Long Draw Draft Beer System
A long draw draft beer system (sometimes referred to as a remote system) is necessary when your cooler is not right next to your bar and the tap. Building a long draw system requires planning and forethought to get it right. It also requires specialized equipment to push the draft beer from the keg to the draft beer tower at the correct temperature, so that foaming is not an issue. AHFP employs thought-out engineering processes to ensure that your system design is done right from the beginning and that every pour will result in the perfect pint of draft beer.
There are six parts that come into play when you are looking to install a remote draft beer system. They are:
- The Cooler: Beer coolers come in every shape and size, but the most important thing to know is the cooler must always maintain a temperature of 38 degrees for optimal pouring. If you share a cooler with food, if you are constantly opening the door to get bottled beer or wine, it will be hard to maintain that temperature and your beer will produce unwanted foam.
- Beer Trunkline: This is a collection of beer and glycol lines insulated and wrapped together as one. The number of lines wrapped together is determined by how many draft beers you are serving and how long they need to be to deliver your beer to the tap from the keg.
- The Glycol Unit: This is a piece of equipment that helps keep the beer cold and tasting great, but most importantly it keeps the beer in equilibrium. The glycol unit is a chiller for a long draw system, which is going to keep your beer at the cooler temperature from the beer cooler to your customer’s glass. To do this, glycol runs in a separate line alongside beer through a beer trunkline. Inside the trunkline, there is a supply and return hose that circulates cold glycol. It loops from the glycol Unit, then runs through the beer tower and back to ensure that the beer you’re pouring tastes cold and refreshing.
- The Proper Gas System: AHFP relies heavily on your gas company partners to assist us with which type of propulsion to choose to move your beer, however, we are big believers in blending gas for the beer to flow properly through the system. The gas applies pressure in your system (in the industry we call it applied pressure), and you want to have a steady flow of about 2oz of beer poured per second. The settings will vary depending on the distance your beer travels from keg to glass.
- Cooler Equipment: There are additional draft beer parts inside the cooler that will promote efficiency in your system.
- Beer Fobs: Beer fobs regulate the flow of beer when a keg is empty and needs to be swapped for a new keg. They turn off the gas so that foam doesn’t occur at the tap.
- Beer Pumps: Pumps use air to push the beer through your draft beer system to the taps without affecting the integrity of the draft beer.
- Secondary Regulators: These regulate the applied pressure to kegs in the cooler. They also regulate the pressure on beer pumps.
- Keg couplers: The keg coupler attaches to the valve and gas line. It allows the gas to enter the keg and push out the beer. As a result of all these components working together, you get a perfectly balanced and delicious draft beer served to your customer.
- Draft Beer Tower. A draft beer tower is an extension of the glycol unit because when it’s set up properly, it also maintains the cool temperature for pouring your draft beer. We do also see some air-cooled towers that dispense beer, but we prefer the ones that use glycols that beer is poured to the brew master’s standards!
As with all our sales and installations, our team listens to your needs, works within your budget, and helps you design the perfect draft beer system for your bar. Trust Us for the Perfect Pint! To see some of our featured projects with long-draw draft beer systems, click here.
