I recently had an email conversation with one of our customers that I thought was quite helpful, in regards to using jockey boxes for dispensing kegged beer. The conversation with Robert L. began like this:

Just wanted to share:

I found that using a jockey box allows me to keep my kegs at room temperature & still serve ice cold beer. This, in turn, allows me to use & keep partial kegs at room temperature, thus allowing a "library" of beers that I can pull out any time I like (as opposed to chilling down a whole keg & having to keep it refrigerated.

My question followed:

"Did he ever find his beer to be foamy, without having the keg iced down, or did the jockey box coil cool it enough to keep consistently good pours?" I’ve spoken to Pete about the jockey box quite a bit, and had always been under the impression that the keg had to be kept iced down and wicked cold.

Robert got back to me rather quickly, and I couldn’t wait to share with the rest of you, in case his jockey box experience might come in handy for the rest of you out there:

The first few glasses seem to require a little extra settling time, but once things equilibrate & the pressure gets set right, it seems to work pretty well.

We started with the aluminum plate (stainless steel tubing inside a cast aluminum plate), in a large ice chest with two taps. This works exceedingly well & the beer comes out ice cold. This is the one we use at parties, and the beer seems to remain consistently cold despite almost continuous pouring. Although it works better, its size (& weight) make it less convenient for small gatherings, or small tastings.

For smaller gatherings I got your steel coil inside a smaller 8 qt cylindrical cooler, and set it up with a tap on the front & a wingnut -> tubing -> cornelius keg fitting on the other. 7 lbs of ice fit nicely, and it worked very well for a BBQ with 4 people. Also, in small gatherings, the beer usually gets a chance to sit inside the coils, cooling between pours, and I imagine this helps. I have only used it once so far (new acquisition), so time will tell as I use other batches.

As a side note, I have a pressure gauge (& a relief valve) attached to a Cornelius Ball lock connecter, which makes it easy to test & adjust the pressure of my kegs. I have found that after carbonation, keeping them equilibrated to 15 PSI seems to keep the right amount of carbonation in them, and minimizes foam formation when dispensing. Also, turning down the pressure to 10-15 PSI when dispensing lowers foam formation, but naturally, slows down the pour rate.

I cannot thank Robert enough for sharing his own experience with jockey box equipment, and how he changes his methods depending on party size. If anyone else out there has more to add, please let me know.

Cheers!

TAGS [ JOCKEY BOXES | DRAFT BEER TIPS | JOCKEY BOX | COIL COOLER ]

One of my favorite dive bars recently made some renovations. I visited for the first time since they’d been completed last week and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they’d upgraded their draft beer drip tray to a model with a glass rinser built in.

Most bars here in the United States haven’t quite caught on yet but from what I hear, these drip trays are pretty standard in European bars and pubs. We should actually get with the times and make these widespread here, as they really do help you to achieve a perfect pour. Here’s the step by step guide to your ideal pint.

Step 1: Start with a clean beer glass that has been wetted in cold water

Step 2: Place the glass at a 45° angle, one inch below the faucet - don’t let the glass touch the faucet

Step 3: Open the faucet quickly and completely in one swift motion - after the glass has reached half full, gradually bring the glass to an upright position

Step 4: Let the remaining beer run straight down the middle to ensure the proper release of Co2 and create the ideal ¾" to 1" foam head

Step 5: Close the faucet completely and quickly

TAGS [ DRAFT BEER TIPS | PERFECT POUR | GLASS RINSERS ]

Glassware
For most ales and pilsners, a standard shaker pint will do just fine, but there are indeed some beer styles that honestly do benefit from the correct type of glass.

Belgian ales, for example, are best enjoyed in a glass with a bulbous bottom that tapers up toward the top, and finishes with a slight flair at the rim. Our Belgian ale glasses allow the drinker to savor both flavors and aromas, from start to finish. The glass is constructed in this particular shape in order to keep the drinker’s nose close to the beer at all times, so that every last element can be taken in and enjoyed.

