Hammering in beer lines with Cornie-Check Valve-Beer Engine

[tangoman]

F'get all ya chek valves and servin at presha,get ya sen a cask breeva,no hammerin or nockin, perfek pint evry time.This is pullin thru 30 inch of 3/8'' line from a keg in unda the bar frige.Serv it like a cask beer not fizzy keg stuff unda presha!

[Oggy' Bar]

F'get all ya chek valves and servin at presha,get ya sen a cask breeva,no hammerin or nockin, perfek pint evry time.This is pullin thru 30 inch of 3/8'' line from a keg in unda the bar frige.Serv it like a cask beer not fizzy keg stuff unda presha!

Just to put the record straight (and apologies for not having a video camera). This is a pint pulled on my temporarily (and badly) set up BE with a check v/v only..no breather....and No fizz..and no hammering.

Set pressure about 7-10psi.


3/16 from cornie to beer chiller.


3/8 from chiller to check v/v. (These tubes were set up in a hurry and not sized for any particular reason. I usually only use 3/16 for fonts not engines. Incidentaly, you can see the 2m of 1/2 line to the beer pump.... Naughty...but still gives no hammer.


Me beer pump....Just to show you the neat graphics


Ready for first pull.


First pull completed.


Second pull completed


After 3rd pull, I have this...Didn't keep pulling as I have no driptray under this particular engine.


The pulled pint, no visible gas and the foam will settle after a minute or so.


After 1 min Pint almost settled...no visible gas.


To be honest Jim...This set-up contradicts ALL the recommendations and was hastily put together one night when I ran out of available beer dispensers...but it doesn't Judder...You can make it judder if you wrench the handle as quick as you can, but pulled slowly..no problem.

I have had the judder/hammer in the past which was sorted by shortening the CV to BE pipe lenght to about 1 foot..But obviously this is not your problem. Only advice I can give is try everything until you find the solution...Then tell us

[BarnsleyBrewer]

That's never in your house, must be a boozer.... Wish I was local and ur best buddy!

John

[DEV]

Hi Jim
I was told a few years back, when watching someone doing a service on a beer engine
down at my local, that the line from the engine to the check valve has to be about 12"
to allow engine and check valve to work together properley.
So thats how I have all mine, the beer engines that I got from a pub also had 12" of half inch tube
to the check valve, then I use 3/8 tubing to the barrel stepped back up to half inch to fit on the tap.
I don't know if this setup applys to a cornie, but I was under the impression from the service engineer
that the lenght of tube from beer engine to check valve was quite critical.
I've had no problems, it may be worth a try.
I hope you can get it all sorted

[Jim]

Some more interesting information, ta.

I've pulled a few pints through the BE - hammering is very slight with very low pressure on the cornie while serving combined with slow pulling (oo-er). However, due to the wastage every time you use a BE (have to discard the first half pint or so, which is a lot when you only want 1 or 2 pints) I've now got it coupled to the SS tap, which is working brilliantly. With about 4 psi on the keg I get a pretty fast pour, and pushing the handle back (trickle position ) instead of forward for the last 1/4 pint puts a nice creamy head on it. Very nice.

[Oggy' Bar]

However, due to the wastage every time you use a BE (have to discard the first half pint or so, which is a lot when you only want 1 or 2 pints) I've now got it coupled to the SS tap, which is working brilliantly.

Well...Have to be honest here Jim (and usually when I make this statement I get shot down in flames)

Beer Engines look good and serve a reasonable pint. The principal function of mine is their poseur value (very perceptive Chris-x) They are also a bit of a PITA when it comes to cleaning and ARE wasteful of beer. Having said all that..If I'm having a bit of a party, I usually use at least one beer engine especially if I am likely to use most of a cornie full.

For day to day serving...In my opinion..You cant beat a good ole beer font. As long as you dont leave them unused for a long period (mine are used most days ) you never need to clean them.....OK maybe once per year.

and especially for DA...er Chris-x.

My beer fonts front.


and rear.

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Great Pic's Oggy, how big is the bar area, is it a room in the house or a cellar??

You should be well proud of it, it looks fantastic...
Anymore pics??

John

[Oggy' Bar]

Are you sure you don't live in a pub there OB ?

I used to live in the village pub... Then after building the bar in the basement (long story)..I started to brew more beers and spend more time at home...Thing is the village pub is a goodun..never changed since about 1948..and the Landlord (same family owned for at least 60years) is trying his best to keep it going...Lots of real ales (in the CAMRA guide)..Cocktail night on Fridays...just starting a quiz...It's one of those places where you can always have an interesting conversation with someone and apart from 2 churches and a village shop (which recently lost its post-office)...It's all there is in the village..

So I feel I ought to frequent it occasionally. I'm still on friendly terms with the Landlord despite the fact that other locals wind him up every time they've been to a "do" in my bar...by telling him how much better my beer is. .(I think they actually mean its cheaper ie FREE)

Problem is though...I've put on a fair bit of weight recently...er and actually am beginning to worry about the quantity of alcohol I'm consuming....I'm thinking of brewing some weaker beers maybe around the 3.4-3.8% mark and having a couple of nil alcohol nights....though that might mean I need to clean my beer lines more frequently

[BarnsleyBrewer]

It's the only down side to this brewing lark, pot belly and man boobies

[Oggy' Bar]

Great Pic's Oggy, how big is the bar area, is it a room in the house or a cellar??

You should be well proud of it, it looks fantastic...
Anymore pics??

John

I am quite proud of it... I actually moved into this house 11 years ago and bought it primarily BECAUSE of the basement...though at the time I didn't know what I was going to do with it.

10 years passed rather quickly and eventually I came to this room.


which I quickly turned into this. It has a projector with an 8foot screen and is ideal for watching sports, pub quizz's, films etc. Everything is powered by remote control, dimming lights, pump lights, beer chillers, Freeview, DVD, Sky TV. A surround sound system that rattles the foundations....and you should hear Led Zeppelin played through it



The overall size is 7m X 4m and it can seat 10 comfortably, though regularly has 12-15. Below are pictures from a recent "Race-night"


And

Though I think this is good.....there will be someone on here with one better.. ..and someone with one better than that. ...and someone...

This one will do me though...oh and I'm currently turning one of the other rooms into a pool room. (No not a swimming pool)..

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Fantastic that Oggy, if anyone can beat that please post, I know for one I can't.
John