Beating The Heat In A Hot Melbourne Shed

[fifteenbeerslater]

Well here in Melbourne in the summer you dont know if the shed is going to be 20 degrees one day or 40 plus the next. I decided the best way to make sure i could get VERY COLD beers any time was to go all the way and get BRAND NEW ICE BANK COOLER. An opportunity came up where i could get one at wholesale price so i thought why not.
Great machine, once it gets iced up it hardly starts up again even in very hot weather, may be goes on every few hours for two minutes. The standard model has three product coils but more can be added I have four product coils. Produces 14kg of ice and has a built in pump designed to flood the font. No need to put kegs in the fridge even on hot days. Can't ask for much more!
Cheers 15BL :beerbang:

 

[warrenlw63]

What an elegant bit o' kit. :wub:

Warren -

 

[Paul H]

Oh you said " Beating the heat", my mistake

Cheers

Paul

 

[Lukes]

That's a great unit 15 BL. :chug:

Shoul be able to give it a good test run this weekend coming.

What was the damage to the wallet?

- Luke

 

[tangent]

yeah, awesome unit... i'm afraid to hear what it cost...

 

[MVZOOM]

Looks awesome - how does it work - ie... do you run tepid beer into the unit, which cools the beer olong beer lines, then out into glass?

Cheers - Mike

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I sooo want one! I can see it now..... :chug:

 

[Wortgames]

I don't understand how it makes ice 15BL - surely you would use a non-freezing liquid in it? Or is it just an option to make ice blocks instead of beer chilling?

Either way it will definitely make life pretty comfortable round your place - so what time should we be there?

I'm sick of this sweaty Sydney weather we're getting down here at the moment

 

[KoNG]

Either way it will definitely make life pretty comfortable round your place - so what time should we be there?

I'm sick of this sweaty Sydney weather we're getting down here at the moment

Just pop up here (Syd) then Wortgames.... It's gorgeous weather...!
about to head down the beach now.

 

[Wortgames]

Just pop up here (Syd) then Wortgames.... It's gorgeous weather...!

Yeah, because you've dumped your usual hot damp sweaty humid stinky Sydney weather on us for a few days.

Enjoy it while it lasts, you'll be sticking to the furniture again in no time...

 

[johnno]

I too am curious as to what this is and how it works.

Can you use it as an airconditioner as well?

cheers
johnno

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

Top Score 15bl Oh how that would make life ezy up here in the far north..

Well done , Was it a case of right place right time or did you plan on somthing similar and go looking ? either way its Soooo Cooooool .!

:beer:

 

[fifteenbeerslater]

It works like this, you fill the reservoir with clean water only, approx 50litres. The brass coils around the outside form a solid wall of ice about 50mm thick, the water in the centre stays as ice cold water. The beer coils are suspended in the ice water, the water also has an electric stirrer to keep the water at constant temperature. The beer comes from the kegs through the coils and to the beer taps.

No Johnno it's not an airconditioner

FNQ it's a matter of looking around, there are at least three brands to choose from.

Normal price is around $2300.00, i paid $1700.00 but you don't need a keg fridge or freezer, kegs stay at room temperature.

Tony, this system would suit your bar, smaller units are also avaliable.

I look at the cost this way over a five year period (or much longer-it's a proper commercial unit designed for pubs etc):$1700.00 divided by 5 years = $340.00 per year
$340.00 divided by 52 weeks =$6.50 per week
$6.50 divided by 7 days = .90c per day.
Less than a dollar a day for ice cold homebrew,the font chilled and no keg fridge-SUITS ME!
Cheers 15BL :beerbang:

 

[dicko]

It works like this, you fill the reservoir with clean water only, approx 50litres. The brass coils around the outside form a solid wall of ice about 50mm thick, the water in the centre stays as ice cold water. The beer coils are suspended in the ice water, the water also has an electric stirrer to keep the water at constant temperature. The beer comes from the kegs through the coils and to the beer taps.

No Johnno it's not an airconditioner

FNQ it's a matter of looking around, there are at least three brands to choose from.

Normal price is around $2300.00, i paid $1700.00 but you don't need a keg fridge or freezer, kegs stay at room temperature.

Tony, this system would suit your bar, smaller units are also avaliable.

