Installation of beer pumps with jacketed serving tanks

[sharperbrewer]

The guy setting up our tap lines is suggesting the following:

Running Glycol cooling for the serving line all the way to the tank outlet.

Putting the beer pumps in a cooled enclosure, near the serving tanks. He says that if they aren't cool it could be an temp issue

This is all new to me, anyone have some advice as to how best to install / tie in the serving tanks, using pumps to the taps.My though was to run insulated lines to a glycol cooled trunk line in the ceiling, 13' up, with the beer pump installed where the serving line met the cooled trunk line, the small amount of beer would be coolled by the time it got to the taps I would think. The serving tanks will be in an A/C room kept at 75 degrees give or take.

The tanks are 50' from a cool room where we will also be serving smaller batches from kegs, then running to 2 tap wall locations. 1 is about 30' away, the other, 75' away

Thanks in advance, cheers,

Scott

[JustinL]

Our tanks are 50' from cold box then bar is another 95'. I put pumps right behind tanks and ran from tank to pump with short run of 3/8" vinyl. I ran a trunk line from cold box to pumps. I used a very short piece of 3/8 vinyl to join pump to trunk line. Haven't had any issues with temperature or anything. The room does have building AC kept around 70. I didn't insulate any of the vinyl and the cooling line doesn't run right to tank. I ran from serving tanks to cold box where I have a Y valve connection so it can serve from tank or keg. With 10 taps and 5 tanks it helps for beer change overs. Above Y connection I have FOB as well.

Spit that all out but any questions feel free to send my way or I can grab a picture, but pretty simple.

Justin

[Todd Hicks]

The guy setting up our tap lines is suggesting the following:

Running Glycol cooling for the serving line all the way to the tank outlet.

Putting the beer pumps in a cooled enclosure, near the serving tanks. He says that if they aren't cool it could be an temp issue

This is all new to me, anyone have some advice as to how best to install / tie in the serving tanks, using pumps to the taps.My though was to run insulated lines to a glycol cooled trunk line in the ceiling, 13' up, with the beer pump installed where the serving line met the cooled trunk line, the small amount of beer would be coolled by the time it got to the taps I would think. The serving tanks will be in an A/C room kept at 75 degrees give or take.

The tanks are 50' from a cool room where we will also be serving smaller batches from kegs, then running to 2 tap wall locations. 1 is about 30' away, the other, 75' away

Thanks in advance, cheers,

Scott

I am assuming that the serving tanks are glycol jacketed and not single shell in a walk in cooler.

The advise given is more a rule than a suggestion. Trunk lines to the tank should be glycol cooled and insulated all of the way. You should also insulate any exposed SS tank piping. The pumps are best mounted in a refrigerator or something. I like to put them in the back of a large keg box where a few extra kegs can be dispensed as well. Build a Y manifold there to draw from either keg or tank during changeovers.

[sharperbrewer]

Our tanks are 50' from cold box then bar is another 95'. I put pumps right behind tanks and ran from tank to pump with short run of 3/8" vinyl. I ran a trunk line from cold box to pumps. I used a very short piece of 3/8 vinyl to join pump to trunk line. Haven't had any issues with temperature or anything. The room does have building AC kept around 70. I didn't insulate any of the vinyl and the cooling line doesn't run right to tank. I ran from serving tanks to cold box where I have a Y valve connection so it can serve from tank or keg. With 10 taps and 5 tanks it helps for beer change overs. Above Y connection I have FOB as well.

Spit that all out but any questions feel free to send my way or I can grab a picture, but pretty simple.

Justin

I'd love a few photos of your setup

[Salamence]

It is necessary to note that for the brewery cellar with single-shell tanks it is needed to create a cooling box, a room with very good insulation of walls and ceiling and with a refrigerator door. The operating costs of cooling are particularly during the summer months, possibly year-round in tropical areas, significantly higher than the lager cellar with insulated tanks cooled by liquid. These increased costs to the building and operation usually outweigh the savings from buying cheaper technology brewery.

[brain medicine]

Im a little late here so not sure this will help, but the point of the glycol lines is to chill the beer before the tap as well as just "keep it cold.". The minimum recommended distance for a sytem is about 40-50ft - anything less than that and the glycol doesnt really have time to chill the beer.

But you cant really jam a pump into into the trunk line, theyre small but not that small. So your weak point in terms of temp control of the beer is where the line has to come out of the trunk and go through the pump.

In a walkin cooler theres no problem. But with your brites, youve now created a hotspot in the line where beer leaves the trunk. So id say to figure out a way to have the pumps attached to the tank outlet or right next to it.

Those little pumps are small and lightweight and run off of air so i figure it shouldnt be too hard to mount them near the tank bottoms. It should also help you minimize the length of line exposed to ambient temps. Once its plumbed in, just cut up some pipe insulation and do what you can to insulate the line between the tank outlet and the glycol trunk.

To me that seems easier than rigging a cold box for the pumps.