Wine Cooler Blog » draft beer

Blog Reader Messages: Sizzling Wine Cooler Winter Sale

Ronald Senn — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:07:03 +0000

Ideal Wine Coolers recognizes that much of the country is covered with that wonderfull white stuff called SNOW. We are trying to melt some of it down by offering a sizzling hot winter sale of all of our products. We feature an extensive line of undercounter, freestanding, dual zone, countertop, thermoelectric and locking wine coolers. If you would like beverage storage that adds to your stylish furniture collection, we also carry wine cabinet furnture in many capacities and finishes.

Ideal Wine Coolers has over 200 different products for you to peruse that will meet your needs. We pride ourselves on the personalized services we provide. If you want to talk to a human-being instead of a computer, just call us on our toll free line (888-501-7749). We will be more than happy to answer your questions and we even will take your order over the phone. Just ask for Ron or Belinda.

We also want to extend our thanks and appreciation to our many customers from last year.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers

Other Beverage Posts: Beer Keg Facts

Ronald Senn — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 22:58:06 +0000

I am an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball fan. I know that this year is not the best for my team, but I follow them anyway. During last night’s pre-game show, Todd Walsh, the show’s emcee, did a tour of the beer keg factory across the street from the ballpark. In just a few minutes, I learned a lot about draft beer and beer kegs that I wanted to share with you.

Beer Keg Sizes

In the U.S., common keg sizes are the 1/6 barrel, ¼ barrel, and ½ barrel. The 1/6 barrel is often called a “torpedo” keg, ¼ barrel is also called a “pony keg” and the ½ barrel is most often referred to as a “full keg”. When full, the ½ barrel will weigh some where around 160 pounds, only 30 pounds when empty. Full kegs are typically 23 to 24 inches tall, 16 to 17 inches in diameter and generally hold 15 ½ gallons of beer or approximately 165 12-ounce glasses. The standard keg size in Europe is 50 liters, but 20 and 30-liter keg options are also available.

Keg Construction

Aluminum and occasionally stainless steel are the primary metals used to manufacture draft beer kegs. From the opening in the top, a tube extends to the bottom of the keg. At the top of the tube, a self-closing value is opened when the tapping key is inserted. A small opening allows the carbon dioxide to drive the beer out of the keg. The coupling fitting has valves that control the flow of beer out of and the flow of gas into a keg.

The Life of a Keg

A brewery will receive large quantities of empty kegs each day. Each keg is first pressure washed with a water and detergent mixture and then completely rinsed with fresh water. Before the keg is refilled, it is sanitized to kill all bacteria that maybe present. Each full keg is then filled, sealed and the exterior is again rinsed off. The kegs are loaded on racks and moved to a cold storage room for a few days before they are ready to ship. The entire process from the initial cleaning to the distribution to retail and home customers could take as long as 15 to 20 days. Because the vast majority of draft beer is unpasteurized, keg beers will usually only stay good for a total of 45 to 60 days after filling. It is important to know that once you purchase a keg for your use that generally means it had better be used in about 30 to 40 days. You must subtract the time spent refilling and distributing the kegs from the total keg beer life. Kegs are usually stamped with a “use before” date that will make it easy to track.

Draught Beer Euipment NEEDED!!

If you really like draft beer, you will need the right equipment to keep it fresh as long as possible. Draft beer must be kept refrigerated between 35 and 44 degrees F. If the temperature gets above 5o degrees, the beer will start to turn sour and cloudy in a matter of a few days as bacteria starts to grow. The fresh brewery taste and aroma will be lost. Beer dispensing refrigerators are readily available from a number of quality manufacturers. Most kegerators come with CO2 bottles, tapping devices and approved beer-dispensing lines. Some of the keg coolers also come with extra shelving that make converting your cooler to a refrigerator easy. A key factor that will help keep your beer from foaming is keeping your tubing and taper clean. You can purchase cleaning kits especially designed to keep all your keg equipment from tainting the taste of your beer.

Draft beer is better for you than canned beer.

The Diamondbacks did win the game I was watching by beating Milwaukee 2 to 1. They now have a mini win streak of three games. Some people argue that draft beer is better for you than canned beer. As I always say, buy the draft beer of your choice, get a beer keg cooler to preserve the brew’s flavor and enjoy it immensely.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers, August 2010

Wine Storage Solutions: Customer Appreciation Sale

Ronald Senn — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:27:10 +0000

Ideal Wine Coolers is pleased to provide two products with customer appreciation, extra low pricing. Both of these products are manufactured by one of our quality suppliers, the Danby Company. You can also review our complete line of Danby Wine Coolers and Danby Kegerators and Beverage Coolers.

