How do line cooler systems work?

TireeTerror

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, I had a look around and hope this is the best place to find an accurate answer.

I am in the process of buying a home bar from someone and it has a line cooler system that has chilled pipes over the lines.

I asked the seller and he said the keg isn't stored in a fridge, it just sits under the bar, as is common in many pubs. He states that the beer cools as it travels up the beer line. How long would the lines need to be to actually cool liquid? The lines only looked a few feet from the photos he sent me, and I find it difficult to believe that anything could be cooled so fast.

He states that its a commercial grade cooler, bought from a pub. Now I like cold beer, very cold beer actually, so would I have to lengthen the lines, or would I be better to buy a fridge and drill some holes for the lines to come out and into the cooler? Or would the cooler even be necessary if the keg is already cold from being in the fridge and having lines of only about 3ft.

Apologies for what may seem like really basic questions, but I really have no idea about any of this, but its quite exciting the prospect of having draught beer at home!

mayto

He is probably talking about a beer cooler like this http://www.adverts.ie/other-home-garden/beer-cooler-for-tapes/5815787 . The beer travels from the keg to the cooler where it is chilled passing through the ice bank and back out to your beer tap. I have one myself and really are great.

TireeTerror

Yes, that is pretty much exactly the kind of thing I am talking about. So it doesnt chill anything in the pipes then, its done in the chiller! How cold does it get? He was telling me it has a dual tap output, but if only using one tap you can do some kind of double thing where it results in even colder beer. Does that make sense?

If you are not keeping the keg in a fridge, would that not make the beer go off sooner? I was under the assumption that it would last longer being chilled, like most food stuffs. Im not all that heavy a drinker, so smaller kegs and the longer I can keep it fresh the better. Otherwise I would be as well using cans!

mayto

You can run the beer through the second cooling line alright but usually one pass through the cooler will have it cool enough. The cooler is filled with water and can form an ice block which will leave the beer very cold by the time it passes through.

sharingan

TireeTerror wrote: »

If you are not keeping the keg in a fridge, would that not make the beer go off sooner? I was under the assumption that it would last longer being chilled, like most food stuffs. Im not all that heavy a drinker, so smaller kegs and the longer I can keep it fresh the better.

Brewing beer is a form of preserving. Beer only spoils from microbial contamination (bad sanitary practices) or oxidation. Commercial breweries who you will source your kegs from are very good at eliminating both.

Temperature spoiling beer is one of those common misconceptions about beer.

TireeTerror

sharingan wrote: »

Brewing beer is a form of preserving. Beer only spoils from microbial contamination (bad sanitary practices) or oxidation. Commercial breweries who you will source your kegs from are very good at eliminating both.

Temperature spoiling beer is one of those common misconceptions about beer.

The reason I mentioned it is because I keep seeing people making kegerators etc. I am happy to learn it doesn't matter if I'm buying commercial beer.

So if I bought a Heineken keg and a Guinness one, with no refrigeration, how long might I expect the beer to remain in good condition?

sharingan

You would be able to get some information on that from Diageo/Heineken.

I suspect that they have a number in the air 'use before' date for their kegged products, but in practice those kegs will not spoil.

I have not done any research, but I would expect kegged beer to last for well over a year at least if not longer. In a home bar environment, you may get problems with beer lines if the beer is drunk infrequently.

One issue with beer as it ages is that hop bitterness will decline. This may not effect either guinness or heineken to any great degree, as I suspect their hop oil content is minimal to begin with, but it is a problem with keg imported beer from the US, which is more strongly hopped.

TireeTerror

The beer lines are only about 2-3 foot in length. The keg sits right under the cooler, and the taps are right above the cooler, so its not as if there are long lines, I doubt I could get the lines any shorter.