If weiss beers are more your fancy, you’ll benefit from a tall, slender glass that accommodates all of that fluffy, frothy head that’s typical of the style. Just do me (and yourself) a favor and skip the orange slice, ok?

The most important thing to remember about beer glassware, though, is to be sure it’s beer clean. If you value the head on your beer and prefer to make sure it pours and tastes right, make sure its beer clean, above all else.

Temperature
Each style of beer has an optimum serving temperature. I know that many people out there really only dig a refreshingly fridge-cold beer but honestly, unless you’re drinking some run-of-the-mill macro brew you don’t want your beer to be wicked cold.

Actually, one of the reasons that big breweries, like Coors, push drinking their beer so very cold (32-39°F) is because, if you drank it at a proper temperature for the style, you’d most likely be very disappointed. The truth is, cold inhibits taste receptors and the big boys know it. So if you’re a craft beer drinker, like me, follow these tips:

39-45°F is best for hefeweizens, premium lagers, pilsners, fruity beers, golden ales, weissbiers, Belgian whites and sweetened lambics.

45-54°F is the optimum temperature for American pale ales, amber/red ales, hefeweizen dunkels, stouts, porters, Belgian ales, schwarzbiers, Irish ales, unsweetened lambics and helles bocks.

54-57°F, also known as "cellar" temperature, works best for bitters, brown ales, IPAs, English pale ales, saisons, sour ales, biere de garde, Belgian strong ales, dubbels, bocks, Scottish ales, scotch ales and Baltic porters.

57-61°F is the temperature range that’s best for barleywines, qradrupels, imperial stouts and IPAs, doppelbocks and meads.

There you have it. Hopefully this glassware and temperature guide will help you enjoy each and every brew more that you did before.

Cheers!

TAGS [ BEER GUIDE | BEER SERVING | BEER TEMPERATURE | BEER GLASSES | BEER TASTING ]

Keep your draft beer pouring perfectly and improve the quality of your brew by maintaining the proper pressure.

As CO2 enters a keg it displaces your beer at a constant pressure, replacing poured beer by occupying the space that otherwise would be empty. The empty space in the keg is referred to as "head space." The CO2 fills the head space and maintains the pressure inside of the keg at the PSI set on your regulator. Maintaining a constant PSI keeps your beer perfectly carbonated by preventing the CO2 that’s dissolved in the beer from leaking out of the keg.

How best do you maintain proper pressure? Here’s some tips:

Store your air tank upright
Your CO2 tank will not work properly if it’s not stored upright, and could even cause damage to your regulator.

Find your PSI
Most US-produced ales and lagers dispense well at 10-12 PSI, while stouts or other nitrogen-dispensed brews work well at 25-30 PSI. If you’re having problems utilizing these general guidelines, check with the local distributor from which you got the keg; they may have a suggestion for that particular beer.

Too much pressure? Indicators and how to fix it:
Initially, too mush pressure results in fast pouring, extremely foamy beer. Think fire hose. Foam in over-carbonated beer will appear tight with large bubbles.

Fix over-carbonated beer by immediately adjusting your regulator to a proper, lower level and either pour off a few foamy pitchers or bleed off some of the extra pressure via the relief valve on the regulator. This way, your system can find its balance. If you leave your system at too high a pressure for longer than 24 hours, your keg will be permanently over-carbonated and excessively foamy.

Not enough pressure? Indicators and how to fix it:
If air pressure isn’t high enough, your beer will be over foamy too, but it will look more loose than if there’s too much pressure; small bubbles that are often described as "soapy" looking. Another sign that your beer is under-carbonated is if foam and/or bubbles actually rise into the beer line. If you don’t raise pressure to a proper PSI soon enough, your beer will become flat.

To correct low pressure, first check to make sure your air tank isn’t empty and that it’s turned on. This seems like a "duh" suggestion but sometimes it’s the simplest issue that causes the problem. Next, check your regulator to be sure it’s set at the right level. If the tank is functioning and there aren’t any obstructions in your air line, aaand your regulator is set to the correct PSI, then most likely your regulator or gauge needs to be replaced. Unfortunately, regulators do wear out and typically need to be replaced every 4-6 years or so.

