Cool's gold
As extra-cold products become more popular Graham Ridout looks into how pressure on pubs' chilled-dispense equipment is growing
Super-cold drinks are here to stay and have had a major impact on the ability of dispense and cellar cooling systems to cope with the increasing demand. The cooling capacity of many pubs has been stretched even further by brand owners introducing more and more extra-cold products.
Innserve, the UK's largest installer of dispense systems, estimates that the proliferation of extra-cold products has increased the demand on coolers by around 30% at a typical pub. In addition to cooling the beer, dispense systems are having to cope with the extra cooling load created by the general move towards condensing fonts.
Essentially, there are two types of dispense cooling systems available: those that use ice banks and the more recent development of glycol cooling systems.
Currently, glycol systems are estimated as only commanding about 10% to 15% of the market, but observers think that this could rise to 50% within a few years because glycol has more potential to meet the extra cooling load. Glycol systems use remote coolers that run at sub-zero temperatures using glycol as the coolant. Unlike ice banks, glycol units can be switched off during non-trading periods thus saving energy, and the time required to reach operational temperature is shorter. Generally, new glycol systems are installed with improved python insulation, which enables cold dispense temperatures of around 3°C.
Scotsman Beverage Systems' offering is Glykool — a range of glycol-based systems. The systems chill drinks to 3°C, or colder, at the point of dispense without the need for individual under-shelf coolers, thereby allowing more space and generating less heat behind the bar.
Scotsman director Rob Corbett says Glykool can be used either as an upgrade to existing cellar equipment or installed as a new system. "And because the system can be built up in a series of kits, the installation of equipment in the cellar is simple," he says. The entire Glykool range uses standard pumps, connections and circuits, which means it can be installed and serviced by a brewery engineer without the need for refrigeration specialists.
Corbett says the current choice is whether to invest in a glycol installation with all the associated installation and maintenance costs, or to harness existing technology by modifying the pub's ice bank. "Most pubs already have an ice-bank cooler, so innovative developments using temperature suppressants and enhancing pythons to increase insulation and drive down temperatures are an appealing option," he says.
The style behind spirits dispense
There can be fewer items that are overlooked as much in an average pub as the spirits dispensers. As long as they dispense without leaking and serve the legal amount, they are likely to last for ages.
So it would seem that spirit dispense manufacturers should be having a lean time. Not so at Flitwick in Bedfordshire, the home of Beaumont, where managing director Scott Barnes says: "Our sales, year on year, continue to rise."
He puts some of the success down to his firm's latest optical dispense product — the Vogue. "It is aimed at newer, themed bars where people want something stylish and modern. Pubs and bars are being opened or re-fitted all the time and
that forms a regular basis for
our business."
Despite some distillers calling for licensees to upsize spirit serves to 35ml and so increase profits, Beaumont's strongest sellers are its products that dispense 25ml measures, which are made by the half-century-old firm at its base in Flitwick.
As the name Hoover is synonymous with vacuum cleaners, so Optic is with spirit dispense systems. Optic is the trademark of Gaskell & Chambers, part of the IMI Cornelius group. Interestingly, an IMI spokesperson says its 35ml-dispense Optic Pearl is among the company's best-selling products.
Barnes offers this advice to anyone contemplating new equipment: "Always go for quality — proven products with an enviable reputation. Also they must be government stamped and not have any problems with leaks."
Keep an eye on your gas supply
Leading gas supplier BOC Sureflow is warning that danger could be lurking in the cellar due to rogue traders.
The company warns: "An increasing number of firms are entering the business of filling cylinders for drinks gas dispense, and many of them are operating outside of the law. The danger of these 'illicit fillers' is that they put you, your staff and your customers at risk."
Cellar gases are deemed a food product and come under food-safety legislation. BOC says: "Everyone in the industry needs to be aware of the stringent standards for testing and filling cylinders. These standards are laid down in the law, and it is vital to follow them to the letter."
Cylinders must be subjected to a series of rigorous tests every five or 10 years, depending on the product.
If the containers aren't thoroughly tested, one of the major concerns is that corrosion can occur on the inside of the cylinder. This can be caused by water or condensation reacting with the CO2 gas to produce carbonic acid. Other contaminants, such as soft-drink syrups or line-cleaning fluid, might also cause corrosion.
Given time, the wall thickness of a cylinder can be eaten away making it unable to resist the high pressure of the gas inside.
These pressures can vary from 823lbs per square inch (57 bar) for pure CO2 up to 3,000lbs per square inch (207 bar) for a mixture of CO2 and nitrogen.
With such high pressures inside a corroded cylinder, it is equivalent to having a UXB (unexploded bomb) in the cellar just waiting to go off.
