Ghetto beer engine for under 10 bucks.

[Alex.Tas]

Firstly I should preface this thread with a comment that this will certainly not give you the same pleasure of pulling a beer of a proper beer engine, but you may get slightly similar results for a fraction of the price. I certainly enjoyed making it and you may too.

I've always loved a beer poured off a hand pump, I tossed up the idea of getting a kegging setup with CO2, beer gas for stouts and a beer engine for bitters so that I could have lots of different beers on demand. However I don't really have the space required for another dedicated beer fridge in my house (other one is for temp controlled ferments), sure I have space in my garage, but I can't be bothered walking outside in the depths of winter to go and pour myself a beer when the want arises. Its easier for me to have bottled beer, and i can have more varieties on hand.

I've been following the thread on how to make a DIY beer engine with a rocker pump from a campervan and have been toying with the idea of building one. They seem to work really well for the folks who have made them, and I probably will make one at some stage, however I wanted a small scale pump, able to give me a longneck or stubbies worth of beer - served like a hand pumped beer.
Obviously it isn't possible to do this exactly without a proper setup, but I wanted a close approximation - for under 10 bucks.

I figure, if you can force a lowly carbed beer (in the below case, a stout) through a sparkler type nozzle (effectively just a cap that forces the beer through tiny holes) it will foam up, forming a nice neat tightly packed head, that laces down the glass after the beer has disappeared.

So headed off to my local Bunnings and picked up a small hand held pressure sprayer. It cost about $6.50. Its made of HDPE so it should be food grade. It works by pumping the knob on top up and down, increasing the pressure inside the canister so that it is forced up a pickup tube that sits inside, just like a beer keg or stove top espresso I suppose.

You can upsize this build if you wanted to, there are various sized canisters available, from 500ml bottles right up to back pack sized ones. So I guess can choose the size of canister that suits your needs best. For me, its the 1L.

Now, where the liquid would come out the sprayer nozzle, there is a cap on there which has a thread on it, you can unscrew it and there is a little rubber stopper inside. Pull that stopper out and put it aside, you will need it shortly.

Its just a little rubber plug with a couple of hole in the end. This will be your sparkler.

Now while I was at the hardware store, one isle away there was some coils of tubing. I needed a 7mm outside diameter tube to fit into the nozzle where the rubber plug was sitting.

I had a play around in the store until I found the right size. It needs to be a snug fit so that it won't fall out. You should be able to lift the spray bottle up by the hose and it wont fall out. The coil of tube cost about 7 bucks, but as i only used maybe a fiftieth of it, I guess it only really cost me 50 cents maximum.

Cut about 15cm worth of tube. Mine was bent into a coil as it was packaged this way, so I boiled up some water and submersed the tube in it. I pulled it out, bent it into the shape i wanted (sort of a right angle) and then dunked it into some cold water and held it there for a few seconds to cool. This seems to have reset the shape.....

Then push the sparker plug into the end. The 7mm hose was flexible enough so that I could put the sparkler into the tube without the need for boiling water, but you may require it depending on the parts you are using.

Jam the other end into your sprayer nozzle and its good to go.

The stout I had on hand to test this was carbed up as per a normal stout would be that has been bottle conditioned. If you try and pour beer that has this much carbonation in it you are just gonna get a glass full of foam. I shook my beer up a bit so that it fizzed up then poured it into a glass pyrex jug and gave it a bit of a thrashing with a fork to try and beat out some CO2. Then I poured it into my handheld beer sprayer gun thingy.
If you individually prime your bottles you could use maybe half the normal priming sugar you would normally use and mark the bottle caps so that you know some are under primed for conventional consumption, and bottle half of your brew as normal. That way you don't have to mess around with trying to decarbonate your beer.

You need to give it a bit of a pump with the plunger to build up the pressure, then you can squeeze the trigger on the handle. The model of sprayer i used had a small button you could engage so that the sprayer stays locked on, so you don't need to hold it down all the time. If the flow starts to slow down just give it a few pumps with the plunger to get it moving along nicely again.

