Temprite

[leeboy]

Hi guys, I got given a functioning temprite out of a local wedding funciton centre in newcastle that a mate owns, they switched over to bottled beer because it is more cost effective when you are only having 2 functions a week. Anyway I have been planing to make this into a bar but just don't know if I'll get around to it. I currently have a funcitoning beer fridge with taps coming out and was thinking that could be the permanent ferment fridge but aren't sure anymore.

The temprite has 3 lines with all fittings so I have a few questions that will help me make my mind up

1) What would the energy efficiency of this be compared to my fridge? (im a bit of a greeny at heart)
2) What would a rough cost be to change the lines over from big kegs to postmix kegs?
3) What would this be worth if I sold it?
4) What would you guys recommend?

See photos
Lee

 

[ausdb]

1) What would the energy efficiency of this be compared to my fridge? (im a bit of a greeny at heart)
2) What would a rough cost be to change the lines over from big kegs to postmix kegs?
3) What would this be worth if I sold it?
4) What would you guys recommend?

Nice score!!! Answers below
1, Probably not very as you would still want to keep your kegs in the fridge anyway as your HB is not pastuerised. It could be useful as part of a temperature control system where you chill a glycol and then pump it round to keep other things cool.
2, All you need to do is adapt the beverage tube from the keg coupler to corny disconnects to connect it to your kegs, a handful of John Guest fittings would help.
3, Hard to say it depends if someone needs one at the time.
4, Send it to me I will dispose of it for you

 

[leeboy]

Thanks for the info Ausdb,
Well it is definately disappointing to know that the option of running the beer straight through the glcol even while they are at room temperature isn't going to work. Guess that kills the idea of a bar on wheels for partys. Well temperature control sounds ok. So would that involve running the lines around my glass carboys? Or would I actually have to pump the fermenting wart through the temprite?

Thanks for the offer to dispose of it for me too. you are a very generous man... Think I'll be alright to "dispose" of it myself.

Just realised also that if the kegs weren't kept cold that couldn't of absorbed enough CO2 anyway.
Lee

 

[ausdb]

Thanks for the info Ausdb,
Well it is definately disappointing to know that the option of running the beer straight through the glcol even while they are at room temperature isn't going to work. Guess that kills the idea of a bar on wheels for partys. Well temperature control sounds ok. So would that involve running the lines around my glass carboys? Or would I actually have to pump the fermenting wart through the temprite?

Thanks for the offer to dispose of it for me too. you are a very generous man... Think I'll be alright to "dispose" of it myself.

Just realised also that if the kegs weren't kept cold that couldn't of absorbed enough CO2 anyway.
Lee

Short term would probably be ok as a party setup but I wouldn't store home brew out at ambient temps for long periods of time, it will only go downhill. You could carb your kegs warm but CO dissolves more into cold beer than warm beer, so if you are carbing warm then you will need a higher pressure to get the same volumes of CO for carbonation.

 

[leeboy]

Am i right to say that there then is no benefit in having it other than short term use for parties? Kegs already in the fridge pour fine therefore it is just another step to pour through the temprite.

 

[ausdb]

Am i right to say that there then is no benefit in having it other than short term use for parties? Kegs already in the fridge pour fine therefore it is just another step to pour through the temprite.

Yeah in a nutshell, thats it. But as the basis of a small chiller system for keeping things cool it is a great idea

 

[leeboy]

Can you flesh that idea out for me just a little. Sorry...

 

[ausdb]

Can you flesh that idea out for me just a little. Sorry...

Use the super chiller to cool a glycol solution dont worry about the product coils just use the reservoir. Get some stainless tube and make some immersion coils you can put in your fermenters, get a little fountain pump and then circulate the glycol through your immersion coils to keep fermenters cool. Or make some fermentation chambers out of coolroom panels and then get a small heat exchanger coil like a transmission oil cooler and a little fan and have it like a little coolroom to keep your fermenter's cool. Or what about using it to cool water going into your wort chiller so you can get down to lager pitching temps, the possibilities are endless.

 

[leeboy]

Hmm, food for thought. Thanks heaps for your time ausdb. Sounds like a very handy bit of bling. Just gotta decide now whether I'll use it or sell it.

 

[oldbugman]

Short term would probably be ok as a party setup but I wouldn't store home brew out at ambient temps for long periods of time, it will only go downhill.

Interesting.. where do people with bottles keep them when they arent drinking them?

 

[pokolbinguy]

Interesting.. where do people with bottles keep them when they arent drinking them?

Wine Cellar

 

[MHB]

I think you will find that, that unit is an "Ice Bank" not a "Glycol".
They are very different types of device and you should never put glycol in an ice bank.

Ice banks tend to have much smaller refrigeration units, they form ice around the outside during periods of low draw (the stirrer stops the water in the middle from freezing); when demand is high, the ice melting supplies extra cooling power.
They are cheaper to run, but you won't get a frozen font, just condensation.
Putting glycol in an ice bank will stop the ice forming, which sort of defeats the purpose of having an ice bank in the first place.

Glycol systems tend to have larger compressors are more expensive to operate, they maintain the glycol solution at a critical temperature, just above the freezing point of beer, so you can get a frozen font.
They are also temperamental and difficult for home brewers to manage, being designed for high flow applications.

The easy way to tell which type of unit you have (assuming it isnt written on the label) is to fill it up with water and turn it on.
If it forms a layer of ice- it's an ice bank.
If all the water suddenly turns into a slushy - its a glycol system and you should have had glycol in there to stop the water freezing (keep an eye on the unit as it gets near the freezing point, you dont want to stall the stirrer/pump and burn the motor out).

MHB

 

[ausdb]

Interesting.. where do people with bottles keep them when they arent drinking them?

Most keggers just rack to keg and carb, most people who bottle beer add sugar and secondary ferment it don't they? I know the bottles I store in a hot shed and the few kegs I have left sitting unrefrigerated have been past their best sooner rather than later yet the stuff in the keg in fridge stays fresher longer.

MHB cheers for the extra info, you could still play with the stat or LP control on a glycol unit and vice versa with an ice bacn unit just to use it as a mini chiller tho, but I guess that does take a bit of experience to twiddle the right knobs.

 

[leeboy]

Thanks heaps for the info Mark, will be in contact