Gutting kitchen - ideas for a permanent beer tap?

[T_C_D]

We are gutting the kitchen in our new house. I am trying to think of some cool things (not practical) to do in the kitchen. We will be running all new plumbing etc. It's a complete gut and redo job. I have decided on a water spicket in the backsplash behind the stove top.

How about a beer tap in the back splash in the kitchen as well? We have basement directly below the kitchen.

Now, I am actually not a big beer drinker but it would be uber fun and cool to have a flowing beer tap for 2 or 3 parties each year. I figure the lines and co2 are not a problem. How to keep a 1/4 keg cool? Wouldn't it be nice to have it inside a refrigerator so it would be available over long periods of time?

How would I clean the lines from the kitchen to the keg after a party?

What do you beer drinkers think?

[snakebrain]

The normal commercial method of cleaning lines is simply to disconnect them from the barrel and pump detergent solution through them. If you install it in such a way that you've got good access and/or can remove the line, it shouldn't be too tricky.

You'll need some way of cooling the beer if you want it really cold, and to be honest, putting a fridge down there might be the easiest way to go. Just drill a hole in the door for lines or something?

[davintosh]

Keep in mind that there will be unrefrigerated beer in the line between the fridge and the tap, so you'll want to keep the distance between the two at a bare minimum. I'd consider putting the fridge in the cabinet just below the tap, and even then the first glass is going to be warmer than the next. Having a tap in the wall wouldn't necessarily be a selling point when it comes time to move. Putting a tap in the wall like that makes it real property that goes with the house; something like that I'd prefer to take with me when I move.

Maybe a better option would be one of the fridges with the tap on top. Bringing that out for the occasional kegger wouldn't be a difficult thing, and the expense of it probably wouldn't top the cost of installing the tap in the backsplash.

[Xenocide]

The easiest way would be to keep the keg(s) in a fridge or chest freezer with a temperature controller. There are a couple main components you'll need: the cooler, the faucet(s), the lines (however long you need), the CO2 tank and regulator, and various taps for domestic/foreign beers. Probably a good place to start would be a fridge conversion kit, and the best place I've found for those is kegconnection.com. Keep in mind that if you're going to have long runs of beer lines, the beer is going to warm up and may foam too much. Most commercial keggerators have cooled tap towers for this reason. Sanitation is easy enough, pick up some starsan or something similar, make up a couple gallons and siphon it though from the top to the bottom.

[Ted in T.O.]

Todd you know I am not that great of a handy one but you might want to get one of these.



Or one of these.

[grahamular]

Todd,

In order to avoid having to cool the beer lines, I would recommend incorporating the keg cooler into the kitchen re-design, and locating it immediately below the tower location. Otherwise you'd be looking at installing a fully insulated line with internal cooling...or learn to like drinking all foam. As davintosh mentioned, even a very short uninsulated/cooled line will cause problems.

There are some very nice keg/wine coolers out there that will accept cabinet fronts so that it will look just like another cabinet. And if you place the tower towards the rear of the counter top, if you ever decide to turn the beer cooler into a wine cooler, the small hole in the counter top could more easily be concealed.

I used a regular Kenmore beer cooler to do something similar in my basement (sorry for the cell phone pics). My next completely unncessary project is to run a line for the drain tray into the sink drain under the counter.





-Graham

[BDK]

Todd,

In order to avoid having to cool the beer lines, I would recommend incorporating the keg cooler into the kitchen re-design, and locating it immediately below the tower location. Otherwise you'd be looking at installing a fully insulated line with internal cooling...or learn to like drinking all foam. As davintosh mentioned, even a very short uninsulated/cooled line will cause problems.

There are some very nice keg/wine coolers out there that will accept cabinet fronts so that it will look just like another cabinet. And if you place the tower towards the rear of the counter top, if you ever decide to turn the beer cooler into a wine cooler, the small hole in the counter top could more easily be concealed.

I used a regular Kenmore beer cooler to do something similar in my basement (sorry for the cell phone pics). My next completely unncessary project is to run a line for the drain tray into the sink drain under the counter.





-Graham

^^^^
all good advice,
long runs require insulated lines and Alley Gas which is CO2 and Nitrous mixed,
costing you more money and harder to get in small amounts,,,
keep it simple like in the pics Graham posted...

The "spicket",
run both hot and cold water to this.
they make a pot filler faucet,
one that is articulated and folds completely flat against the wall...
Buy your new cookware and the biggest pot you plan on using before installing this so that you get it set high enough...

I don't drink beer really but I would like one of these...



if you can't put it in your kitchen,
a nice wood fired pizza oven on the deck is great....

you can do more than pizza in it and it is easy to clean,
I bought a used one out of CPK for nothing and it worked great...

Congrats on the new house!!!!

[cvillebimmer]

It is likely you will consume more beer.