Keep an eye on it when the level gets down low, otherwise you will pump straight compressed air into your nicely pumped beer and it will be like beer-da-geddon in your glass. I actually did this just then - as I was trying to take photos during the pour and so the finished product is a photo i took on the weekend, rather than the beer I poured tonight.

Hope this helps anyone who has wanted to have a crack at hand pumped beers on a small scale. Its handy because you don't need to have a bulky setup, and I only drink beers like this occasionally so I couldn't justify a larger scale setup - yet.
All up it cost about $7, less than the price of a pint at the local.

clink clink!

 

[dago001]

Even with a beer engine, I can see this being a good option.
Cheers
LB

 

[jatterbury]

ingenious really, however I can imagine my better half's reaction when I use a "garden poison pump" to pour beer!

 

[Tahoose]

I just flicked through the album of this and then went in search of the relevant thread. Thanks for the post and info, I will be trying this one out for sure... I'm sure I won't be the only one.

 

[Tahoose]

ingenious really, however I can imagine my better half's reaction when I use a "garden poison pump" to pour beer!

Have already been through this when I showed her the DIY garden sprayer party keg

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/21201-building-and-using-garden-sprayer-party-kegs/?hl=%2Bgarden+%2Bsprayer

 

[fdsaasdf]

Nice job, simple but effective. I had thought about having a crack at this but didn't want to end up chasing fittings and bits for an experiment, but with this write-up it seems simpler than I thought.

I'm going to give this a try on the weekend - seeing as I already have 7mm vinyl tubing all I need to do is grab the pump unit! Have plenty of beer to give it a try with (my English styles are usually enjoyed in Headmaster glasses as I'd hate to overcarb them!)

As I'm super keen on picking up a beer engine when I'm out of the country in a few months, this will be a nice little test to whet my appetite that much more... and hopefully enjoy a hand-pumped beer while continuing research all the bits I need to do it properly!

 

[marksy]

Awesome. Great write up. Will be having a stab this weekend.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Nice solution. I just use a syringe for the same effect.

 

[Alex.Tas]

Even with a beer engine, I can see this being a good option.
Cheers
LB

Maybe a more portable option?

ingenious really, however I can imagine my better half's reaction when I use a "garden poison pump" to pour beer!

Yep, its pretty ghetto. just dont get this one mixed with roundup. mmmm foamy roundup.

Have already been through this when I showed her the DIY garden sprayer party keg

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/21201-building-and-using-garden-sprayer-party-kegs/?hl=%2Bgarden+%2Bsprayer

That's a cool thread. I hadn't seen that before. seems like a pretty portable solution.

I'm going to give this a try on the weekend - seeing as I already have 7mm vinyl tubing all I need to do is grab the pump unit!

Nice. Just take your tubing along to the hardware store with you, just to make sure it fits. The same model pump may not be available. have fun with your "research" :chug:

Awesome. Great write up. Will be having a stab this weekend.

Thanks pal.

Nice solution. I just use a syringe for the same effect.

thanks mate. I was going to give this a crack actually as it was mentioned in the diy hand pump thread i think, as correct me if I'm wrong, Guinness was sold with a syringe for a while before they included widgets?
I went into a couple of chemists asking for large syringes and they said they didnt have any, so i needed a work around. I ended up using an atomiser (spray gun bottle thing that you would use for starsan etc). It gave me the result i was after but it took me half an hour to pour a beer!
So then i decided to get a larger spray bottle that would pump the liquid out with a relatively even flow rate.
What level of carbonation do you usually give your beer before you stick it in the syringe?

thanks all for the comments!

 

[Liam_snorkel]

not sure where I got mine from - possibly the vet when the cat was sick and needed drugs pumped into it (orally not rectally)..

I use it with a variety of carbonation levels - basically, if the beer is near flat, you can pump it to your hearts content (with some air & beer in it for the first squirt, just beer for subsequent squirts) and end up with the same effect as a guinness or kilkenny type of pour.