I look at the cost this way over a five year period (or much longer-it's a proper commercial unit designed for pubs etc):$1700.00 divided by 5 years = $340.00 per year
$340.00 divided by 52 weeks =$6.50 per week
$6.50 divided by 7 days = .90c per day.
Less than a dollar a day for ice cold homebrew,the font chilled and no keg fridge-SUITS ME!
Cheers 15BL :beerbang:

Hi 15 BL,

That looks the goods mate.

How many beer kegs / taps can you operate with it???

Cheers

 

[fifteenbeerslater]

Dicko,
It has four beer coils, i think i could get another one in there. Anyway if you need more you could have say six or eight kegs, make sure the fluid lines are long enough and swap over one or two when required or use four two way taps which would give you eight beers without disconnecting your kegs.
By the way the brand is CORNELIUS made in England.
Cheers

 

[Peter1972]

15 BL,

Can you pease post some pics here when you connect this baby up?

I am thinking of going down this path also. You said you use plain water in this unit. Can you use a glycol mix if you want to. What does the supplier say in regards to glycol mixes in this unit?

Cheers,

Peter

 

[dicko]

15 BL,

Can you pease post some pics here when you connect this baby up?

I am thinking of going down this path also. You said you use plain water in this unit. Can you use a glycol mix if you want to. What does the supplier say in regards to glycol mixes in this unit?

Cheers,

Peter

Hi 15 BL,

I have the same questions as I looked at a second hand glycol unit some time ago, that looked similar to yours.
Also, do you gas your corny in the normal way by refrigerating and applying CO2?

And will it take the qd's of the corny or do you have to change to brewery type fittings?

Any pics would be good :beer:

Cheers

 

[johnno]

It works like this, you fill the reservoir with clean water only, approx 50litres. The brass coils around the outside form a solid wall of ice about 50mm thick, the water in the centre stays as ice cold water. The beer coils are suspended in the ice water, the water also has an electric stirrer to keep the water at constant temperature. The beer comes from the kegs through the coils and to the beer taps.

No Johnno it's not an airconditioner

FNQ it's a matter of looking around, there are at least three brands to choose from.

Normal price is around $2300.00, i paid $1700.00 but you don't need a keg fridge or freezer, kegs stay at room temperature.

Tony, this system would suit your bar, smaller units are also avaliable.

I look at the cost this way over a five year period (or much longer-it's a proper commercial unit designed for pubs etc):$1700.00 divided by 5 years = $340.00 per year
$340.00 divided by 52 weeks =$6.50 per week
$6.50 divided by 7 days = .90c per day.
Less than a dollar a day for ice cold homebrew,the font chilled and no keg fridge-SUITS ME!
Cheers 15BL :beerbang:

Awesome!!

Thanks for the explanantion FBL.

This is an absolutely versatile unit. Can now see how handy something like this will be.

Something else to keep an eye out for

cheers
johnno

 

[fifteenbeerslater]

PMB,
No glycol, just plain water with no additives because it is a solid wall of ice all the way around the tank that is required.

Dicko,
To gas kegs at room temperature is easy just apply gas at serving pressure for a few a days or apply high pressure say four times over a couple of days while beer is condtioning in the keg-no need to shake. The beer coils are 9.5mmOD, you can screw in any size barb, mine are to suit 5mm ID beva tube which is connected to QD. You could also connect a standard keg coupler the same way.

Johnno,
Look on ebay,one sold in SA recently, it had two beer taps connected on the unit.

Cheers

 

[ArnieW]

PMB,
No glycol, just plain water with no additives because it is a solid wall of ice all the way around the tank that is required.

I bought one 2nd hand over a year ago - a unit that began life in Grumpy's brewpub. It looks basically the same as 15BLs unit, although a fair bit older and not as neat. It has a stainless steel skin, the same copper? coil hugging the wall on the inside, and the beer line coils drop into a light frame that sits inside the box (they aren't attached to the lid).

This unit runs a glycol/water mix. I'd be surprised if you can't do that with yours 15BL. The only difference is that you won't get the bank of ice. The ice might make it cycle less often, but not sure.

Anyway, very happy with mine, I'm sure you will love the benefits of a unit like this.

I've also used it to cool fermenters. I've got a fridge mate controller that turns a pump on or off which sits in the vat of cold glycol. It pumps the glycol through a simple loop that is attached to the fermenter lid that runs through the wort to cool it. I'm currently using a copper loop but stainless would be ideal. Works really well, kept the fermenter at 10C during the last few weeks of Melbourne heat where the shed has averaged close to 40C. Great to have a Bavarian lagering cave like this one! :super:

cheers, Arnie