If there’s one piece of equipment you need in your kitchen to impress your guests it’s a beer tap!
We offer beer tap and keg system installations so you can enjoy a freshly poured pint in the comfort of your own home. There's a large selection of draft beer dispensing systems on offer and this week’s post looks at how these beer tap systems work...
How draft beer tap systems work
The first piece of equipment needed for your outdoor beer system is a CO2 tank. These tanks come in different sizes depending on how much beer you want to dispense and also vary depending on what kind of beer you want to dispense. Guinness beer for example requires a hydrogen tank as opposed to a CO2 tank.
The second piece of the equipment needed is a regulator. This is used to regulate the pressure of your tank. The third piece is an air line – a PVC tube that connects the regulator to the keg coupler.
The keg coupler takes in the CO2 to push air through the keg and beer through the beer line. MFAB and D Type couplers are the most popular in Australia. Here's a handy list of beers and their respective recommended couplers.
The beer line is the next piece of equipment needed for your system. Like the air line, the beer line is made from food and beverage approved PVC and usually runs about 152 centimeters but varies depending on the situation. It screws onto the top of the coupler and is then attached to the beer tower (the beer tower is what you’ll see on the surface of your bar or kitchen) Check out this article on how to clean your beer line, which should be done on a weekly basis.
A beer shank is a metal tube that runs either through your fridge or beer tower and is essential for attaching the beer line to the system. A straight beer shank is the most commonly used for fridge conversions. Nipple beer shanks are used for kegerators and can either be permanently attached or changeable. The beer shank is also attached to the beer tap.
The final pieces of equipment are the beer font (also known as a tower) and tap (also known as a faucet). Beer towers come in different shapes, sizes, styles and colours and are screwed onto your worktop or bar. They are kept insulated to keep the beer line cool. The tap is where the beer comes from. It usually has a lever or handle that is pulled to release the beer. They come in different grades depending on the quality of the tap. We work with Andale Beer Dispensing Equipment who provide a wide range of services and beer dispensing equipment. Here are some of their fonts and taps. Andale also offers washout equipment for your system which is very important as taps should be cleaned regularly!
We hope you found this post useful (even if only to impress your mates the next time you have a pint at the pub!) Want to find out more about our outdoor kitchen beer taps? Contact us here or view more of our projects on Houzz.