If it's more carbonated you end up with beer head spouting all over the place, but it it still possible to achieve the dense looking head by just drawing a small amount of beer into the syringe and pumping it in.

 

[crowmanz]

Pretty awesome, I will have to grab an extra sparyer when I get around to making one of those party kegs.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Children's panadol. Always comes with a syringe (they even ask at the chemist) and the cheaper generic varieties are pretty inexpensive.

I have four kids, so I usually find a syringe from these.

 

[JDW81]

I went into a couple of chemists asking for large syringes and they said they didnt have any

Odd, all my local chemists have boxes full of the things. They'll only charge you a few cents each too.

I knock mine off from the hospital, but that isn't an option for most.

 

[nala]

These sprayers come in various sizes.
Maybe a 3litre one with a pressure release valve could be used to carbonate the residual beer which I usualy bottle,this would save time and effort from bottling and give an alternative finish to the beer.
Not sure whether the beer would have to be drunk in one session to avoid spoiling, maybe someone can offer thoughts on this.

 

[Alex.Tas]

Odd, all my local chemists have boxes full of the things. They'll only charge you a few cents each too.

I knock mine off from the hospital, but that isn't an option for most.

Maybe they misunderstood me and thought i wanted some different syringes, sometimes used for other not so legal purposes...
how big (volumetrically) are these syringes you use? I'd be interested to have a go at using one one day.

Not sure whether the beer would have to be drunk in one session to avoid spoiling, maybe someone can offer thoughts on this.

My understanding is that stouts generally need a while to condition before they hit peak flavour. however, I've never kegged beer so can't comment with any authority on if this principle is more applicable to bottle conditioning, rather than kegging stout.
The reason i bring it up is that if you were to store say 4L of stout (23L batch and 19L into say a corny, 4L into a pump pack) you might need to leave it in there a while to reach this peak level and i dunno how well medium term storage in one of these would go. I can suggest one way for you to find out though...

 

[S.E]

Maybe a more portable option?


Yep, its pretty ghetto. just dont get this one mixed with roundup. mmmm foamy roundup.


That's a cool thread. I hadn't seen that before. seems like a pretty portable solution.

Nice. Just take your tubing along to the hardware store with you, just to make sure it fits. The same model pump may not be available. have fun with your "research" :chug:


Thanks pal.


thanks mate. I was going to give this a crack actually as it was mentioned in the diy hand pump thread i think, as correct me if I'm wrong, Guinness was sold with a syringe for a while before they included widgets?
I went into a couple of chemists asking for large syringes and they said they didnt have any, so i needed a work around. I ended up using an atomiser (spray gun bottle thing that you would use for starsan etc). It gave me the result i was after but it took me half an hour to pour a beer!
So then i decided to get a larger spray bottle that would pump the liquid out with a relatively even flow rate.
What level of carbonation do you usually give your beer before you stick it in the syringe?

thanks all for the comments!

I think it was me that mentioned the Guinness syringe that came out before the widget. I remember getting them in Ireland but only for a short while, I was getting a bit worried that I might of imagined it so I googled it and came up with this web page it seems your pump is pretty near to the original compressed air/nitrogen system.

Here is the article:

