Beer cooler: characteristics, instruction

Beer business has flourished for many centuries, and beer lovers in the world are several million. But among them there is hardly one, preferring to drink this drink warm. Experts believe that the temperature of beer poured into the glass should be within +4 ° C + 6 ° C, and at the outlet from the tank it should be about +2 ° C. Beer cooler is a machine designed to maintain an acceptable temperature in a draft beer, at which the exclusive taste of the drink is fully revealed. It is a mandatory and very important element of beer equipment, whether it is installed in a stationary room or at a street trade point. There are several types of coolers on sale and many models. They differ in design, in price, and most importantly, in accordance with the principle of work. Which one to choose, so that you do not have to pay extra money and do not ruin your business, our article says.

Classification

Before everyone who decided to organize a business for the sale of beer, there will necessarily be a question what kind of beer cooler to buy. Despite a wide choice of brands and models of these units, they can be divided into two types in the place of installation:

1. Nadrochnychny.

2. Substituting.

There are also devices called kegerators, but they are used mainly to cool a small amount (up to 2 kegs) of expensive and elite beers. Cooling in them reaches the design temperature in a few hours.

The second classification is based on the principle of work. There are also only two types of coolers:

- flowing (in the people they are called wet);

- Dry.

Let's consider each type in detail.

Underground

This beer cooler, as the name implies, is placed permanently under the bar counter. The configuration of this type of device is horizontal and vertical. Their advantages:

- high capacity (up to 350 liters per hour);

- the ability to simultaneously cool up to 20 varieties of beer;

- high power;

- remaining free space on the bar.

The disadvantage of undercoolers is their impressive size.

Such units are reasonable to use in institutions where large volumes of beer are bottled, not just one but several varieties.

The principle of their work is extremely simple. Beer is stored in kegs at the temperature that is maintained in the room. By hoses, it enters the cooler, and from there to the pouring column, where there is a special lever (crane). When you press it, the drink begins to pour into the glass.

In the market you can find many models of coolers of the under-stand type from different manufacturers. In the price category, the most attractive Chinese devices, but, according to consumers, they do not have a high enough quality. Among the relatively inexpensive but well-proven coolers are the brands Nord, Yantar, Typhoon, Pegasus, Umka.

The surplus

Beer cooler of this type is placed directly on the bar counter.

Its advantages:

- compactness;

- Absence of unnecessary bottling column (in some models of installations for beauty it is preserved);

- quick and easy installation.

The disadvantage can be considered low productivity and power, so it is more reasonable to use surplus coolers where beer is sold in a small assortment (up to 4 varieties) and in small quantities (up to 50 liters per hour).

Flowing

To date, the most popular beer cooler. The photo demonstrates its design, which includes two main units - a compressor part and a bath with water. In the first part there is a compressor (in the diagram it is numbered 1), a fan (No. 2), a condenser (No. 9), freon pipes (No. 10) and a choke (No. 11). The bath contains coils with beer (No. 6), an evaporator (No. 7), an ice bank (No. 8), a stirring pump (No. 3) and a post-cooling line (No. 4). This element is very important, since beer in the hoses coming out of the cooler's bath can be heated up considerably before it gets into the glass, which is especially important when the cooler is placed at a considerable distance (more than 3 meters) from the filling point. In such cases, sufficient thermal insulation of the hoses with beer, plus an additional cooling device, is required. If this is neglected, the customer will receive a drink not only not too cold, but with a lot of foam. The principle of operation of flow-through devices is to cool the beverage with constantly circulating water, refrigerant or ice.

Operating principle

It is not difficult to assemble a flowing beer cooler. The instruction says that for this it is required to install a compressor, a fan, a condenser on the platform of the unit, and then connect them with copper pipes by a soldering method. For greater reliability, these places should be outside the bath. The cooler is then charged with a refrigerant and the unit passes a test, the indicator of which is the temperature of the beer during bottling. The principle of the device is as follows: the refrigerant (for example, freon) enters the compressor, where it is strongly compressed (the pressure increases from 5 to 25 atmospheres). It heats up to about 80 ° C. Such a hot gas enters the condenser, continuously blown by the fan. Due to this, the refrigerant cools down and becomes liquid. At the next stage, it moves into a throttling device (a special tube called a capillary). After it, the pressure of the coolant falls due to an increase in the diameter of the refrigerant line. The temperature of the refrigerant also drops, and it begins to transfer to the gaseous state. In this form, it enters the evaporator, where, due to the transformation from liquid to vapor, it strongly cools the water that cools the coils with beer. After completing its mission, freon again gets into the compressor.

Advantages of flow chillers:

- Reliability;

- efficiency;

- easy to install;

- low price;

- the quality of beer does not deteriorate (there is no oversaturation with carbon).

Disadvantages:

- the temperature of the drink can not be adjusted;

- too long (up to 5 hours) preparatory phase;

- the need to periodically change the water in the bathroom.

Dry

In recent years beer dryers of the dry type are becoming more popular. Their obvious advantages are:

- compactness;

- rapid cooling of the drink;

- small in duration (in just 15-25 minutes) preparation for the beginning of work;

- Noiselessness of the process.

The disadvantages are:

- higher than the cost of flow chillers;

- increased energy costs;

- impossibility of creating an ice bank.

The device and the principle of operation

Coolers of dry type work approximately the same as flow dryers, so their design is not much different. The main difference is that in these aggregates water is used instead of water, most often aluminum alloys. This is clearly demonstrated by the above scheme, where the number 8 is marked with a metal block.

The transfer of heat in dry coolers is direct, that is, the entire power of the unit is directed directly to the beer in the coils. A constructive feature of this type of units is that the beer cooler is connected without the possibility of connecting the pre-cooling circuit. Therefore, it is advisable to use such a device where the beverage is sold in small volumes, plus the filling point is located next to the cooler itself.

Beer cooler Typhoon

Let's take a closer look at this brand, as it is the undisputed leader among the analogs. Coolers "Typhoon" are manufactured by the manufacturer UBC Group. It is important that the company does not only develop new models of refrigeration equipment, but also sells its products directly, without intermediaries, which allows you to set prices without unnecessary cheating. Beer coolers "Typhoon" are produced in several models, depending on the volume of beer in liters, which the unit is able to cool in an hour. Among them, "Typhoon 50" - the most compact flowing beer cooler. The characteristics of the device are as follows: it has a cubic shape, length and width 45, and height - 50 cm. The mass of the unit is only 33 kg (without water), and simultaneously it can cool 2 types of beer. The most powerful in this series is Typhoon 220. It is capable of simultaneously cooling up to 14 beers, but it takes at least 6.5 hours to prepare for work. In addition to these two models, the company produces "Typhoons" with a capacity of 75, 90, 120 and 160 liters of drink per hour. Depending on the model, these coolers can be used both in large stationary premises and in small points for the sale of draft beer.

Errors allowed during operation of coolers

Practice shows that if you follow the instructions, the equipment serves for a long time. The most common errors are:

1. The flow-through beer cooler is put into operation without water in the bath.
2. The unit is too compact, that is, the distance from its walls to other objects is less than 150 mm (because of this there is no air circulation, so the cooler overheats).
3. The design mode by which the thermostat should work is not observed, because of what the beer is supercooled. This error is often committed by personnel, wishing to increase the capacity of the unit at peak loads. This can lead to the fact that only foam will flow from the tap.

There is also a number of purely technical errors related to improper grounding, improperly selected extensions, not sanitation of equipment.

In order to avoid problems in the implementation of beer, you need to follow the instructions that accompany each model of the cooler.