KegWorks Blog

This time of year (especially in Buffalo) calls for celebration. It’s time to drink to the flowers, the budding trees, the dog walking, the rollerblading, and the people watching. It sunny, warm, breezy and the perfect weather for spring cocktails on the porch.

Here are a few of my favorite springtime recipes to get you in the mood:

Apricot Cooler

2 oz Apricot Brandy
1 oz Lime Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup
¼ oz Grenadine
4 dashes Angostura Bitters
Soda

Add all ingredients, except for soda, in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain, over ice. Top with soda water and stir. Garnish with slice of apricot or orange.

Spring Has Sprung

2 oz White Rum
1 oz Crème De Menthe - Green
Ginger Ale
Seedless Green Grapes

Put 3 ice cubes in a highball glass. Pour in the rum, top with Crème de Menthe. Add a few seedless green grapes and top with ginger ale.

California Lemonade

1 oz Vodka
1 oz Gin
1 oz Rum
Pink Lemonade

Fill a 16 oz glass with ice, add all vodka, gin and rum and top with pink lemonade. Stir and garnish with a lemon wedge.

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A little bit of Belgium from the heart of New York State! Cooperstown, New York is not only the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, but also to the Ommegang brewery. Brewery Ommegang was purpose built to brew authentic Belgium style ales. Ommegang was opened in 1997 and sold to Duvel, a major Belgian brewer, in 2003. Now Ommegang is brewed and sold in both Europe and the US. Five beers are brewed year round at Ommegang: Ommegang Abbey Ale, Hennepin Farmhouse Saison, Rare Vos Amber Ale, Ommegang Witte Ale, and Three Philosophers.

All 5 beers are fantastic and have won multiple awards, but my favorite is the Ommegang Abbey Ale. This beer is double style brewed in the centuries old traditions of Belgium Trappist monks. It’s bottle conditioned in a cork sealed 750ml bottle and can be cellared like a fine wine. It is recommended that this beer be drank from a goblet like you would drink red wine from. This allows for proper head expansion and the full release of the beer’s aromas.

Ommegang Abbey Ale is lively beer, so tilt your glass and pour it slow. The color is very a very deep, dark, opaque brown with a rich, tan, frothy head. The nose has slight yeastiness with an overall malty roast character and hints of raisins and green apples. The first thing you will taste is the sweet creamy malt complimented with slightly sour yeasty sharpness. The hop character is minimum throughout, with just enough hops to balance out the malty sweetness. The beer finishes smooth and sweet with minimum hops.

This is a great beer for pairing with foods. Goes great with barbeque and grilled red meats in the summertime. Also great with dried fruits and sharp pungent cheeses like Gorgonzola.

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A common question we get from our customers is: “At what pressure should I set my CO2 regulator for my beer to pour perfectly?” It’s a great question. To pour a perfect beer you need to counter the pressure flowing through your system with a regulator. When the pressure of your system and the pressure you apply from your regulator are equal, your system is balanced. If your system is balanced, you can pour about one gallon of beer per minute, or 2 ounces a second!

There is a rather simple formula to determine the appropriate pressure (PSI) for your draft beer system. Here it is:

Pressure = (Length of Beer Line (in feet) x Line Resistance) + (Gravity x .5)

All you need is 3 factors: Length of Beer Line, Line Resistance and Gravity. This article will walk you through determining each of these factors, and thus, the ideal pressure for your draft beer system:

1. Determine Length of Beer Line
If you don’t know the length of your beer line, simply measure the length of line from your shank to your coupler. You will need this measurement to be in feet.

2. Determine Line Resistance
Line Resistance may also be called “Restriction Value”; the two terms are interchangeable. This just means the amount of pressure being pumped through a line. Every foot of beer line has a set, average Line Resistance. The smaller the Inside Diameter of your beer line, the higher the Line Resistance; The larger the Inside Diameter, the lower the Line Resistance. Below are two charts of Line Resistance for various common diameters of both vinyl and stainless steel beer lines.

Example:
Your beer line from tower to your keg measures 5 feet.
Your beer line is 3/16” Inside Diameter.
Multiply Length (5 Feet) X Line Resistance from the chart above (2.20 lb)
Line Resistance = 11 lb

3. Determine Gravity
The Vertical Rise or Vertical Fall of your draft beer system determines your system’s gravity. It is measured between the two horizontal planes of your system: the bottom of the keg and your faucet. On average, for each foot of gravity in your system a value of .45 PSI will need to be applied. You can round to .5 PSI to make this calculation easier.

