'coldplate"

[fifteenbeerslater]

HELP!
I have set up a 'coldplate' in the fridgeand the KEG is next to the fridge on the floor.It works well but can anyone tell me why the beer flows back into the keg after i have poured a beer,then when i pour the next beer all gas etc left in the liquid line spurts out into the glass followed by the beer?

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

Is the chiller plate higher than the top of the keg?

That may be an issue...

PZ.

 

[Justin]

Sounds more like the CO2 gas is coming out of solution in your beer line-giving the impression that you beer is draining back into the keg (I mean that's what's forcing the beer back in there-all the gas coming out and filling the lines).

When you open the tap you get unrestricted flow racing through the lines because they are empty and you get a spurt of foam before the beer actually gets there.

This usually happens when your beer line gets warm, which would make sense if your storing it out of the fridge. I know pubs use unrefridgerated kegs but I think to keep the gas in solution they run at much higher pressures and thus have more length of beer line running into a chiller of some sort (glycol) which gives them the resistance to get a proper pour at the tap at these high pressures. I am guessing here a bit, I've never really thought it out.

How effective is your chiller plate anyway? For multiple beers? If you just have the chiller sitting in the air in the fridge I thought it would probably work fairly ordinary after a couple of hundred mils. Air is a poor conductor of heat/cold, that's why the pubs use liquid (glycol) for the better heat transfer. Maybe your problem lies here somewhere.

Hope it's a start anyway.

Cheers, Justin

 

[Wortgames]

My guess is that it isn't so much 'flowing' back to the keg, it is the CO2 coming out of solution and filling the highest part of the line.

A chill plate in the fridge probably isn't going to cut it by itself - the warm beer will warm it too much, then it will take ages to chill again. Warm beer loses gas much faster than cold beer.

You need to have the plate in a mass of chilled water to help minimise the temperature swing.

 

[fifteenbeerslater]

Justin,Your commets make a lot of sense. My keg could be a bit on the gased up side as well. I have had different results with different brews. I'll now try another which is slightly undergased.
The 'coldplate' is mounted just under the freezer and i can pour beers for one or two people on a thirty degree day . The set up is in a tin garage! It really suits me to havethe kegs on the outside - i want to get it right. Any other sugestions would be great. Thanks for your help.
Boris

 

[fifteenbeerslater]

Wortgames,
The coldplate is a solid slab of aluminium which seems to hold the teperature well even when the warm beer hits it, its only used for one or two drinkers at a time. Iwill also cut the beer line down to bare minimum to reduce the amount of gas the line can store. Thanks for your help. Boris

 

[fifteenbeerslater]

Fingerlickin,
I now agree with Wortgames & Justin its the gas in the line thats the problem. Thanks Boris