While you are plumbing, add a hot/cold water bib outside. Makes dog/car washing much more pleasant.

[T_C_D]

We have a butler's pantry that we will gut next year. That is the place for the beer tap! I can install the cooler below the counter! Great idea.

[tsmall07]

I made my own kegerator out of an old freezer and it was way cheaper than any of the ones you buy. I got the stuff from http://www.beveragefactory.com/. I had a drain through the top of the freezer into a bucket. It worked really well. It's definitely nice to have beer on tap all the time.

[Karl Grau]

When's the house warming party? I'll bring beer and/or potato salad.

[T_C_D]

When's the house warming party? I'll bring beer and/or potato salad.

July 4th. Fly into TO for Tedfest and then drive to NYC with me.

[bojangles]

Not beer but there are some pretty neat kits out there for a soda fountain.
There are these guys that ship turnkey packages..

http://www.sodaparts.com/

if you are interested - here is a bunch of reading material.

http://www.truetex.com/carbonation.htm

[Ted in T.O.]

When's the house warming party? I'll bring beer and/or potato salad.

July 4th. Fly into TO for Tedfest and then drive to NYC with me.

July 2nd Todd.

[T_C_D]

When's the house warming party?

July 4th. Fly into TO for Tedfest and then drive to NYC with me.

July 2nd Todd.

Right, the party at my house is the 4th.

[ElGuappo]

Either co2 or 'beer gas', mixed co2 and NITROGEN (NOT nitrous) are readily available, I work for Airgas and we supply this stuff to thousands of customers. Just depends on what kind of beer you are flowing. A 5lb cylinder can be had for under $50, and that will pump a LOT of beer.

From my reading, a chest freezer if much better to use as it keeps it plenty cold and is better insulated. Use a digital thermostat.

Lines are cheap, we sell that too, and you cna use any 'food grade' regulators, instead of paying 2-3x more from a DIY beer place.

The $$ part is the actual tap/tower assembly itself.

[WilNJ]

I'll be the girly man naysayer.

The in home tap is a waste.

Any time I've have the quantity of people over that would warrant a 1/4 barrel, it's also a diverse enough crowd that I'd buy a variety of beers. I'm past the point where a keg of Bud or Miller Lite will keep everyone happy and by your own admission, you're not a big beer drinker on your own.

I would also not want the headache of mainting the lines.

Cost no object, I'd go for a builtin fryer under a powerful range hood. Hmmm wings...

Deep Fryer

Those run about a $1,000.

I second the hot water spigot outside.

While you're plumbing, I would also throw one or two of these in.

Drain Water Heat Exchanger

[cvillebimmer]

Drain Water Heat Exchanger

Simple and very cool!

[rlomba8204]

We are gutting the kitchen in our new house. I am trying to think of some cool things (not practical) to do in the kitchen. We will be running all new plumbing etc. It's a complete gut and redo job. I have decided on a water spicket in the backsplash behind the stove top.

How about a beer tap in the back splash in the kitchen as well? We have basement directly below the kitchen.

Now, I am actually not a big beer drinker but it would be uber fun and cool to have a flowing beer tap for 2 or 3 parties each year. I figure the lines and co2 are not a problem. How to keep a 1/4 keg cool? Wouldn't it be nice to have it inside a refrigerator so it would be available over long periods of time?

How would I clean the lines from the kitchen to the keg after a party?

What do you beer drinkers think?

We have two or three relatively large parties each year, mostly in the nice weather. We gutted our kitchen in 2007, with that in mind in addition to the fact that we cook most every night. We are not big on eating out for a number of reasons.

The beer tap is a cool idea, certainly. But as a practical matter it is rare that people want to drink the same beer. Most of the men want different beers and most of the women want wine or a light mixed drink. Some of the men too want a mixed drink, albeit something more "weighty." What I would do, based on that experience, is install what is typically called a "wine fridge" but I would get one with varying racks that can hold beer and wine. Get it in a size that is a standard size, and build it into the cabinets.

Spend your money on wood cabinets. Quality cabinets, with wood drawers and other accessories for things like spices or your the knives you use regularly, will be most useful and unfortunately are expensive. The good news is that at least they last a long time.

Also, if you cook and entertain regularly, three other thoughts:

-- a deep sink that can handle the larger cooking trays and what not so they can be soaked and then cleaned quickly; and

-- a dishwasher with an effective "quick wash" setting -- sometimes during larger parties I am amazed how many glasses we go through and a quick wash setting (30 minutes) is very handy.

-- plenty of countertop space. The more the merrier.

Oh, I almost forgot -- and I lost the battle on this one with the wifey: I like to cook on Sundays, and I like to watch football. A cable TV hook-up undercounter so you can neatly mount or have a flat panel so you can watch while you cook. Some fridges have built in TVs too.