Archive
Specific pattern of failure, US Sankey /D System valves
Over the past year I have been made aware of many two- to five-year old D System (US Sankey) keg valves failing in a specific way in breweries in the US and Canada. Invariably, upon inspection it turns out these valves are copies of Micro Matic valves in terms of basic design and functionality, but manufactured using inferior quality materials.
This particular failure often becomes evident first as kegs that will not drain properly during the purge cycles on keg cleaning lines and is caused by Internal delamination of the rubber CO2 valve. Delamination is the cracking, splitting and separation of the rubber from the metal spine embedded within the CO2 valve, most often a result of being manufactured with low-grade black rubber. Rarely, it will also occur in valves after 7-10 or more years of heavy use and possibly from excessively strong chemical solution or excessively hot steam sanitation on cleaning/filling lines.
Visual inspection of the valve in the keg shows no evidence of damage, since the problem is internal. The valve will often continue to perform for some time with this damage, allowing kegs to be filled with beer and beer to be dispensed. The problem on the keg line is caused by flaps of rubber torn loose from the valve, sealing the valve closed while in the open position due to reverse flow when cleaning solution must evacuate the keg on the side of the valve normally used for CO2 gas entering the keg for dispense.
Delamination also creates un-hygienic conditions – it’s impossible to fully clean and sanitize cracked, torn rubber parts – and eventually will result in a “leaker keg.”
If you are experiencing this type of valve failure, your best option is to replace the spear with a new one. Your keg supplier may be able to offer solutions.
I hope this info is helpful.
Source: Jon @BA Forum
Wine Drinkers by the Numbers
Good news, everyone – the latest statistics pertaining to wine drinkers are in! Even better news, the information revealed will appeal to most bar operators, not just those running venues dedicated to wine. We’re all familiar with the numbers concerning craft beers, craft cocktails, rum, vodka, brown spirits, and the battle between the latter two. However, it’s likely safe to assume that only a small percentage of operators doing business outside of the wine world know much about those who choose to imbibe vino. The following information will be of great value to wine bar operators and those who have been thinking about adding wine to their menus. With any luck, it will also inspire a significant number of our readers who previously skipped over the wine drinker demographic to rethink that decision. Cheers!
*Information provided by the Wine Market Council, the Wine Institute, Wines & Vines and the Gomberg-Fredrikson & Associates Report
Read the full article at: http://www.nightclub.com/operations/wine-menu/wine-drinkers-numbers
Oxygen (O2) parts per billion?
Dearest reader!
We can produce nitrogen generating systems with extremely low oxygen levels, but not parts per billion. Parts per million is 0.000001 and parts per billion is 0.000000001. UHP nitrogen is typically 0.001 and we can do it. Just let us know the flows and pressure required!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Will mixed gases spontaneously ‘unmix’?
If you have a mixture of two gases with different densities, and leave them undisturbed in a closed container, will the denser gas tend to accumulate at the bottom of the container? [If it matters, the specific situation I am interested in is H2S in air (or N2).]
Read the responses at: Quoro
If CO2 is so heavy, why doesn’t it sink and suffocate us?
The question in the title was inspired by a comment on a site I visit a lot, one to which I’ve posted a lot in nigh on three years. More about that later. Suffice it to say that I shall reply to here, rather than there, and attempt to place a link on the other site. There will be no more posting to that site until such time as its moderation policies are given a thorough overhaul! Nuff said for now…
The question was essentially this: given that we all know that petrol fumes sink to the ground at a filling station, why doesn’t CO2 – which we also know is denser than air – also settle at ground level? Why are we not suffocated by the stuff – or does it only come up to ankle or knee level?
Continue reading at: Science Buzz
Dissolved Oxygen increases during carbonation
A CO2 purity meter can go a long way in solving these types of questions. We had the same thing happening randomly. Usually after having our CO2 receiver filled. We put an SOP in place and made sure a brewer was on hand to watch the trucker unload the CO2, taking him through the line purging steps. We also asked our CO2 supplier for a COA for the CO2 in the truck. The Oxygen spec for Beverage grade CO2 can be as high as 30ppm oxygen entrained. Your normal DO meter can’t read this, and a haphazard CO2 transfer can see the entrained O2 jump way up to the 100’s. We told our CO2 supplier that we would reject any shipment over 10ppm O2. Our normal base line for O2 in CO2 was about 8ppm.
Source:
Jim Crooks
Firestone Walker Brewing Co
Paso Robles, CA
Quote of the Day
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.”
100 Best Beer Bars 2014: West
Tiger!Tiger!
