Beer Engine - best setup

[andyb123]

Hi All

Im in the process of getting a Beer Engine and wanted to know the best method for serving. Currently I serve lager in corny's using CO2 which work perfectly for me. Ive got a beer in a corny that I force carbonated, but this lacked taste and body. So im wondering whats the best set up for the beer with a Beer Engine. I understand that normally beer goes off quickly, so looking to get some extra life out of it. Previously Ive has the beer in a king keg, however I now have sold this on.

Any advice warmyl received

Thanks

AB

[simpleton]

From a bag ala : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=64305

I have a plastic cask and the above idea is far better.

[Jim]

There are many ways.

1) the bag as mentioned above

Or

2) with a cask breather or demand valve and a CO2 supply you can use almost any vessel that will hold beer and pressure eg: -

Cornie keg, plastic pressure barrel, a proper beer cask etc etc.

[Kev888]

BTW, you mention that your beer has been force carbonated; whatever you dispense from I'd suggest being quite gentle with the amount of carbonation for use with a beer engine - much less than you may be used to with your lager for instance.

Cheers
Kev

[rpt]

I use a beer engine with a polykeg via a demand valve (aka check valve). The pressure needs to be very low or I get loads of foam. There's no need to carbonate very much as the beer engine gives the beer plenty of life. I'm not sure if the lid of a corny would seal at these low pressures though.

The other option I have used is a polypin. These are dead easy to use and work well. However, I found that the beer goes off after a few weeks as the bag is not impervious to oxygen.

[Kev888]

Yes, many of my cornies will seal at reasonably low pressures but not as low as I would wish without becoming unreliable, and some are more reluctant than others. I can do it, but its not what they're designed for after all, and I can lose gas sometimes - I suspect over the years some of their necks may have become a tad less plumb than others.

I really like the polypins and disposable bag-in-boxes, there are times I think of only using the bags and forgetting about gas, lines and engines, even cleaning. But... I've been spoilt by stainless preserving the beer for months, plus down to the last pint. Probably pub-type kegs would be the optimum for me personally, especially as i do have one or two more carbonated styles on tap.

Cheers
Kev

[orlando]

I have a set up attached to my Keezer. I have an upright stainless steel cask with the shive at the top of the cask attached to a aspirator made out of a gas regulator. The beauty of this, apart from being really cheap, is that it merely replaces the volume of beer drawn off without adding extra carbonation. This set up effectively extends the life of the beer to cornie standards. The difference is you treat the beer in the casks in the standard way, so you get all the benefits of cask conditioned beer with none of the drawbacks.




Close up of the regulator.



Keezer set up.

[Kyle_T]

I have recently finished a combined dispensing system enabling me to run 2 differently conditioned beers from the same beer engine:



As soon as they arrive I will soon be able to run Polykegs and Casks.