Example:
Your faucet is 2 feet above your keg.
Your keg is 2 feet high.
Add your faucet height (2 feet) + you keg height (2 feet).
Gravity = 4 feet
(Note, in the end calculation, you will need to multiple Gravity by .5 PSI. We will walk you though this in the next step.)

4. Determining Ideal Pressure (PSI)
Now that you have each of the 3 factors, you are ready to determine the ideal pressure for your kegerator or draft beer system.
Use the formula from above:
Pressure = (Length of Beer Line (in feet) x Line Resistance) + (Gravity x .05)

Example:
Length of Beer Line = 5 feet
Line Resistance per foot = 2.2 lb
Gravity = 4 feet
(5 feet x 2.2) + (4 x .5)
11 + 2
Ideal Pressure = 13 lb

Setting your draft beer system to the right pressure will help you pour the perfect beer and eliminate waste.

So, get pouring.

If you need more help with figuring out the appropriate pressure for your draft beer system, or another draft beer questions, give our experts a call at 877-636-3673!

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With Memorial Day just around the corner, I decided to write about the unsung hero of the three rudimentary elements of a transcendent party. The first two essentials are obvious – a keg and a group of friends, preferably large. The final, equally necessary piece bridges the gap between the two – the picnic pump.

Burgers and dogs, ice, horseshoes, classic rock, bocce, plastic utensils and American flag napkins all are important, but getting the beer out of the keg and into your cup is where the party begins and ends. Even if you don’t have cups you can still take turns doing keg stands. The crux of the party is and will forever be the picnic pump.

Two years ago at the Memorial Day gathering I attended, the rental picnic pump was garbage. The mechanism would grind so you really had to work for your beer. Even after some furious pumping the beer still only slowly dribbled into the cup, causing a consistent line of frustrated and increasingly impatient partygoers at the keg. Clearly the thing had been passed around more than a joint at a Phish concert and was in horrid shape.

With your killer party hanging in the balance, why take any chances accessing your beer? My experience at the party a couple years back was a nuisance, but the pump held out, so we managed. The pump gives out and the party goes from raucous to ruined in the blink of an eye. With the threat of ill-maintained or broken rental pumps and limited availability around popular party holidays, now’s definitely the time to invest in your own.

We offer a multitude of durable and affordable options, so I’m confident you will find the picnic pump that best suits your needs. Time is running out for Memorial Day, but you can still get your pump in time, so order soon. Also, don’t forget about the Fourth of July, Labor Day, and a whole summer’s worth of parties in between.

Once you have your own, DO NOT lend it out to anyone as the odds are overwhelming that you’ll never see it again. Do, however, keep it in your trunk for keg party-related emergencies. After the rental craps out, prepare to be hailed as a conquering hero when you triumphantly return from your car, brand new picnic pump in hand, so the party can rage on…

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So, I know I said I have been in to martinis, but the warm weather creeping in makes me change my tune. I drive faster, turn the music louder, and add some skip to my step.

On Friday, in preparation for an early Saturday of KegWorks moving, I decided to stay in, have a drink in the yard and make an early night of it.

So, around 5:30 I popped into my cocktail books in search of a new cocktail recipe. A few new recipes piqued my interest, but my Friday evening ants-in-the-pants quickly set in, and I decided to scrap the book and just see what struck me in the aisle of the liquor store.

Off to the store, I went. Passed the wine, to the liquor. Hmm…what would it be? My good ol’ friend Captain? Nah. A new Vodka? Nope. Then, the tequilas started speaking to me. Cuervo was calling my name. Margaritas! Perfect.

In the cart went the Cuervo, followed by a bottle of sweet and sour mix, Grand Marnier and blue curacao. (I am well aware that the blue curacao was not a must, but I had just thumbed through my cocktail books and every drink that was catching my eye was blue. So, in the cart, for fun.)

Added some chips and salsa to the mix and we were good to go.

Back home, got out the brand new margarita set that has been in my basement since Christmas, and started filling the pitcher. Salted my rims and we were all set for a relaxing night of Mancala in the yard. A night which quickly turned into a um…hmmm…uhh… I don’t remember.

It might have been that extra kick of Grand Marnier, the refreshing lure of the blue curacao, or the empty pitcher. Not sure.

Regardless, here is my recipe for summer-fun margaritas. Try it with caution:

Add all ingredients to a shaker. Salt the rim of your Margarita glass, and pour over ice. Serve with chips and salsa.

