Recirculate kegged beer through undercounter chiller ?

[sg1009]

Has anyone had any experience recirculating beer through undercounter chiller to get a corny keg temperature down ?

It's that time of year where the cellar goes up a couple of degrees and I turn my attention to keeping the kegs cool.

I'm thinking of a small pump from 'chiller-Beer-out' into the 'keg-CO2 in'. This way it will just loop through the chiller and the keg.
But could this be T-peiced into the CO2 in and T-peiced into Product out (being at the same pressure)?

I know from bitter experience that it's best to keep beer as separate as possible from the CO2. I've ruined a few regulators by carbonating a corny through the Out-post, beer can find a way back up if it has a little left to ferment etc.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

No. It would certainly be an unusual approach. Most people keep their keg in a fridge/freezer, maybe converting it into a kegerator/keezer - is this not an option?

 

[MashBag]

Sounds like a recipe for spoiled beer to me.

 

[sg1009]

Unfortunately the cellar hatch has never been big enough to get a fridge in. I've used the glyco chillers for years and have experimented with homemade insulated jackets with the python chiller loop on the inside the jacket (outside the keg). This approach does keep a keg or two cool/er but not very efficient.

As for ruining the beer I do agree in the case of ales, bitters, but I'm thinking the cider and lagers.

I've seen kit that does the product circulation with CO2 connected to carbonate corny kegs. Since it's a closed loop with only CO2 in the keg head I can't see that being a problem. I'm just thinking to circulate through the chiller which will actually help with faster carbonation too.

 

[sg1009]

The beer carbonation kit I mentioned

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...BOT4wXLT&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Unfortunately the cellar hatch has never been big enough to get a fridge in. I've used the glyco chillers for years and have experimented with homemade insulated jackets with the python chiller loop on the inside the jacket (outside the keg). This approach does keep a keg or two cool/er but not very efficient.

As for ruining the beer I do agree in the case of ales, bitters, but I'm thinking the cider and lagers.

I've seen kit that does the product circulation with CO2 connected to carbonate corny kegs. Since it's a closed loop with only CO2 in the keg head I can't see that being a problem. I'm just thinking to circulate through the chiller which will actually help with faster carbonation too.

In that case you could do as I have and build an insulated space for the kegs inside which you have a car radiator/fan fed with chilled glycol from your chiller and switched using an STC-1000 temperature controller.

The space…

The radiator/fan…

 

[sg1009]

Very nice setup!

That is getting me thinking.

You have the chiller in a different space to the room you're cooling?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Very nice setup!

That is getting me thinking.

You have the chiller in a different space to the room you're cooling?

The chiller is boxed in (insulated) within the cooled space. The boxed in section has air flow in from the outside and out to the outside.

You absolutely could have the chiller outside the coolbox in your situation, better in fact.

 

[foxy]

Just coming out over here. Could be within some of the forum sponsors hands soon.

 

[sg1009]

That looks a very tidy chiller.

I'm still curious if anyone has tried the beer circulation?
Choice of pump:
Impeller (cheapest) , peristatic (quiet and slow, potential wear issues), diaphragm (slow good, but don't need the power)
Pump shouldn't add heat. Needs to be quiet. Flow rate not so important.

The safest option would be to use a corny lid with a separate disconnect. Gas in, beer out, beer in.

Kegs can still be insulated.

Other kegs can be chilled using the glycol recirculation and external jackets.

 

[sg1009]

Here's some photos for a little context of the space I've got.

I've tried two types of insulated keg boxes.
The first was left over Celotex with a front loading keg opening. Originally it had a Peltier cooler that never really worked out.
The second insulation box is made of foam mats and was originally again Peltier cooled. It was also a top loader which was better for insulation but not easy with such a low ceiling. I later converted it to a hinged front loading. This one has 5m-10m (quite a large coil) of 3/16 beer line in the back hooked up to the glycol loop. It's quite successful.

 

[MashBag]

Why not get a simple instant tap chiller. Like they use at festival.

Beer line in the back, tap on the front.

 

[chopps]

In that case you could do as I have and build an insulated space for the kegs inside which you have a car radiator/fan fed with chilled glycol from your chiller and switched using an STC-1000 temperature controller.

The space…
View attachment 102614

The radiator/fan…
View attachment 102615

beautiful.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

beautiful.

Thanks Chopps, I think so too.