It’s a thing of beauty. It rises on a pillar of a million tiny bubbles, forming a thick disk of creamy smoothness that makes your mouth water just looking at it.
No, it’s not a scooter pie in a hot tub. Rather, a glass of Guinness stout, with that perfect, creamy white head floating at the top of the jar. The best Guinness is pulled from the tap at your favorite pub or — through the magic of modern technology — poured from a tall “draft can” at home.
There’s magic in that head. Plus a little luck and one key component: nitrogen. It’s the result of years of research and refinement following a simple serendipitous discovery in old Dublin.
Tony Carey, Guinness’ director of technical development in Dublin, has spent the past 32 years studying beer foam and improving it in the Guinness we drink. “Innovation often comes at the interface between production and consumption. Such is the case with the trademark creamy head on a glass of Guinness,” says Carey.
“In the l950s Guinness was still cask-conditioned and shipped to the pubs in a state of late fermentation. The beer was very lively in the barrel and could only be pulled by hand. Even using a beer engine, you ended up with mountains of foam in the glass,” he says.
One enterprising publican came up with his own scheme for getting the foam under control. “He vented the barrel during the cellar condition to prevent excess carbonation. Then, instead of pulling it by hand, he built a compressed-air system to push the beer up to the taproom,” Carey explains.
What the publican quickly discovered was that his Guinness was better than that of the pubs across the street. The head was creamier and longer lasting. His Guinness developed a following, and within 10 years nearly every pub in Dublin was using the air-pressure dispense system and reaping the benefits of the amazing head.
Meanwhile, scientists at Guinness were working tirelessly to unlock the secrets of air’s effect on beer. They eventually solved the mystery and uncovered nitrogen as the key.
Atmospheric air is roughly 78 percent nitrogen. Since we need oxygen (O2) to live, our natural tendency is to think of air as mostly O2, but in fact it is only about 21 percent of the total.
Beer foam is a blend of gas and liquid beer. For reasons we will leave to BYO’s Mr. Wizard to explain, nitrogen bubbles are smaller than carbon dioxide bubbles. When you stack millions of nitrogen beer bubbles atop one another, you end up with foam that contains more liquid beer and less gas than a traditional CO2 based head, hence a denser, creamier head.
Oxidation is the reason Guinness chemists and engineers went about perfecting the nitrogen-based dispense system they use today. It’s a blend of nitrogen and carbon dioxide — no oxygen, so no risk of oxidation. The research also led to the development of the in-can widget system. Carey’s name is among the patentees.

The Foam Thickens
As a homebrewer you might be thinking, “How can I take advantage of this nitrogen phenomenon in my own beer?” Good question.
You can use nitrogen in your home brewery to dress your beers with the classic Dublin head.
If you are imagining pipes, tubes, hoses, and regulators, you are partially correct. If you keg routinely you can use nitrogen in your set-up. It just requires storage and regulation equipment separate from that used for CO2.
Cliff Tanner, proprietor of Braukunst, a homebrew kegging and dispensing supplier in Carlton, Minn., explains: “High-quality nitrogen is available at welding supply houses. You will need a dedicated regulator for the N2, because a CO2 regulator won’t work with nitrogen.”
Blending nitrogen and CO2, the way Guinness does, is not worth the trouble, Tanner says. “Mixed gas is more expensive and difficult to control for carbonation. The preferred method is to ‘carbonate’ the beer with nitrogen — obviously a misnomer here — and dispense as usual with low-pressure CO2.”
You can find nitrogen regulators where you get the gas cylinder.
By far the simplest, cheapest, and possibly most elegant way to get nitrogen in your beer and set a creamy head was inspired, again, by Guinness.
Before the “widget” can, Pub Draught Guinness, was released to the public, Guinness developed an at-home version of the old air-based nitrogen charging system, Guinness Bottle Draft.
Guinness Bottle Draft, in a nutshell, was regular Guinness, only carbonated at a lower-than-normal volume. You had to drink it from a glass to reap the benefits of the system, which featured a small, disposable plastic “initiator” to set a nitrogen-based, creamy head on the beer in the glass.
Each six-pack came with a disposable initiator. The device was a small pump, like a medical syringe without a needle. The beer poured from the bottle with almost no head. The consumer was directed to use the initiator to suck up a little beer, then shoot it back into the glass at high velocity. This brought in some nitrogen-rich room air and seeded a bed of tiny nitrogen bubbles, creating an instant, creamy, Dublin-style head.
Upon discovering the concept, BYO researchers immediately tried to duplicate the technique. In other words, one night either too much beer or too much curiosity encouraged me to zap a glass of homebrew with a child’s medicine syringe.
In many homes with small children, the plastic baby-medicine syringe is a pretty ubiquitous item. A syringe, remember, is not a needle. It’s the thing to which you attach a needle. In the case of the baby-medicine syringe, it is not designed to take a needle but rather to ensure precision when dispensing oral medication. It looks like a large needle syringe, but it has just a small nipple on the end.
Two characteristics make the gadget work as a Dublin-beer-head initiator: The plunger allows liquid to be expelled at high velocity, and the small outflow port allows for efficient aeration of the beer in the glass.
These syringes are sold in most drug stores. Remember, the kind you need has the plunger. Drug stores also sell the rubber-bulb type of medicine dispensers. These are just enlarged eyedroppers and not suitable for beer.