Hope these pressure pointers do you and your draft beer some good. Cheers!

TAGS [ DRAFT BEER | DRAFT BEER SYSTEMS | REGULATORS | MAINTAIN PRESSURE | DRAFT BEER TIPS ]

We’ve recently been filling our up our site with helpful gadgets for homebrewers, so I thought I’d share some of what’s new.

Faucet Jet Bottle and Carboy Washer
This attaches right to the male garden hose threads on your utility sink faucet. You’ll get a powerful blast that washes away grime and sediment quickly and easily which also works superbly for washing home brew bottles.
$10.50

Immersion Wort Chiller
This drops your wort to a proper yeast pitching temperature quickly, to save you time and move the brewing process along that much quicker.
$47.50

Shirron Wort Plate Chiller
If you prefer a non-submersible solution for chilling your wort quickly and effectively, the Shirron wort plate chiller has your number. This counterflow wort chiller is equipped with both threaded male hookups for the wort and male garden hose fittings for the wastewater. This way, your wort can be pumped or gravity fed.
$89.95

TAGS [ HOMEBREW | HOME BREWING | WORT CHILLER | CARBOY WASHER | JET BOTTLE WASHER ]

Ok. Why do you really want to home brew? To be snobbier than your buddies that drink fancy microbrews with abandon? To create the perfect elixir to satisfy that inner craving for the perfect brew? Because you’re just plain bored and need a new hobby?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are ready to try your hand at home brewing. I have friends that fit each of these categories and have definitely benefited from their inner drive. Heck, I’ve even tried myself quite a few years ago with a Mr. Beer Kit and a giant mess in my kitchen that smelled like a brewery for a month or so (good thing I was living on my own, back then). It didn’t turn out too badly, but it certainly wasn’t the microbrew or even macrobrew I was hoping for.

Getting into the craft requires as much or as little time and patience as you want to put into it. Making the perfect beer takes time and patience, and the more you do it, the better you become (most of the time). Fancy equipment like wort chillers can definitely help a more seasoned brewer, but starting out slowly will yield more consistent beer along the line.

Reading Charlie Papazian’s book The Complete Joy of Home Brewing is a must. READ IT! READ IT! READ IT! This book is a wealth of information and is written in a manner that is very readable and informative. So go my friends, and experiment! Take small steps and prosper in your new craft! Just remember though, if all goes poorly, there are still plenty of beers out there that you haven’t tried yet.

TAGS [ HOMEBREWING | HOME BREW | HOMEBREW | BEER ]

Whether you have a draft beer system at home or you’re a bar or restaurant owner, you’re doing yourself and your beer a great disservice if you’re not keeping your beer lines clean. I know from experience how badly beer can taste when lines aren’t cleaned after every half-keg or so - I even stopped drinking draft beer at one of the pubs I frequented because of the sorry state of their beer lines.

I think most of the time lines are left dirty because people aren’t sure how to go about cleaning them, or they think it’s too hard to do and figure they’ll just let their beer suffer. If your draft beer tastes funky or pours foamy, it’s about time to give your system a good scrub down… in fact, it’s probably been that time for a while.

Cleaning your beer lines is way easier than you think and will help you to keep your draft system in top shape for years to come. Watch this 3-minute video to see just how easy it is, using our Deluxe Beer Line Cleaning Kit:

See how easy that was? Now, I know you might not always have a computer on hand to watch the video while cleaning your lines, so we’ve prepared this printable PDF of step-by-step line cleaning instructions.

Honestly, give it a shot. Just 20 minutes and your beer and draft system will thank you for it, not to mention all the people who enjoy your draft beer (like you).

TAGS [ DRAFT BEER LINES | DRAFT BEER SYSTEM | CLEAN BEER LINES | BEER LINE CLEANING ]