So now you've owned up and admit you love drinking beer. The best thing to do is build your customized bar or get us to help. 

Wether you are a home brewer or just love drinking beer we can help.

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What do you need?

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To have a draught tap at home wether it be for commercial beer kegs, Gin & Tonic kegs, Kumbucha or even soda water for the Mrs & Kids there are a few "core" items you need. These include:

Keg

Coupler or Disconnects

Beer line

Gas line

Regulator

Beer tap

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In order to run a keg of beer which does not go off to quickly then you need to have a fridge. The ultimate is the kegerator type or silver under-counter restaurant type (which have the compressor on the side ) or a chest freezer. 

The most cost effective is a chest freezer but the drawback is the looks vs a silver under-counter or kegerator unit.

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For the under-counter and kegerator units, one either adds a tower directly onto the unit or adds the tower onto the counter above and insulates the lines.

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When building a Keezer, generally a collar is added with wood and then long shank taps are mounter through the front so as to avoid the cooling lines in the walls of the freezer.

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The biggest issue when choosing a fridge is the inside depth required as kegs are generally wider than anything else generally placed inside a fridge and fridges with a step such as a small bar fridge or glass sliding door fridge don't fit any keg.

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With the fridge sorted you can now purchase the necessary "core" items and begin to keg your Homebrew or purchase a keg of beer from your local brewery or bottle store.

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Carbonating Homebrew Tips

When it comes to carbonation, less is more. If we keg a Homebrew we put 1 bar of gas on the keg and leave it for three days. Thereafter we reduce the pressure to 0.5 bar and keep on until the carbonation level is achieved. As soon as the right level is achieved we switch off the gas when we are not drinking beer. Unless you have a leak the beer will remain carbonated.

To ensure you always get the perfect pour we recommend switching off the gas and then pouring your last beer for the day. This ensures any excess gas in the keg replaces the lost liquid and limits over carbonation.

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Beer continues to absorb co2 when left in a cold fridge unlike when left at room temperature and often over carbonation is a result of simply to much co2 or leaving the gas on for too long.

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Carbonation in commercial or craft kegs

Commercial kegs come carbonated however each keg is not the set at the same pressure even if it is from the same brand or supplier.

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Pouring the perfect beer is a balancing act

Once everything is connected its time to pour a beer. Whether it is a home brew or commercial beer the below guideline can be used.

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1. Ensure the keg is cold, it takes at least 24 hours to chill a keg to serving temperature.

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2. After sanitizing the keg coupler/disconnects and posts on the keg, connect to the keg and turn on the gas. Pull the tap and beer will come out.

Now generally the first pour of the day is slightly more foamy than the rest but that is normal, the beer in the spear, dip tube and beer line has not been subject to the same pressures as the rest of the beer in the keg.

The remaining pours will improve, if they don't then follow below.

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3. Check for air in the beer line closest to the keg. If there is air inside the line this means there is not enough pressure on the beer  in the keg and in the line and gas is coming out of solution before it should. Slowly increase the pressure on the regulator by 2psi at a time. You should see the gas bubbles moving up the line. Pour a beer and repeat the exercise until you notice are no longer bubbles in the line.

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4. If you have had to do the above then adjust the speed of the beer coming out of the tap by using a flow control tap. This ensures there is enough back pressure and the beer doesn't shoot out at terminal velocity and turn into foam.

Slowing it down to much it will also cause it to foam excessively and generally the flow control opened halfway is sufficient.

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5. When you are finished drinking, turn off the gas and ideally pour your last beer with the gas off just to reduce over-carbing over time.

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6. If you still have any issues then give us a shout and don't forget its a balancing act.

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