Dosing Your Beer
The technique is exceedingly simple. Pour your homebrew into a glass, leaving an inch or two of headroom. Use the syringe to suck up some beer. Lift the syringe out of the beer and draw the plunger up a little more, until you have drawn an equal amount of air over the beer inside the syringe. You want a 50-50 beer-to-air ratio, but remember this is not rocket science.
Now, keeping the syringe above the surface of the beer, shoot it all back into the glass in one quick motion. Sit back and watch the bubble show. You will see that all-familiar dance, waves of bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass, forming a creamy, dense, nitrogen-seeded head. It’s a sight. One of humanity’s great stress reducers after a hard day at the office.
The lasting power of the air-seeded head you create with the syringe method will depend on your recipe and brewing technique. Many factors contribute to head retention. If your beer is not holding a head on its own, the seeded head will also be short lived.
And what about the dreaded “O” word? You might think that oxidation is a threat when you are deliberately aerating your beer. Don’t worry about it; oxidation rarely lives up to its press clippings. Besides, oxidation is a problem of aging and storage, not of beer that is about to be consumed.

Mind the Fizz
Through trial and error you will learn how much beer to draw into the syringe. It depends on the beer’s starting carbonation level. If you carbonate at a low level, say under two volumes, you will be able to seed a head with two to four milliliters of beer in the syringe. However, if your carbonation is high, 2.5 to three volumes, you will need to use some restraint with the syringe, as one Anheuser-Busch public-relations flak learned the hard way.
Guinness makes Budweiser under contract for Anheuser-Busch in Europe. When the deal was sealed, Guinness and Anheuser-Busch decided to hold a press conference in Ireland, during which the joint venture was to be toasted with glasses of Guinness and Bud. A variety of dignitaries, including ambassadors and Guinness and Anheuser-Busch executives, were on hand for the photo opportunity.
A glass of Bottle Draft Guinness and one of Bud were poured. But before the cameras started clicking, a Guinness media-relations representative stepped in with his plastic initiator. He quickly zapped the stout, setting a perfect creamy head for the photographers.
Of course, in the few moments it took to complete the process, the head on the glass of Bud had fallen away to nothing. That’s when the light bulb blinked in the head of an enterprising Bud public relations man. He stepped forward, grabbed the initiator from his Irish counterpart and zapped the Bud. It erupted like a volcano from the glass, soaking a nearby ambassador with St. Louis’ best!
If your beer is fizzy enough, take it easy with the syringe. And have fun.

 

[Tahoose]

If anybody seriously needs a couple of syringes for pumping beer, just shoot me a pm and I should be able to sort you out.

Interesting read ^^^ thanks for that.

 

[fdsaasdf]

2L sprayer + 8mm vinyl tubing makes for quite a pleasant and creamier ale. Thanks Alex.Tas for sparking me into action!

 

[Grott]

Thanks for info S.E, have syringes I use to measure star-San, will give this a go tomorrow on some stouts.
Cheers

 

[Alex.Tas]

2L sprayer + 8mm vinyl tubing makes for quite a pleasant and creamier ale. Thanks Alex.Tas for sparking me into action!

No problem. I guess the beauty of this system is that it can be pretty easily upsized depending on your wants/needs. If you are have a few people over it may be better to have a larger canister, you can just pump up the canister then pour many beers with ease.