3025 El Cajon Blvd., North Park, Calif.; tigertigertavern.blogspot.com
This popular bar might be San Diego’s most iconoclastic; what other spot would organize an annual day-long bike caravan (with beer breaks!) to pick up kegs from a local brewery? Tiger! Tiger! recently celebrated its second anniversary with a slew of special events like these, including the grand opening of its IPA bar, a bar-within-the-bar for the hop-obsessed. Fashioned from repurposed wood, the IPA bar occupies a corner of Tiger! Tiger!ʼs twinkly, light-strung, shipping container-enclosed back patio, and for the moment, is only open Friday and Saturday nights. Though the main indoor bar hosts 23 taps and the outdoor bar has just four, theyʼre consistently stocked with the best of the West, from Russian Riverʼs Pliny the Elder to hoppy offerings from Automatic Brewing Co., the small brewhouse helmed by co-founder Lee Chase at Blind Lady Ale House, Tiger! Tiger!’s older and equally admired sibling. This bar’s also one of the handful of local brew-centric eateries that serves food as good as the beer; a wood-fired oven bakes oysters under a creamy Rockefeller-like sauce and roasts meat for sandwiches. And the Sunday brunch is one of the cityʼs best; the beer and house-made donut pairing is a killer way to start the day. –Candice Woo
1702
1702 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson, Ariz.; 1702az.com
Bailey’s TapRoom
213 SW Broadway, Portland, Ore.; baileystaproom.com
Bazi Bierbrasserie
1522 SE 32nd Ave., Portland, Ore.; bazipdx.com
Beer Revolution
464 3rd St., Oakland, Calif.; beer-revolution.com
Belmont Station
4500 SE Stark St., Portland, Ore.; belmont-station.com
Beveridge Place Pub
6413 California Ave. SW, Seattle; beveridgeplacepub.com
Blind Lady Ale House
3416 Adams Ave., San Diego; blindlady.blogspot.com
Craft and Growler
3601 Parry Ave., Dallas; craftandgrowler.com
Craft Pride
61 Rainey St., Austin, Texas; craftprideaustin.com
Draught House & Brewery
4112 Medical Pkwy., Austin, Texas; draughthouse.com
Encinitas Ale House
1044 S. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, Calif.; encinitasalehouse.com
Falling Rock
1919 Blake St., Denver; fallingrocktaphouse.com
Hamilton’s Tavern
1521 30th St., San Diego; hamiltonstavern.com
The Hay Merchant
1100 Westheimer Rd., Houston; haymerchant.com
Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom
3090 SE Division St., Portland, Ore.; imperialbottleshop.com
Mayor of Old Town
632 S. Mason St., Fort Collins, Colo.; themayorofoldtown.com
Mikkeller Bar
34 Mason St., San Francisco; mikkellerbar.com
Mongoose Versus Cobra
1011 McGowen, Houston; mongooseversuscobra.com
O’Brien’s Pub
4646 Convoy St., San Diego; obrienspub.net
Petrol Station
985 Wakefield, Houston; facebook.com/petrolstation
Pine Box
1600 Melrose Ave., Seattle; pineboxbar.com
Saraveza Bottle Shop & Pasty Tavern
1004 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, Ore.; saraveza.com
The Sixgill
3417 Evanston Ave. N., Seattle; thesixgill.com
Strangeways
2429 N. Fitzhugh, Dallas; 214.823.7800
Stumbling Monk
1635 E. Olive Way, Seattle; 206.860.0916
Surly Goat
7929 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, Calif.; surlygoat.com
Tap and Handle
307 S. College Ave., Fort Collins, Colo.; tapandhandle.com
Tony’s Darts Away
1710 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, Calif.; tonysda.com
Toronado
547 Haight St., San Francisco; toronado.com
Toronado
4026 30th St., San Diego; toronadosd.com
The Trappist
460 8th St., Oakland, Calif.; thetrappist.com
Source: Draft Magazine
In American craft brewing, IPAs reign supreme
The quest for top honors in American craft brewing has come here, to a hotel ballroom marked “restricted access.”
More than 140 bottles of American-style India Pale Ale sit stacked in donated Bud Light and King Cobra boxes, labors of hop love brewed by a cast of characters that includes an organic chemist, a man with a grim reaper tattoo and a guy who wants to make a beer that tastes like orange sherbet mixed with hot fudge ice cream.
Over the next nine hours, beer identified only by number will get sniffed, scrutinized, swallowed and spit out by judges at the 29th annual Great American Beer Festival, the world’s largest beer competition.
Only one American-style IPA will win gold, making it the craft beer equivalent of winning “American Idol.” Since 2001, no other contest category has been as competitive. “Every brewer wants this one,” as one judge put it.
It’s a simple case of supply and demand: the IPA’s popularity is soaring among brewers and drinkers alike, a testament to a maturing American beer palate and this country’s rich supply of hops in the Pacific Northwest.
“As you go through the journey of beer education and appreciation, hops and big hoppy character are something most people eventually gravitate toward,” said Greg Koch, CEO of Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, Calif., a pioneer of the style. “They are just extraordinarily satisfying on the palate. Words almost fail for me. I feel like waxing poetic, and then my eyes sort of get soft. It’s a romantic subject for me.”
Fizz Dispense Optimization Group 