What size walk-in cooler do you need? In this video, I'll help you select the
right walk-in cooler for that new draft beer system you're planning. Coming up!
Hey, Rick Uzubell again from Cabaret Design Group, where I share my personal
ideas and tips on bar design, draught beer system design and product reviews.
Later in this video I'll give you 'Today's Takeaway'.
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First, a little background information is necessary when
making any purchasing decision. There are two types
of walk-in coolers: prefabricated and built-to-order, as you see here.
This story is about the prefabricated variety, as shown in this photo. This type of
walk-in cooler consists of urethane panels and is
economical, easy to expand and relocate.
The elements that compose the walk-in cooler
are the walls, floor, door and refrigeration
system. The walls, which range from 3 1/2" - 5"
in thickness, consist of insulation sandwiched between
thin sheets of galvanized steel or aluminum.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, referenced below,
walk-in coolers used for beer walls require special design and engineering.
Many owners will utilize a rack system to make more efficient use
of the cube and in such applications a floor system is impractical.
Refrigeration systems can be mounted overhead, as seen here,
or on a side panel, if the room has a low
ceiling. The door should have a self-closing mechanism, such as the one
shown here, in order to conserve energy.
Walk-in coolers can be installed indoors and outdoors
and are offered by numerous companies, in a wide variety of 'Quick-Ship'
sizes, as shown in this chart.
The size of a walk-in cooler is driven by
the amount of beer you sell and the number of brands. A small walk-in cooler
can be selected if a bar sells a moderate amount of draught beer. The bar shown
here is a system featuring 10 brands of draft beer.
As with most bars, it's important to carry at least three of the largest U.S.
domestic beers, such as Bud Light, Miller Lite and Coors; therefore,
in this example, that means we have to accommodate space for seven craft beers.
The U.S. domestics are commonly sold in half barrels which are 15 1/2 gallons
and craft beers are most commonly sold in 1/6 barrels,
called 'Sixtels', which are 5.16 gallons,
and less commonly in slim 1/4 barrels,
that are 7.75 gallons, as shown in this chart.
Barrels need to be stacked inside the walk-in cooler, as shown in this photo.
1/2 barrels are normally stacked in racks and the craft beers are
commonly stacked with a device known as a 'Keg Series Spacer', such as the one
manufactured by DeVault and featured by many web retailers. The advantage of the
keg series spacer is that it allows two kegs of the same product to be connected
to the glycol system.
Getting back to our example, I designed the walk-in
cooler to have seven brands of sixtels along one
long wall, double-stacked, four slim 1/4 barrels along
the opposite wall, double-stacked and three 1/2 barrels,
double-stacked on the end wall. Each of the smaller barrels has a row of backups
in front of it, designated in red. This layout can be downloaded at the end of this article.
Here's our actual 6' x 8' walk-in cooler, which can easily
store in excess of 14 brands of draught beer, with plenty of backup.
Draft beer requires that the temperature be carefully maintained at 38 degrees Fahrenheit,
and this is impossible to do when the door of the walk-in cooler is
constantly being opened-and-shut. Therefore, cased beer should never be
stored in the same walk-in cooler as draft beer.
See you next time!