Study what goes into deciding on the correct draft tower for a draft beer meting out system.
The hub of any draft beer system is the draft tower. Standing tall with its gleaming metallic exterior, it’s the ultimate cease on your beer on its journey from keg to faucet earlier than it’s distributed into your glass. When selecting a tower on your draft system, there are a number of components to contemplate, and we’re right here to assist information you thru that course of.
What’s a draft beer tower?
A draft tower, often known as a beer faucet tower or draft arm, offers an space to mount your draft taps and is the place the tap connects to the beer line by way of the tap shank. The raised tower means that you can match a glass, pitcher, or growler beneath the tap to be crammed.
The beer line runs from the keg coupler into the draft tower, which attaches to the top of the shank reverse the tap. This requires a gap minimize into your counter or bar high to mount the tower correctly. Most towers require a 3” diameter gap, however this will differ relying on the scale and elegance of your tower. Kegerators usually have a gap for the draft tower on the high of the unit.
Draft beer saved within the traces contained in the draft tower can keep chilled by way of a move of cool air from the refrigeration unit the place the keg is saved up into the tower (often known as an air-cooled draft system) or by way of a combination of glycol coolant working in a line packaged with the beer line, often known as a trunk line (often known as a glycol-cooled draft system). Conserving this beer cool is essential as a result of it should pour foamy if it will get heat whereas ready to be distributed, which results in wasted product and a possible mess.
Choosing the proper tower on your draft system
There are a few belongings you’ll wish to know earlier than deciding on your draft tower:
- What sort of draft system do you’ve got?
- What number of beers do you wish to have on faucet?
Most dwelling draft beer fans personal a kegerator, which is named a direct draw draft system. Kegerators for dwelling use usually use what we check with as a customary draft beer tower or draft arm that mounts to the highest of the fridge. This tower type is appropriate for serving 1-3 various kinds of beer at a time, relying on what number of kegs your kegerator can maintain.
Business institutions may have a direct draw system, whether or not it is a kegerator saved beneath a bar or counter or if they’ve a cooler or refrigerated space adjoining to the purpose of distribution with the tower and taps mounted to the adjoining wall. Business kegerators and walk-in coolers can maintain extra kegs than residential models, which lets you use a tower that may maintain greater than three faucets.
An extended-draw draft system is required for areas the place kegs can’t be saved in or close to the identical house you’re pouring them from. Lengthy-draw techniques ship draft beer out of your cooler to the draft tower by way of insulated beer traces. These beer traces are stored chilled as they journey from the kegs to the draft tower to stop the beer from pouring foamy and stop the formation of micro organism within the traces. As acknowledged earlier, air-cooled and glycol are two strategies for cooling beer in a long-draw draft system. A draft tower suitable with the strategy of cooling used on your system is required to maintain the beer inside your tower correctly chilled.
A glycol-cooled beer tower has room to suit the trunk line. From there, the coolant line runs throughout glycol cooling blocks contained in the tower to assist preserve the beer cool after which runs again out of the tower to return the glycol to the chiller by way of the trunk line. Air-cooled towers obtain chilled air, which is directed into the draft tower by an air baffle and air separator, whereas spent air is distributed again by way of the ducts to the cooler.
Varieties of draft beer towers
Normal draft towers
A normal tower, often known as a draft arm, might be what you think about if you hear the time period “draft tower.” These tall cylindrical towers could be mounted to the highest of a kegerator, a bar high, or a counter and might maintain as much as three draft taps as a part of a direct draw draft system.
T-Towers
T-shaped draft towers work with quite a lot of industrial draft beer techniques. They’ve a cylindrical base, very similar to a typical tower, however with a box-shaped high the place the taps are connected. T-Towers could be mounted to a bar or counter as a part of a direct draw system or an air-cooled or glycol-chilled system. They’re widespread as a result of they require just one mounting gap and might accommodate 2-8 draft taps.
Double-pedestal towers
These towers, often known as pass-through towers or H-Towers, permit you to maximize your draft choices by holding as much as 20 taps. Double-pedestal towers are perfect for air-chilled techniques as a result of it means that you can flow into air to and from the draft tower with separate ducts. Utilizing this type of draft tower would require a number of holes to be drilled in your bar or counter.
Wall-mounted towers
As their identify suggests, a wall-mount draft tower attaches to a vertical floor and means that you can serve a big selection (as many as 12 faucets) of beer, permitting you to serve draft beer with out having a tower mounted in your bar or counter. Sometimes these towers have a drip tray beneath the taps to catch spills and maintain glasses to stop beer from spilling on the ground. They’re an ideal resolution for a direct draw system the place a walk-in cooler is on one aspect of a wall, and the distribution level is on the opposite.
Wall-mounted towers additionally work with glycol and air-cooled techniques. Along with the holes required to mount the tower, additionally, you will want to chop openings for the air field on the again of the tower or the tubes that feed the beer traces into the tower.
Underbar mounted towers
One other solution to save house in your bar whereas serving draft beer is to mount your tower beneath the bar or counter. The field on the again of the tower attaches to the corresponding floor above it to safe the tower. They’re suitable with air and glycol chilled techniques and might maintain 4-12 taps.
Specialty draft towers
Whereas most draft towers are constructed of stainless-steel or metallic, you’re solely restricted by your creativity with regards to establishing one. Along with stainless towers, KegWorks additionally provides draft towers constructed from ceramic, black iron pipe, wood barrels, and designer towers.
For extra assist with draft towers or simply questions generally about organising your draft beer system, don’t hesitate to get in contact with KegWorks’ draft consultants.