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Kegs are big. Kegs are extremely heavy. This is not news to anyone that’s moved a full keg before. I did my fair share of keg toting during a five-year tenure as kitchen manager at a local Italian restaurant and bar. We had 10 constantly rotating beer taps and a walk-in beer cooler down a long flight of stairs. Not good times.

On top of that, our walk-in cooler was a complete disaster. With all the tapped kegs, back ups and cases of food and beverage, it was nearly impossible to maneuver with any urgency. As if a Friday night dinner rush needed an added degree of difficulty, climbing over kegs to retrieve a heavy case of cheese, a bulky tray of liter cola, or to change a keg only added unnecessary frustration to an already stressful situation. Hindsight being 20/20, I’m using this space to present a few options I wish I’d been aware of while fighting a losing battle against an overcrowded beer cooler.

One solution when cooler space is at a premium is a classic keg storage rack. These sturdy and durable shelves make keg organization a snap and are available in so many shapes and sizes, you’re sure to find one to suit your needs.

Two of the niftier alternative solutions are the Keg Stacker and Keg Spacer. The Keg Stacker eliminates the need for shelving and is much safer and more organized than the teetering tower of beer and steel you have in your cooler right now. The Keg Spacer is similar, but even more flexible as it allows you enough of a gap between the stacked kegs to tap the bottom one. These items can be used to maximize the space in even the smallest beer coolers.

Finally, we return to the original revelation that kegs are big and heavy. The easy answer for moving a keg is, naturally, to make the dishwasher do it. Fun to watch and easier on your back, in the end you may find yourself filling out an incident report explaining how your 140-pound, 17-year-old dishwasher ended up pinned under a 160-pound keg at the bottom of the stairs.
That’s a lot of unnecessary paperwork.

Fortunately, there are safer, smarter methods of keg transport. A keg dolly is a compact and effective way of moving full kegs, but it doesn’t help on stairs and the keg must still be lifted onto the dolly. The ultimate solution for safe and easy keg mobility is the Keg Cart. It’s basically a hand truck designed specifically for kegs. This cart maneuvers unwieldy kegs with relative ease, over curbs, up and down stairs and in the tight quarters of a crowded walk-in cooler.

Although there are times I miss the characters you meet and up-tempo pace associated with working in a restaurant, I don’t miss dragging full kegs downstairs one step at a time and jockeying for space in a crowded walk-in cooler. My pain is your gain… I’ve presented to you the tools, do yourself a favor and use them.

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My mother has been showing quite a fondness for the martini as of late. It all started with the pomegranate martini, shaken up with pure pomegranate juice, a splash of Cointreau and a healthy helping of vodka… And now, it’s on. She’s already acquired an admirable collection of different martini glasses for every occasion – fancy-shmancy, sunny poolside, evenings on the porch, etc… and now every time I stop by, I can’t leave without sharing at least one drink and a chat.

As Mother’s Day was approaching, I hummed and hawed over what to get… she’s a woman who’s got it all, and I always like to try and beat what I gave to her the year prior. Luckily for me, when she finds a new interest, she really gets into it… so something revolving around cocktails would probably be a sure bet as a great gift.

Although she had a number of lovely martini glass sets, she didn’t yet have stainless steel martini glasses, so I opted to start with those. They keep your cocktails colder for longer, plus they won’t break, so they’re perfect for spirits poolside. Then, I decided to get her a recipe book so she could mix up some new drinks and find a few more favorites. KegWorks has quite a bit to choose from, and they all looked great, but for Mom I went with the New Classic Cocktails book, complete with 50 new, sophisticated cocktail incarnations. Once she’d ripped through the wrapping paper, Mom couldn’t wait to dive into this extensive collection of concoctions – “Oooh! I love Manhattans,” she cooed, nose in book – in fact, she nearly forgot about the rest of her yet unopened gifts!

I was so excited about my Mother’s Day idea that I couldn’t stop there… so I picked out a selection of cocktail mixers to round off the gift. I figured the Fee Brothers Cocktail Mixers Starter Set would be a perfect way to begin – it comes with 6 different mixers for a slew of drink combinations, so it would be sure to keep her ecstatic about trying new drinks. And finally, to top it all off, I wrapped up a bottle of dirty martini mix called Dirty Sue - I just knew she would get a kick out of it since her name is Susie – and she certainly did!

And so, armed with her new mixers, recipes and glasses, a raucous and entertaining (to say the least!) Mother’s Day celebration ensued…

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