Our Danby Black 35 Bottle Stainless Trim Worktop Locking Slim Wine Cooler is for serious collectors in freestanding applications when a locking glass door is needed. The temperature cooling range is from 42.8 degrees F. to 57.2 degrees F. The cabinet has a sleek black finish and stainless steel metal door trim with a recessed handle. This wine cooler is less than 20 inches wide making it slim enough to fit anywhere in your home. The tempered glass locking door on this wine cooler promotes better insulation and UV protection for your finest wines and has reversible hinges. The black interior features sturdy wire metal shelving that will tenderly cradle your best vintages. This wine cooler features a scratch resistant work top, an excellent place to store wine accessories. The interior light and quiet, operations make owning this wine cooler a pleasure and a pointed addition to your home decor. Look no further for superior wine storage.

FEATURES:
* Free-standing Design
* Programmable Temperature Range of 42.4 to 57.2 degrees F.
* External Digital Thermostat
* 6 Full Width Wire Shelves
* Tempered Glass Door w/Stainless Steel Trim
* Scratch Resistant Work Top
* Reversible door hinges
* Integrated Lock with Key
* Recessed Side Mount Door Handle

CAPACITY:
* 35 Wine Bottles

DIMENSIONS:
* Width 17 11/16 Inches x Depth 19 6/16 Inches x Height 33 6/16 Inches

REGULAR PRICE: $284.00 CUSTOMER APPRECIATION PRICE $219.00 SAVINGS OVER 22%

SKU # DWC3509BLS

FEATURES:

CAPACITY:
* Pony Sized Kegs
* Co2 Tank: 5 Pounds under 1800 PSI

DIMENSIONS:
* Kegerator: Width 20 3/4 Inches x Depth 21 8/16 Inches x Height 33 Inches
* Co2 Tank: 5.5 Inches Diameter x 18.25 Inches Tall

REGULAR PRICE: $637.00 CUSTOMER APPRECIATION PRICE $430.00 SAVINGS OVER 32%

SKU # DKC445BLS

We also have several Vinotemp Sale Items and are proud of the new products we have added.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers, May 2010

Other Beverage Posts: Death of A Refrigerator

Ronald Senn — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:23:05 +0000

Our old refrigerator suffered multiple forms of discrimination and was found guilty of not “fitting in.” Ultimately, a sentence of hard labor in our garage became its fate. In a few short months, it died.

How did this happen? It all started one day when my wife said, “Honey, I want to show you something in the kitchen.” Apprehensively I arrived in the kitchen, and she started her discourse aimed at demeaning our existing refrigerator. First came, “It’s the wrong color and doesn’t match anything in our kitchen.” Then, “It’s not big enough to hold everything I need it too, especially with all the entertaining we do.” Lastly and with no less derision, she said, “its way too old to do the job any longer.”

In a matter of a few minutes, she had discriminated against “Old Harvest Gold” with respect to color, size and age. However, I knew better than to argue. I relented and a new refrigerator became a family household primary and the old one became an outcast in our garage located in the Sonoran Desert. The first few months the garage temperature hovered around 105 degrees. The next few months the temperature cooled to a balmy 95 degrees. The refrigerator’s death was predictable and ultimately final in month number five.

In the garage, we had used “Old Harvest Gold” for storing canned and bottled beverages, extra milk bottles, and other items the new larger refrigerator could not hold. We even used the vegetable drawer to keep our batteries fresh. After the death and subsequent recycle of the old refrigerator, our new refrigerator had to accommodate “Old Harvest Gold’s” contents. Putting that collection in the new frig was a solution my wife did not think was useful.

I went searching in the market place and found some consumer products that offered an easy, space-saving solution to our dilemma. These products were beverage coolers and chillers. Some of these products could accommodate over 100 canned beverages, five 2-liter beverage bottles and even store our favorite wine. I could purchase stand-alone or under-the-counter models in several different sizes. I was lucky to fine one that fit nicely under the counter where my old trash compactor currently existed. I purchased it and easily installed it myself. Dilemma solved—or at least I thought it was.

About a month later, I again heard the plaintive cry from the kitchen, “Honey can you come here please?” This time, her complaint focused on the kitchen’s appearance. She said, “The modern refrigerator is great, but the cabinets and counter tops now look out of date.” She went on to say, “I love the beverage center and since we’re going to remodel the kitchen, can we find a larger built-in model that will hold more cans and wine?”

I sold the smaller beverage center and went back to the store, where I found what “we” wanted. I brought it home for the kitchen remodel contractor to install. I also stopped at the local hardware store to buy some earplugs just in case “Honey” came floating over the airwaves again.

For more information see: http://www.idealwinecoolers.com

Author: Ronald Senn, VP Ideal Wine Coolers, September 2009