Frozen kegs and remote cooling problems

The extremely cold weather is likely to be with us for some time to come. So there are a couple of important items for you, the landlord to be aware of, that might affect your safety and your profits.

1.Keep a close eye on your remote cooler during the freeze. In particular if you experience a rise in temperature on the remote unit, and your beer is dispensing warmer than usual, then the chances are the heat dump unit which in most cases is fitted to an outside wall may be frozen. This usually shouldn’t happen as these units are fed with a water/ glycol mixture which is designed not to freeze. However quite often this mixture has been over diluted during the summer period and may therefore freeze, either in the pipe work which feeds the unit or the heat dump itself.

If you suspect you may be experiencing this problem you must ring your technical services as there is nothing you can do. If however your system is working correctly, what you can do is to put a non urgent call in to tech services and ask that your remote be checked for the correct glycol levels. Some brewers have trained landlords on how to top up with glycol and have left supplies on site. DO NOT USE CAR ANTI FREEZE IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES

2.If you have a keg delivery, check to see there are no signs of damage such as splits or bulges. Depending where the kegs have been stored they may be frozen inside, although most brewers store full kegs in warehouses these days. This situation can be very dangerous as it causes a massive increase in pressure within the keg. If you suspect you have a frozen keg  do not go near it, do not attempt to connect it for service,  and call tech services right away. Also during this cold snap do not store full beer kegs outside for the same reason.

Lets be careful people….