Serving Through A Cold Plate In The Fridge

[sam]

Hi,

I have started kegging, but do not have another fridge, and so was thinking about using a cold plate in my fridge, and running the beer through this.

Would it be worth putting the cold plate in a solution other than water to increase chillability?

Would this cool the beer effectively? My fridge is set pretty cold and in Melbourne at the moment ambient temp is about 14C. And how about in summer?

It would be cool if this is a viabile option. Kegs rock.

Thanks

 

[davidp]

Could work, you'd be limited in the number of cold beers you're able to pour in a given time. Putting the plate in a solution would increase the amount of beer able to be chilled, but it would also take longer to recover once the plate and solution has warmed up. You could always chuck a bag of ice in for parties.

With all that space taken up by the cold plate, bucket and what not, you might consider just using one of those little party kegs (either the converted garden sprayers or 3 gallon post-mix kegs) to keep in the fridge for serving. Use the other kegs for storage, and just transfer into the serving keg as required. That's what I do.

 

[Plastic Man]

About 3 years ago BYO mag had a DIY article on using a cold plate in a "dorm" fridge, (aussie translation "bar" fridge). I can't remember the specifiics but I think he did wack it in a stainless tray with water.

I've got it at home somewhere. I'll try and dig it out.

 

[sam]

I'd be happy only being able to serve two beers at a time using a double circuit plate, that's probably all I'd fit in a dedicated fridge anyway. And the dimensions of the plate are good, should fit in alright (375mm x 250mm x 55mm, from Andale).

Plastic Man, that would be cool if you could check out that article.

Does anyone know any good places to get a cold plate (double circuit)?

Has anyone actually used this type of setup to serve beer?

Thanks guys