Medium Sized Brewpub: Mix of Serving Tanks and Kegs?

[pabrewer412]

Hi everyone,

I am in the midst of planning a new brewpub with an annual output of around 1500-2000 BBL/year with around 12 taps and a 15 BBL brewhouse. I am looking to have a mix of serving tanks and kegs. My idea is to use serving tanks for our core beers and then use kegs for the rest of the batches and for guest taps. I think this would provide a lot of flexibility on what we serve. Are there any downsides/legal issues to this plan that anyone is aware of? Other than washing kegs The serving tanks will be jacketed and not in the cold room. Thanks for any input guys!

[mikeyrb1]

Hi everyone,

I am in the midst of planning a new brewpub with an annual output of around 1500-2000 BBL/year with around 12 taps and a 15 BBL brewhouse. I am looking to have a mix of serving tanks and kegs. My idea is to use serving tanks for our core beers and then use kegs for the rest of the batches and for guest taps. I think this would provide a lot of flexibility on what we serve. Are there any downsides/legal issues to this plan that anyone is aware of? Other than washing kegs The serving tanks will be jacketed and not in the cold room. Thanks for any input guys!

We have pretty much the same exact setup and have operated like this for 20 years. You'll want more than 12 taps. We have 26. The more selection you have the more variability and therefore it spreads out consumption. We have 5 30 bbls ferms, and a 15 bbl ferm, and a 5 bbl yeast prop/ferm. Serving tanks- 6 30 bbls, 4 15 bbls, and a 7 bbl grundy. We probably have 250-300 kegs. We can tap up to 9 at a time to serve the bar.

If I could, I would have a few more serving tanks and have fewer beers on kegs. Kegs can be wasteful so the fewer you have to tap the better.

All of our serving tanks are in walk in coolers kept at 35 degrees.

Another suggestion would be to keep serving tanks and kegs as close to the taps as possible. Ours are 140' from the bar and that can cause issues although we have been able to mitigate them over time.

[pabrewer412]

We have pretty much the same exact setup and have operated like this for 20 years. You'll want more than 12 taps. We have 26. The more selection you have the more variability and therefore it spreads out consumption. We have 5 30 bbls ferms, and a 15 bbl ferm, and a 5 bbl yeast prop/ferm. Serving tanks- 6 30 bbls, 4 15 bbls, and a 7 bbl grundy. We probably have 250-300 kegs. We can tap up to 9 at a time to serve the bar.

If I could, I would have a few more serving tanks and have fewer beers on kegs. Kegs can be wasteful so the fewer you have to tap the better.

All of our serving tanks are in walk in coolers kept at 35 degrees.

Another suggestion would be to keep serving tanks and kegs as close to the taps as possible. Ours are 140' from the bar and that can cause issues although we have been able to mitigate them over time.

Awesome to hear! Sounds like it is really working for you! Any reason for having your serving tanks in your walk in cooler rather than having Glycol jackets on em? Was it a price issue or something else? I guess there are pros and cons for each set up but just wanted to hear your thoughts. How big is your walk in cooler? Thanks for the response man!

[mikeyrb1]

Awesome to hear! Sounds like it is really working for you! Any reason for having your serving tanks in your walk in cooler rather than having Glycol jackets on em? Was it a price issue or something else? I guess there are pros and cons for each set up but just wanted to hear your thoughts. How big is your walk in cooler? Thanks for the response man!

I wasn't around when the initial decision was made but I think that it definitely saves money. We haven't had any problems really, even when a cooler goes down, it takes a long time for a 30 bbl tank to cool down. It is also nice that the lines from the tanks to the trunk line stay cold, preventing hot spots. Only problem I can think of is if you were packaging and needed to get the tanks even colder. We have two large walk in coolers. Just guessing but maybe 20x20 each?

[ruizyeom]

any issues with cleaning the brites inside the cold room? Thanks for your feedback!

[mikeyrb1]

any issues with cleaning the brites inside the cold room? Thanks for your feedback!

No, we clean under pressure between batches usually with full breakdown deep cleans a few times a year. It heats up the room for a little while, but not long enough to cause problems.

[ProStarter]

Serving Tanks vs kegs

Sent you a PM.