Beer Engine Set Up Help

[Vandalay]

in case o budget restriction here is my supercheap foodgrade 2,5ltr minikeg

and could be cheaper without all those stainless parts

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

For bag in a box/polypin dispense, I use this made from John Guest fittings. The Y piece and two valves allow for the beer line to be shut off and the short hose pushed into a 5 litre water bottle to allow the pump to be pulled through, wasting as little beer as possible.

 

[Thinbo]

The beer is in a bag in box and I have the Vitop connector, so that part is at least sorted . I know the inlet into the Vitop is too large for 3/8" tubing but I don't know if it is going to be too small to for the 1/2" hose. On first glance it looks like it might be, but I will not know until I get a 1/2" hose, unless somebody can advise.

I dont know if you've seen them or whether they're helpful to you. There are couple of youtube videos of people setting up beer engines to dispense from bag-in-box containers:
Homebrew Griffo
The Craft Beer Channel

I'm sure I've seen another one but can't remember/find it

 

[peebee]

@carchie86: I've seen the "Homebrew Griffo" video (@Thinbo's post) before, but what I hadn't seen was his "part 2" which pretty much goes over what I'd been saying about "demand valves" instead of one-way (check) valves and using Corny kegs, as well as demonstrating what can happen with only a one-way valve. He describes the "Vitop" connector and connects it to 3/8" beer-line with a length of more flexible tubing. The "missing link" in what I've been saying! Be careful though; he recommends silicon tubing which will allow your beer to oxidise. I'd recommend you use PVC tubing instead.

The "Craft Beer Channel" video is a great example of bags of enthusiasm! But it covers bags of beer (Vitop) too.

 

[carchie86]

Aye @foxy right. I use food grade PVC dip in boiling water. Have you rebuilt it? The anti drain back velves may need a scrub and look for beerstone staining in the cylinder. I use the same brewery caustic/PAA to clean with a purple line clean every so often. Nice looking engine m8

All the bits and pieces arrived for my pump and I am finally up and running with it working! @Druncan I have no idea what the drain back valves are but the whole thing is a bit grubby so they probably do need a clean if you have any instructions. Do you have any tips on cleaning the cylinder as well?

 

[DavidHatton]

You've deep pockets considering one of those half/third size Cornies. They cost a bomb!

You can get Chinese-made "mini-kegs" (2L, 5L and 10L) at a half reasonable price from various sellers. Cheapest is eBay, possible those direct from China.

Here's a two-year old piccie of a quick temporary setup using a 2L "mini-keg":
View attachment 27686
Note the "soft spile" - a disconnect crammed with cotton wool! That wasn't a great idea; despite it only being a 2L keg it wasn't finished (it was a "demo") and the disconnects were removed (equals a "hard spile"?) and keg put in a car to go home. Forgetting the airspace now contained air and the journey sloshed the beer about a bit. Treatment like that made the left overs nearly undrinkable due to oxidation. I should have stuck to using my LPG regulator and CO2 gas cylinder (better than a "breather" especially if using Corny kegs which can't generally tolerate low pressure, and certainly not negative pressure that using a "breather" may create - these mini-kegs would be okay about it though).

Do you think a soft spile could fit in the pressure release valve hole, if the valve was unscrewed and set aside whilst serving?

 

[peebee]

Do you think a soft spile could fit in the pressure release valve hole, if the valve was unscrewed and set aside whilst serving?

You are asking me, so you've probably missed my take on "spiles"? To summarise: If you haven't any spiles don't get any! If you have spiles, you might be able to chop them up for toothpicks.

For a "soft spile" just put cottonwool in to a disconnect. For a "hard spile" remove the disconnect (the "poppet" on the post seals the keg). A keg treated this way must be consumed within 2-3 days, be "hard spiled" between sessions (remove disconnect to retain remaining CO2 condition) and must not be moved (or it will oxidise).

Better, don't worry about spiles and maintain a blanket of CO2. For this you will need a small CO2 cylinder ("Sodastream"?), a small "primary" regulator to drop the cylinder pressure (about 55-60BAR) down to 3-5BAR, and a LPG regulator to drop the 3-5BAR down to 150milli-BAR or less. It is virtually impossible to manually control such low pressures. The LPG regulator maintains suitable CO2 levels for weeks on end - the beer starts tasting old and tired before it can lose CO2 condition.