adding a hand pump to presure barrel

[gifford]

Hi everyone at this stage im not looking into getting a corny really simply due to the cost and im happy enough with plastic kegs never had one split and carbonation, beer clarity has been fine (fingers crossed)

is there any way of adding a hand pump to dispense the beer 9Simply for novelty. Could i buy one and connect the normal tap from the barrel to the pump via hose and jubilee clip then turn the beer on when i want to dispense and use the pump or is it just too long winded and i might aswell go corny after the effort / risk of beer everywhere anyway?

any thoughts or experience welcomed

 

[pauls]

I have been wondering the same thing. Even got as far as bidding for a beer engine on ebay.

One problem might be if you do not drink all the beer from the barrel in a couple of weeks...you need to keep o2 off the beer. Obviously this is true even if you don't have a beer engine. One solution is using s-30 co2 cylinder or the small co2 sparklets.... but that would take the cool away from just using the beer engine.

I was also wondering about hooking up a beer engine to a polypin or collapsible camping water container so that the storage container collapses as you draw off beer and no o2 gets in to spoil it.

On the other hand if you are using the barrel already and beer stays fresh enough then i dont see why just connecting up the beer engine would not work.... let us know if you try it so i can learn from your efforts :thumb:

I have seen a couple of people mentioning check valves... not quite sure why. Could be to prevent flow back or could be to prevent pressure in the barrel from forcing beer out through the beer engine at unplanned times .... more research required.

 

[Adamzworld]

I appreciate that this was posted a while back but I wondered if you ever had any success hooking up a pressure barrel to some sort of pump / dispensing tap?

I'm contemplating trying something similar in a brew shed project so just wondered whether you managed to get something sorted?


Cheers,



Adam

 

[Archtronics]

It is possible, you need a Handpull, Cask breather and some pipe to connect the two, bear in mind tho this will pull oxygen into the barrel so you will have to drink it sharpish.

I use one with a corny which tbh is worth the extra cost as it takes out a lot of the hassle.

 

[Adamzworld]

Thanks Archtronics,

I had thought about going down the corny route but wondered if it would be possible to go down the budget route!

I assume I'd just use a jubilee clip to connect the end of the pipe to the barrel tap? I'd also read on other posts about installing some kind of non return valve, so I wondered if this would prevent oxygen being drawn back into the barrel?


Cheers,



Adam

 

[Archtronics]

Jubilee clips are your best bet depending on the tap, I can't remember what it's called but there's a valve in between the barrel and pump that allows you to keep pressure in the barrel without it pushing beer through the pump.

 

[Adamzworld]

I've done a bit more research on this and it would appear that I need to install a check valve between the beer engine and pressure barrel (around 12 inches or so from the engine). Does anyone know where I can source one of these from? I've looked on ebay and what's listed on there seems to mainly be for use in aquariums!

Any pointers will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,



Adam

 

[dennisking]

I was also wondering about hooking up a beer engine to a polypin or collapsible camping water container so that the storage container collapses as you draw off beer and no o2 gets in to spoil it.

A polypin is what I and several others use with a beer engine, works well.

 

[Buster]

Here you go, check valve ---- >>>> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BEER-HAND-PUM ... 43be9d1045

 

[Adamzworld]

Thanks for the prompt replies. I've got two spare pressure barrels, so I was hoping to rig it up so that the pressure barrel is mounted up on a shelf so that its up higher than the pump, connect tubing to the tap and secure with jubilee clip, then attach the check valve just before the tube connects to the engine.

I am relatively new to the home brew scene, so apologies if this comes across as a little ignorant, but will this set up work and will the beer keep for the same sort of time as if I'd just drank it straight from the pressure barrel?


Thanks,



Adam

 

[Adamzworld]

I was also wondering about hooking up a beer engine to a polypin or collapsible camping water container so that the storage container collapses as you draw off beer and no o2 gets in to spoil it.

A polypin is what I and several others use with a beer engine, works well.

Once again excuse my ignorance here, but I've never used a polypin so would I syphon the beer from the fv to the polypin and allow it to condition in there? Also if using this method would it need to be drank fairly quickly?


Thanks,



Adam

 

[Jeltz]

I was also wondering about hooking up a beer engine to a polypin or collapsible camping water container so that the storage container collapses as you draw off beer and no o2 gets in to spoil it.

A polypin is what I and several others use with a beer engine, works well.

Drinking a lovely pint now hand pulled through a beer engine from a polypin.

 

[Adamzworld]

I was also wondering about hooking up a beer engine to a polypin or collapsible camping water container so that the storage container collapses as you draw off beer and no o2 gets in to spoil it.

A polypin is what I and several others use with a beer engine, works well.

Drinking a lovely pint now hand pulled through a beer engine from a polypin.

Hi Nic,

Do you syphon the beer straight from the fv to the polypin and what size polypin would you recommend me getting? Finally does this method enable the beer engine to be connected straight to the polypin without any need for the check valve?

Sorry for all the questions!


Cheers,



Adam

 

[dennisking]

Once again excuse my ignorance here, but I've never used a polypin so would I syphon the beer from the fv to the polypin and allow it to condition in there? Also if using this method would it need to be drank fairly quickly?


Thanks,



Adam

I fill direct from the FV, never both with secondary, and leave for around 3 weeks to condition although I have drank after a week before. I normally drink in around 2 weeks but it has lasted up to 3 weeks after starting before, I believe some people have kept longer. Sometimes the last couple of pints may be a bit flat but that's not a problem for me.

 

[joe1002]

You don't necessarily need the pb higher than the beer engine, the BE will pull the beer. The check valve will hold back up to about 10psi so I don't see why your idea wouldn't work. The only problem I foresee is you will need to keep co2 in your pb so will have to keep it topped up when using your be but yo won't know what psi you have in your barrel. Probably not much of an issue.

Yes, you are correct with the polypin process :thumb:

 

[Adamzworld]

Thanks Joe,

I've got a couple of caps for the pb with co2 bulb attachments so I guess I could always add a blast of co2 if required.


Cheers,



Adam

 

[Jeltz]

Yep what they said. I squeeze as much air as possible from the polypin and attach a tube from my little bottler tap on my bottling bucket and connect it to the tap on my polypin (20L) open both taps and let the polypin fill. I place the tap of the polypin down on the ground so that its filling from underneath which minimises the amount of foaming. I'm still playing about with the best amount of sugar to prime with though. Last time I went for 100g and had to let gas out twice as I was concerned it might over inflate. Next time I'm going with 60g

 

[Adamzworld]

Thanks Nic,

Where do you normally buy the polypins from? I've looked online and the price seems to vary quite a bit.


Thanks,



Adam

 

[Jeltz]

I've been lucky in acquiring a couple that originally had commercial beer in, I understand that Murphys is the best place online but I can get them from the LHBS for about £3 more each.

When I buy some I shall probably go for 10L ones just so that I can vary the brew on tap more frequently.

 

[Adamzworld]

Thank you Nic I've checked out their website and they've got loads of different sizes available.