very different to carbonated beer. Personally I wouldn't say there was a very great difference in taste between CO2 from priming or from force carbonation, though there does seem to be a difference in the texture of the bubbles, if that makes sense, and some people do have a preference for one or the other. But using CO2 just to push the beer out or replace oxygen in the head-space makes no difference whatsoever as far as I personally can tell, except to preserve the beer a bit longer by reducing the rate of oxidation.
The main reason for me going to cornies was to preserve beer whilst dispensing; I don't drink it fast enough from gas-permeable plastic casks or PBs for it to be in good condition after about half way through. They work, although at the price of more complication and effort to sort initially. There are those who do use cornies without gas too, but aside from that partly defeating my particular objectives by letting in oxygen I wouldn't have the patience; they're pretty much designed to work and seal with pressure.
You can get smaller cornies, though they aren't much cheaper than full-sized ones and I find there's no need unless i want to take them places; the first pint and the last from a normal sized corny tend to taste about the same in any case.
Cheers
Kev
Kev
Re: Real Ale Hand Pull Fridge
Cheers Kev888,
The advice and the link are perfect! I'm off to replicate it
The advice and the link are perfect! I'm off to replicate it
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ChuckE
Re: Real Ale Hand Pull Fridge
If you already have a Cornie keg set up, adding cask ale is pretty easy.
1) OUT FROM THE KEG-Tie the keg out to your hand pump.
2) IN TO THE KEG- Since you're concerned about 19 litres going off before you can drink it, you need to keep a blanket of CO2 on the beer. You need to put a cask breather between the CO2 supply and the Cornie IN post. You can buy an off-the shelf cask breather, or, if you're a cheap bastard like me, improvise one from a Low Pressure LPG Regulator.
BTW, if you're having a gathering where you don't need to keep a CO2 blanket on the beer, disconnect the Cornie IN and open the valve.
I don't have a hand pump and they're expensive here in the US (I've mentioned that I'm a cheap bastard, right?) so I've improvised a cube-gravity pour set up, shown below. There is a spigot added to the bottom of a 10 liter cube. The cap is drilled, a bushing is added to receive a female quick connect. The male quick connect goes to the improvised cask breather, which goes to the CO2 source.
There are a couple of limitation with this system. First, you have to disassemble the cube/spigot at each use to clean. It's a PITA. Second, the cube/spigot will not take excessive pressure so you need to monitor the rate of swell after you rack your beer. A little is fine. Too much and you need to bleed off some CO2. Otherwise you risk an explosion.
1) OUT FROM THE KEG-Tie the keg out to your hand pump.
2) IN TO THE KEG- Since you're concerned about 19 litres going off before you can drink it, you need to keep a blanket of CO2 on the beer. You need to put a cask breather between the CO2 supply and the Cornie IN post. You can buy an off-the shelf cask breather, or, if you're a cheap bastard like me, improvise one from a Low Pressure LPG Regulator.
BTW, if you're having a gathering where you don't need to keep a CO2 blanket on the beer, disconnect the Cornie IN and open the valve.
I don't have a hand pump and they're expensive here in the US (I've mentioned that I'm a cheap bastard, right?) so I've improvised a cube-gravity pour set up, shown below. There is a spigot added to the bottom of a 10 liter cube. The cap is drilled, a bushing is added to receive a female quick connect. The male quick connect goes to the improvised cask breather, which goes to the CO2 source.
There are a couple of limitation with this system. First, you have to disassemble the cube/spigot at each use to clean. It's a PITA. Second, the cube/spigot will not take excessive pressure so you need to monitor the rate of swell after you rack your beer. A little is fine. Too much and you need to bleed off some CO2. Otherwise you risk an explosion.